Adopted by a renowned swordsmith, a young man discovers that his biological father was killed by a powerful bandit called Lung. Leaving to seek revenge, he runs afoul of vicious desert scum, losing his right arm in the process. After being nursed back to health, he learns to compensate for his loss and returns to confront Lung.
Direction
Tsui Hark's kinetic editing turns sand into a character.
Stunts
One-armed combat choreography that defies physics and logic.
Cinematography
Golden hour desert shots that look like fever dreams.
Director
Tsui Hark
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tsui Hark made this as a deliberate deconstruction of the one-armed swordsman trope popularized by Chang Cheh's 1967 film, but cranked the melodrama to operatic extremes.
Vincent Zhao was only 19 and this was his film debut; Tsui Hark reportedly made him train left-handed for six months so the one-armed fighting would look authentic.
HK
