Der Kampf um die Todessiegel

The hero of this story (Yueh Hua) is trying to stop a message on 12 gold medallion's to be delivered by traitors, because he is loyal to the emperor. However, his girlfriend's father became leader of the enemies which is causing a lot of personal trouble in between battles.

Directed by Cheng Kang, who is mostly known in the west for "The 14 Amazons" (aka "Die Rache der gelben Tiger"), this is a fluently narrated movie that does not extend the fight scenes for too long each, but knows how to make them exciting, something special and to the point. A good example is right at the beginning, sword vs whip, also later when the old masters meet and one of them uses only a bamboo stick. Despite some comic relief, quite a lot of killing going on. Good quality work which was fortunately rediscovered for a great quality DVD release in the 2000s.

Films, music and food are all a matter of personal taste , yet also have distinctive qualities than be quantified and compared.

Technical brilliance means little if in the service of creative redundancy.

Creative brilliance can be negated by technical ineptitude.

This film is breathtaking.

When its over most viewers familiar with the MartialArts Genre would be breathless, it really delivers the goods and could hold its own with any other classic of the genre due to its ceaseless creativity and technical skill , craft and ingenuity.

If been watching MartialArts films for about 35 years and seen 1,000's (I used to sell & distribute them ,& managing a video store), and this film is still highly entertaining & impressive now, even though made over 50 years ago.

Don't bother reading a story synopsis about this film- its an action film and its the action that matters (though it does have a good storyline as well) , just watch this brilliant film with no preconceptions and enjoy the ride.

The tartars have invaded from the north, and a patriotic general is resisting with a force of 100,000 men. The traitor Chin Hui has sent out 12 medallions (decrees), to different clans to stop the resistance. Other clans (resistors) are attempting to intercept these medallions.

One such resistor is Miao Lung, from the Hua Shan clan "wavering sword style". We are introduced to him as an ordinary fried roll vendor, who becomes involved in the quest to stop the delivery of the medallions.

Lung must turn against his old master, Jin Yantang, who joins the traitors. Jin's daughter, Jin Suo, is the love interest who must choose between allegiance to her father or country.

The plot is paced well and you can't argue with such elements as sword fights atop pine trees, the five finger palm strike of death, poison darts, smoke bombs, and such characters as the "Mountain Slicing Squad" and a strange band of 5 purple clad kung fu women.

I would have scored it 8 but the fight choreography/intensity does not quite match up to the best of the genre. Some really good humour used throughout. Probably belongs in the top half of Shaw Bros films. If you're a fan of the genre, you'll likely enjoy it!