Die Teufelspiraten von Kau-Lun

The movie opens and cannon balls sink Ti Lung's ship. He and his crew swim to the British ship and have a swashbuckling pirate fight. They take over the ship but it is sinking too. They seek repairs and hope to hide that they are pirates. Ashore, Fan Mei-Sheng laughs as he walks to his execution, as any great man would! Yue Fung suggests taking him to Macau to collect the bounty. Either way, he escapes.

First, let's hear it for the bit players. These actors were on the Shaw Brothers set virtually every day for about fifty years.. Take notice of the actor Sai Gwa-Pau, 1918 to 2001 with 798 film credits. I call him "Over Bite". He played "Cocky-So" in all the old Wong Fei Hung movies. Also Gam Tin-Chue 1957 to 1987 had 417 credits yet I never heard of him and do not recognize him.

Shaw Brothers was known for making movies on indoor sets. When they took the crew outdoors it always seemed to be under the heat of the midday sun, judging by the shadows. In this movie the crew got to cool off in the surf between takes. I enjoyed all the fight sequences on the beach. The moves were creative, never repetitive, and had various weapons added. There was no attempt at continuity with the color of the sky and sea or clouds but I'll let that pass.

I rate this as above average and recommend it for all fans of martial arts movies of the golden age from 1967 to 1984.

This is the Chinese movie version of their 'Captain Morgan LIKE' pirate hero Chang Pao-chai.

Set around 1805 this film only covers one eventful day in his life. It ignores his childhood abduction & adoption by Zheng Yi& Ching Shih, his later marriage to his adopted mother , and their ensuing vast fleet of 50,000 men & 600 ships and begins with him in command of a small cannon armed ship about to attack a 'British' vessel- that looks more like its piloted by the Knights of Malta,or the like.

The story is fairly simple beginning in a slightly ropey manner with a sea battle that is quite ludicrous and very reminiscent of the swashbuckling 1950s Hollywood product like Crimson Pirate starring Burt Lancaster- all smiles and jolly fights. Its one of the weakest moments in the film.

I wasn't expecting much after that, but it picks up from there, the characters are all involving, and the connivances by the various fractions intriguing . By the end I found it one of the surprisingly under-rated gems from Shaw's studios of the early 1970's, a few years before unarmed combat choreography really takes off.

There are several things that set this film apart from many others of the time. Unlike most Shaw Brothers films this is set partly on the sea, mostly around the coasts, and not studio bound or up in the hills.

Ti Lung gives another excellent performance . He & David Chang play off each other as brilliantly as usual , culminating in some excellent fights, and a great on the beach battle.

This is also an UPLIFTING martial arts film from Chang Cheh for a change (co directed by his favourite 'assistants' WuMa & Pao HsuehLi ), though he still doesn't shy away from the blood & guts of his more famous films. Inventive death was his business and expertise!

Yu Feng (as the local boss' sister) is great in this, and gets to wade in with some nice action, great lines and conspiratorial conniving.

Early on we see Fan Mei Sheng (the burly, bearded & often cackling actor famous from later Sammo Hung films, Story of Riki and many Shaws filsm of this time- the Water Margin '/All men are Brothers/ pursuit being some his best known) , but he is missing for most of the events on land.. His adventures could have made a film of their own.

The chorography and action is excellent .Tang Chia & Liu Chia Liang were really hitting their stride by this film after a couple of dozen jobs together, and its full of inventive and memorable moments. The end fights have plenty of breathtaking moments, and though the final fight may seem eventually repetitive the reason it does is obvious, conveying the situation perfectly..

Another recommended Shaws Production featuring their own Golden Triangle of Chang Cheh, David Chiang & Ti Lung.

Another historical kung fu drama from Chang Cheh, however this time he is "Jointly Directors" with the incredibly prolific Wu Ma (still directing with over 180 movies) and the more obscure Hsueh Li Pao. Based on the actual 18th century pirate, Chang Pao Tsai, this movie purports to illustrate what must have been a highly eventful day in his life.

The movie opens with a successful raid on an English vessel where Chang (Ti Lung) sacrifices one pirate ship in order to surprise the English who are watching the Chinese ship burn (after a cannon fight) by having his entire crew swim under the warship and grapple onto the boat from the opposite side thereby surprising the English. After his real pirate ship comes up, Cheng brings the booty to the hold where his crewmen discover a massive leak! Forced to bring the ship into an isolated cove, Chang goes to a local town to find repair materials. There he discovers that the town is rules by a criminal boss who is in cahoots with the local magistrate. The boss is terribly abusing the local poor which angers Chang and he vows to help the people with some of his accumulated loot. Disguising himself as the representative of an important prince, Chang ingratiates himself with the boss. Meanwhile the magistrates have captured Hua, a dangerous ruffian who was once the leader of Chang's pirate ship. The boss' sister wants to sell Hua to the Dutch East India company so she bribes to magistrates to give her Hua. He escapes, finds Chang's ship and intimidates the crew into sailing away despite the fact the ship isn't seaworthy. In the middle of this, General Hu (David Chiang) arrives looking to capture Chang and therefore get promoted back at the capitol. Stranded by the theft of his ship Chang vows to fulfill his promise to the poor by stealing the crime boss' loot even though he knows the odds are now against him. And so it goes.

While entertaining some of the film is hokey. The opens starts up well with some nice ships but it falls apart when the cannon battle starts. The ships are very close to each yet can't hit each other. The English sailors are clearly Chinese guys trying to hide their faces. And when Chang and his men abandon the burning pirate ship, they somehow swim directly under the English vessel, in clear water, without any English seaman noticing. Once that is over and we get to the plot the movie shapes up. Zoom intensive at times it's hard to see where one director starts and the other leaves off. The frequent fight scenes (from Tang Chia and Liu Chia Liang) are 1/3 Bruce Lee inspired, 1/3 clumsy/stagy and 1/3 traditional but very real kung fu techniques. The boss sister is one of the meanest of the bunch and the actress playing her is very good but the way she dies is just ridiculous. The climactic fight between Ti Lung and David Chiang is filled with real kung fu grappling techniques (probably courtesy of fight choreographer Liu Chia Liang) if that interests you.

While not a classic, it move along at a good pace and is entertaining despite the flaws.

This film essentially begins with a sea battle between a European ship and a Chinese vessel belonging to a notorious pirate by the name of "Chang Pao Tsai" (Lung Ti). Although clearly outgunned, the Chinese pirates manage to board the European ship and, after an intense battle, kill the foreign crew and seize all of the wealth aboard it. Unfortunately, not long after the battle, they discover that their own ship has sustained significant damage and, as a result, they decide to anchor not too far from a small village on the coast in order to acquire the supplies needed for repairs. Meanwhile, a notorious brigand by the name of "Hua Erh Tao" (Fan Mei-Sheng) manages to break out of the prison in this same city and, when he learns of the pirate ship nearby, becomes determined to become its captain to further his escape and also gain a measure of revenge upon Chang Pao Tsai for an earlier dispute between the two of them. To further complicate matters, Chanp Pao Tsai also has to contend with a government official named "Chiang Yu Lun (Ching Tien) and his sister "Erh Ku Nai-nai" (Feng Yu) who desperately want to collect the bounty on his head. But what none of them realize, however, is that a top Chinese general by the name of "Hu Yi" (David Cheung) has been secretly ordered to this village to coordinate efforts to eliminate piracy in that area-and this creates difficulties for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be an entertaining pirate film due in large part to the intricacies within the plot and the acting of Lung Ti who performed his role exceptionally well. Admittedly, almost all of the martial arts sequences were rather unrealistic but, even so, I enjoyed this movie for the most part, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.