Yu is a swordsman who is betrayed by a jealous rival, but initially seeks a life of simple pleasures until an accidental meeting with another patriot sets him back on the road to bloody, brutal vengeance.
Acting
Jimmy Wang Yu's wounded masculinity is practically its own genre.
Practical Effects
Chang Cheh's blood squibs hit different in 1967.
Direction
Chang Cheh builds to carnage like nobody else.
Director
Chang Cheh
Jimmy Wang Yu
Nie Zheng
Lisa Chiao Chiao
Xia Ying
Li Hsiang-Chun
Nie Rong
Chiu Sam-Yin
Concubine Zhao
Huang Tsung-Hsun
Premier Han Kui
Tien Feng
Official Yen Chung Tzu
Chang Pei-Shan
Xu Shi
Cheng Lui
Du Po
Lin Jing
Zheng's Mother
Fang Mian
Master Wu Ji
Cliff Lok
Han Emperor
Wang Kuang-Yu
Xi Yuan
Woo Tung
Xu Shi's Uncle
Wong Ching-Ho
Ying's Father
Ma Ying
General Lu Pen
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on historical assassin Nie Zheng from Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian — Chang Cheh turned a footnote into macho myth.
This cemented Jimmy Wang Yu's stardom and established the 'lone hero' template that would define Shaw Brothers cinema for a decade.
HK
