The Magic Blade is a 1976 Shaw Brothers swordplay movie directed by Yuen Chor.
It starts with two master swordsmen, Fu Hung Hsieh and Yen Nan-fei, taking up a duel that was interrupted a year earlier. This time it will be to the death. The duel however is interrupted again – some very nasty very bad people are trying to kill them both. They figure out they’re up against the evil forces of the swordplay underworld. They decide to team up.
What’s at stake is not just a power play but possession of the Peacock Dart, a kind of magical super-weapon. The Peacock Dart would bring its possessor absolute power. It must not be allowed to fall into the hands of the bad guys.
The bad guys of course are determined to get the Peacock Dart. It’s to be found at the Peacock Mansion which is under the control of a venerable but fairly formidable old guy. That’s where Fu Hung Hsieh and Yen Nan-fei meet Miss Chiu. She’s the old guy’s daughter. She has no martial arts skills but she’s resourceful and brave. She’s also cute and rather sweet. She ends up teaming up with the heroes.
The chief bad guy has not put in a personal appearance yet and that won’t happen until very late in the movie. All that the heroes know is that he’s Master Fu.
Master Fu has employed five master swordsmen, all renowned killers and all of them evil and each has his own private retinue of fighters.
Also on the side of evil is the fearsome Devil Grandma, a kind of wicked witch type and it’s only gradually that we learn how twisted and evil she is. She has some really scary and unpleasant habits.
The action is relentless. There’s one complex fight scene after another. This is a Shaw Brothers movie so you know the fight scenes will be expertly staged but Yuen Chor also makes every fight scene different, and every one of them imaginative. The human chess match is a particular highlight.
In its later stage the film changes gears just a little. We discover that our heroes are not just human fighting machines. They’re not emotionless. They are capable of kindness (in particular towards a young prostitute) and there are some hints of romance. There are romantic feelings towards Miss Chiu. This strengthens the movie considerably. Heroes who are prepared to risk their lives to battle evil are all well and good but let’s face it we always have much more sympathy for a hero prepared to risk his life to save a woman he loves.
We also get to meet the femme fatale. She doesn’t rely on swords or throwing knives. She wields a much more formidable weapon – her sexual charms. And her sexual charms are considerable. At this point we also get some nudity which adds a bit more spice.
I love the fact that the visuals are superb but everything looks totally artificial. This is the world of myth, legend, fairy tale, folklore, whatever you wish to call it. This is not the real world. There are no overt supernatural elements. The only real magic is the Peacock Dart. But it is nonetheless a fantasy world. Of course all the swordsmen can perform impossible acrobatic feats.
It’s visually very impressive but this is not a pretty movie. This is a slightly sinister world, a dark fantasy world, a world in which evil is palpable. There’s darkness as well as light.
The female characters are quite varied. Some are good, some evil. And the femme fatale character even has some depth – we might not approve of her motives but we can understand them.
Master Fu is also a slightly more complex villain than one night expect – in some ways he’s a victim of his own success as a villain.
Insofar as there’s a theme running through the movie it’s that the pursuit of money and power is not so much morally wrong as futile. The price is too high. The more money and power you obtain the more of a burden it will end up being.
The Magic Blade has everything you could want in a movie of this type, delivered with energy and style. Highly recommended.
The Eastern Masters DVD provides a very acceptable transfer.