Rating: 
Summary: Excellent sword fighting scenes even though made in 1982.
Review: I have promised myself not to buy any action movies produced before 1990 due to their slowness in fighting but this is one of the exceptions. The fighting scenes are swift, smooth and violent. The special effects are as good as any other Hong Kong top movies of today. It is amazing especially when this film was made in 1982. If you love sword fighting or Ninjas you will like this. The plot is so so.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! A Movie with EXPLODING NINJAS!!!!
Review: I just picked this title up at Circuit City for $6.99. Now, I've been wanting to get an older HK Kung Fu movie (for what it is) for a while now. I used to watch Kung Fu Theater every Saturday at 3:00pm on channel 5 (hehe) when I was really little. The only three I remember are Drunken Master, Jade Claw, and The Flying Guillotine. But they all had certain qualities that, while hokey, I had come to love about them: Bad audio Looping and dialog, The "Snap" sound effect during fights, bad Disco Music, confusing and overly-elaborate storylines, but best of all, over-the-top, reality-suspending action sequences.
Since those days, I have grown to love anime, Japanese fighting games, and modern kung fu flicks, (and Kill Bill, heh) and I had since forgotten about the old classics. My standards for Kung Fu action movies had even become elevated, requiring elements from the aforementioned modern media! Then I came across "The Flying Guillotine" at Best Buy a few months ago. The price was a bit too much so I didn't get it, but I was reminded of the classics and I wanted to get a proper cheapie Saturday Afternoon Cheesy Kung Fu Popcorn flick. What I got instead... was "DUEL TO THE DEATH"!!! It is SOOO much more!!!
This movie's got it all: Over-the-Top Action sequences... Check! Awesome, slightly muted, 70's style music... Check! Japan Vs. China... Check! Dual Evil Plots... Check! Bad Dialogue Looping... Check! The "Snap" sound during fist fights, as well as a host over other overdone Foley Sound Effects... Check! Big Haired, Big Eyebrowed, Big Sideburned Asian dudes as well as Old long bearded Masters, as well as Shaolin Monks... Check Check Check! Extremely Well done Wire Fu... Check! Samurai and Kabuki Warriors... Check! Ninjas?? Hmmm... Well let's see... Let's go down the list here... We've got Stealth Ninjas, Shuriken Ninjas, Kite Ninjas, Sand Ninjas, Tree Ninjas, Leaf Ninjas, Flying Freight Transport Ninjas, Giant Ninjas made up of several standard size Ninjas, NAKED Female Boobie Ninjas, EXPLODING Ninjas (Nothing, absolutely NOTHING under the Sun says Action like EXPLODING NINJAS!!), Vanishing Ninjas, Smoke shooting Ninjas, Samurai Ninjas, Yes, there's even a Jack-in-the-Box Ninja, Ninjas that get sliced in two, Ninjas that get sliced in half, revealing another ninja jumping out from inside the old Ninja, and last but not least, the Naked Female Boobie Ninja!!! Nope you can never go wrong with that! (Im not making any of this up either!)
The movie reeks of outstanding production values, which is unsusual for a Kung Fu movie from that era. Excellent visuals ABOUND, and not just in the scenery either, but just in the styles of the characters movements and the camera angles. For instance, our Japanese Samurai hero is the Lord of the Stance! He uses very handsome looking stances and has a couple of beautiful finishing move poses! It's like the movie is thanking you for watching it by constantly providing small bits of on-screen eye candy! This movie also has awesome special effects (for what they are, at least)!
This movie is flat out FUN! It even has a few humor sequences (the scene with the little samurai kids is pretty funny). There are also moments where you're going WHAAAAT???!!, hehehe. It rarely slows down, and when it does, you can count on some action sequences right around the corner. And the action sequences have a tendency to LITERALLY go way out of control. There is tremendous amount of buildup in some of the fights and things quickly become accelerated to the point that it actually loses control and crazy stuff starts to happen!! You feel as though you're at the mercy of an uncontrolled car or rollercoaster that's about to hit something... and then it does and then all hell breaks loose! It's at these points that the sequences are at their most over the top or their most violent! It really is something to experience! For Example:
[WARNING: MAJOR MAJOR SPOILERS!!! The following sentence is only for those who have seen the movie.] Probably the most memorable scene of the movie was when the hero is fighting a foe, and things escalate, then all of a sudden the hero slices the foe's head off, it goes flying and gets impaled onto a tree branch right through the ears, and we zoom in on it long enough for this disembodied head-kabob thingie to actually SPEAK, saying: "Mark my words... You will DIE!", and then, of course, ultimately EXPLODING!! Now THAT's Cool!!! [END SPOILERS]
This is now my second favorite Kung Fu movie, second only to Fist of Legend. I would also reccomend watching it if you've watched (and liked) Kill Bill. For this is pretty much the movie Kill Bill was trying to be! Get it, pop up some popcorn on a lazy Saturday afternoon, open your mind and suspend all reality, and Enjoy this GEM!! IT'S GOT NAKED FEMALE NINJAS IN IT FOR GOODNESS SAKES!!!!
Sorry for the Long Review!
Rating:
Summary: Pimping martial arts movie
Review: I laughed, I cried, I realized that the crying was due to the laughing. I think that this is one of the defining martial arts movies of the 80's. As if jumping off their own swords and exploding into throwing stars wasn't enough to laugh at, they put in a scene of ninjas flying throught a forest. This almost killed me, my Hapkido instructor, and my Taekwondo instructor. It will forever live in my memory as one of the funniest things I have ever seen.
Rating:
Summary: Good Sword Flick
Review: I like this movie a lot for several reasons. Let's start off with the DVD itself, it's good. The picture and sound are nice and widescreen is always the best. I like the subtitle and language options, stuff like that makes a difference with a movie like this. The movie itself has an intriguing story and cool characters (I liked the Japanese swordman the best). The swordfights and battle scenes are great, and so are the special effects (especially considering this was an early 80s release). And yes there are tons of ninjas, flying ninjas, and they are awesome. This is just a cool movie, with a good plot that keeps up the action right up until the duel to the death at the end. Worth buying, especially if you're into Chinese cinema like i am.
Rating:
Summary: This is a must see for HK movie fans!
Review: I saw it like that when Iv read the reviews. This movie got it all!. Its a classic for HK kung-fu movies as Scarface would be for gangsta movies.What I liked the most about this film, despite being an old film, is that ur not left on ur hunger with lil teasers. For example, when u see a fight scene that u like, and it promptly stop (because the guys run away, or they got killed like instantly) all u do is hoping that u will see it again, like if ur doing sex and someone intterupts u. WELL THIS MOVIE BRINGS U TO ORGASM! Thats right, no lil teasing, its goes until the end with stronger and better fights until the famous DUEL that happens! And the last fight is the strongest and most complete! Its a little hardcore, but so realistic. This movie rocks, and the DVD is cool as well!
Rating:
Summary: WATCH WITH SUBTITLES!
Review: I usually don't like kung fu type movies, but this has to be the best one I've ever seen! The special effects are absolutely top-notch for 1982, and they are very "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" like. Of course there are a few cheesy moments (wait until you see the talking head), but they do little to detract from the overall high production values of this movie. The dubbing isn't all that bad either.I strongly suggest checking this movie out if you liked CTHD, or even if you usually don't dig this kind of thing.
Rating:
Summary: The best martial arts swordfighting movie ever !
Review: If you like martial arts and asian swordfighting you can already stop reading and order this movie at once (i suggest the dvd). I've seen a lot movies like that but none could offer that much of all that makes those movies so great : lots of brilliant swordfighting scenes, lots of breathtaking techniques, lots of ninja mysteries, lots of pathetic dialogues, lots of honour and codex stuff, traitory, drama, lots of blood (yeah), lots of that... old 70es martial arts movies music and lots of humor as well. Plus good actors who perfectly fit their roles and some funny superpowers which are beyond any realism (just to name a single - you have one scene where a group ninja is flying [not jumping, they really fly] straight trough the trees of a forest, were you're forced to think "oh really ?"). I've thougt about that footstabbing at the end as well and i guess there are only two reasons that make sense : 1.) he's trying to isolate the whole pain into the foot (you know like "i stick a finger in my eye so i won't feel my hurting legg anymore") or one that is even more possible 2.) he does it to keep his balance (you see that he's almost falling, but after he stabbed his foot he's standing still). Anybody who read that... until the end and still lacks the movie should get it at once ! You're missing the best ! Ps : I've got a new deepminded question though (only for the dvd version) : the english synchro's text is very different from the english subtitles .... why ?
Rating:
Summary: If you like crazy ninja movies, this is for you.
Review: It starts off a bit slow, but the last thirty minutes are hilarious. I don't want to ruin it for you by giving things away, but I have three words for you: NINJAS. ON. KITES.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing film
Review: Just buy it, you won't be disapointed.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT THE BEST, BUT STILL PRETTY GOOD
Review: Overall, a pretty decent kick flick. Lots of good fights, the only draw back of which is that they all tend to be relatively short; be that as it may, this is definately a film that (depending on your tastes and expectations) won't disappoint. The plot, in case you don't already know, is a formal duel between two swordsmen; one from Japan and one from China, sponsered by the the Chinese Emperor and the Japanese Shogun. It's more or less a Far East equivalent to the Olympics, with about as much behind the scenes corruption and politics. It would be difficult to describe the film without giving away the whole storyline, but let it be enough to say that it will keep you entertained.
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