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  • It starts with attempted rape on the forest path. Our hero, Chiang Pin, arrives in time to stop the crime. The would be rapist fights him using an umbrella full of other trick weapons. The hero overcomes then goes to town. He gets into a dice game on the street. This leads to a fight. They take it to an open field. This is a weapons fight with interesting use of wires on props. Plus the spear is also a flame thrower. Next, a masked man enters the story but I don't know what he is talking about when he meets Chiang Pin. They do some walking on water. Next there is a fight and Chiang Pin seems to have met his match.

    Violet Pan enters the story. She talks with our guy then he fights using chi points to freeze his opponents. Violet is taken prisoner.

    Chiang Pin started in martial arts movies in 1968. I watched "Ringing Sword" and "The Mysterious Sword" and considered both below average. His 1970 movie "The Darkest Sword" I reviewed on IMDB as above average. I found no biographical information about him. Two other actors in this movie, Chen Hung-Lieh and Violet Pan Ying-Tzu, do have biographical information online that I need not repeat. He played in a remarkable 42 movies between 1968 and 1972.

    My copy is a digital file that plays on a HDTV as widescreen. The resolution is comparable to DVD and the dialog is Chinese with no subtitles. I do not speak Chinese. This file also has the German titles but that is the only German.

    This movie is heavy on the wire work involving the actors and many different props too. I do not know Chiang Pin's background but in the fight sequences he carries his weight. The most that can be expected from a non-martial arts actor in 1972 would be these factors: more than ten moves before a cut in the action, focus, and power. He scores three out of three.

    I rate this a tad above average based on a good number of fights that all look different. I would watch it again if I can get English subtitles.
  • While it may come across as a run-of-the-mill, early 70's Taiwanese wu xia flick, The 8 Dragon Sword is actually a very fun, action packed adventure which is overly-ambitious in its inventive wire-fu and choreography!

    Starring veteran kung fu actor and Shaw Brothers star, Chen Hung Lieh, the film may look slightly dated today, but boasts a wide range of crazy weapons, interesting characters and fight scenes that hit the mark.

    Nicely shot, with clean camerawork and great locations, The 8 Dragon Sword has a lengthy end battle that is pretty exciting and well executed. I wouldn't mind seeing a nicely cleaned up version of this on DVD...

    Overall: Old school but inventive making it stand out a bit from other wu xia films of this period!