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Reviews
Ying zhao tie bu shan (1977)
Real Plot and Good Fighting Choreography
Often times I find old school kung fu movies that have terrible plot or bad fighting. If I can excuse the bad plot I can watch it for the fight scenes, but a movie that does a good job on both is a real gem.
The movie goes into great detail about the fighting techniques involved. Even if it is fantastical like magic, it is nice to see that the film makers took that extra effort to design choreography around the mythology of the specific kung fu style. The master of the Iron armor certainly shows off his invulnerability by trading blows with his opponent. Chow's fancy footwork was fun to behold. Shen was also able to demonstrate his unique double spear tipped Tonfa.
Instead of having 3-4 major action scenes, the movie is well paced with 6+ fights leading up to the finale. A good balance of plot and action keeps me interested in the movie as an action movie, while I can still appreciate the reason behind all the fighting.