Opening with a brief, but nice 'wetting of the blade' in a fight between Three Day's Life and two opponents, A Heroes Tears sets the tone for what we should expect from its 96 minute running time with its bloody, swordplay violence and kung fu - but it doesn't stay bloody for long unfortunately!
Taiwan was certainly pumping them out in the seventies and eighties, between hard-hitting martial arts comedies, and wu xia films much like this. While a lot of the studios aimed to create a film as glorious or polished as a Shaw Brothers production, only few of them actually managed to do so. A Heroes Tears is not one of them - but it does try damn hard to fit in...
Of course, its biggest offering is in its Shaw Brothers stars, but this fast moving kung fu flick also offers plenty of lavish looking sets, lots of extras and crazy characters, and a ton of great kung fu and swordplay action. The first 30 minutes alone offers a number of fun fights, and while not overly memorable or astounding, the performers still get to show off some great skills via moves and stunts - with the bathhouse fight being the most fun up until that point.
The most of the focus is on 'the new Fu Sheng', Pai Sha Fung who is only like Fu Sheng in looks. He moves well, but just doesn't have quite the charm as Alexander Fu Sheng did in the Shaw Brothers classics! As he joins forces with Three Days Life, who is returning to a secret place where his sister lives; we are introduced to Ling Ling played by the wonderful Doris Lung. Pai Sha Fung instantly falls for her, of course.
Cue the melodrama, monologuing and woe-is-me moments...
Thankfully, it doesn't last too long and soon we get back to the action. The fights were choreographed by kung fu film veteran Su Chen Ping who worked on films from the One Armed Boxer to Beach Of The War Gods, and many more as an actor or choreographer and also plays a bit part in this. There are a lot of familiar faces from Taiwanese and Hong Kong 70's cinema which helps add to the scale of it all. Even the fantastic Lily Li (Young Master) pops up for some screen time.
Between the stills I have seen for A Heroes Tears, and the actual film of course, I wouldn't say no to seeing a cleaned up, widescreen version of it. The cropped presentation and bad print make it look worse than it really is on the UK Vengeance release, but it still has a number of great shots, sets and well lit scenes to enjoy, and the end battle is pretty sweet also...
This was only director Li Chao Yung's second film, and very ambitious at that. He only made a handful afterwards - some of which I also enjoyed like Everlasting Chivalry and the Jade Dagger Ninja!
Overall: It wants to be bigger, and ultimately fails to do so. But still, its not a terrible film and does have its moments!
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