THE SPIRIT OF THE SWORD 1980

Spirit of the Sword, The My aim is true
Year: 1982
Director: Chu Yuan
Stars: Liu Yung, Cecilia Wong Hang-Sau, Goo Goon-Chung, Sun Chien, Yueh Hua, Lo Lieh, Yeung Jing-Jing, Yuen Wah, Chan Man-Na, Cheung Ying, Mary Hon Ma-Lee, Wong Yung, Yeung Chi-Hing, Go Lai-Ga, Kwan Fung, Shum Lo, Cheng Miu
Genre: Martial Arts, Weirdo, Fantasy, AdventureBuy from Amazon
Rating: 7 (from 1 vote)
Review: Shaw Brothers auteur Chu Yuan made comedies, melodramas and superhero films, but his life’s work were his many swordplay fantasies adapted from the wu xia novels of Gu Long. The Spirit of the Sword opens with a montage of famous characters from past Chu classics including Clans of Intrigue (1977), Murder Plot (1979) and The Proud Twins (1979) among others, before our sagely narrator informs us the story we are about to see takes place long before those tales when the mythical Martial World was ruled by the Five Element Clans. Their leaders include Gold River Queen (Go Lai-Ga), elegant but deadly mistress of the gold ribbon technique, the scholarly Master Yunmeng (Wong Yung) of the Green Wood Clan, Purple Robe Duke (Yueh Hua) who runs the White Water Clan, flame-spewing ogre Fire Demon Lord (Lo Lieh) of the Spirited Fire Clan, and the Black Earth Old Man (Yeung Chi-Hing), who is in charge of the Black Earth Clan despite being a drunken drug addict. There’s always one who spoils it for everyone, isn’t there?

Each year the Five Element Clans gather for a grand duel for supreme leadership, but this time events take a turn for the worst when the mysterious Samurai Killer (Yuen Wah), meaning he’s a samurai who kills people (well, duh!) not someone who kills samurai, infects Purple Robe Duke with poison dust. Before retreating to his sealed meditation chamber under the sea, Purple Robe Duke asks his brother Bai Baoyu (Liu Yung) to deliver an urgent letter to the Huanhua Palace at Yitian Cliff.