Se diu ying hung: Dung sing sai jau

It should be well established that Hong Kong's martial arts movies are usually excuses to show off a series of stunts and gags. Always enjoyable. However, I don't know if any of these movies has been as over-the-top as Jeffrey Lau's "Se diu ying hung: Dung sing sai jau" ("The Eagle Shooting Heroes" in English). This is truly one of the wackiest, insanest movies that I've ever sat through. In addition to the stunts, it simply has the most bonkers plot ever. They just throw in one thing after another. Seriously, it's like they mixed Looney Tunes cartoons with Chinese mythology, and then went with a throw-anything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks plot.

And I loved every second of it. Movies like this are what makes life worth living. I'll have to see more of Lau's movies. I hope that they're as fun as this one.

This is one of the wildest, most confusing and most enjoyable films I have seen in awhile. There are 6 or 7 plotlines (I think) and I couldn't even keep straight who was male and who was female much less what their story was. Granted I can't speak cantonese and I don't get a lot of the cultural references but I think even if I was Chinese I would have a hard time figuring out what the heck is going on.

But ultimately it doesn't matter! If you like HK epic costume/swordfighting/kung fu period pieces, then don't miss this. There are love triangles/quadrangles/pentangles, guys running around in gorilla suits, centipedes crawling around in people's stomaches. They put everything they could think of in this one. I particularly like the announcement of all the ridiculous "techniques". (try and guess what move "monkey stealing peaches" is)

If that doesn't convince you, Bridgette Lin AND Maggie Cheung. Just turn your brain off and watch.

This movie has gone cult classic. it was filmed at the same time as another movie. Same actors. Same Costumes. This one was just done for fun. the other movie(the name escapes me), was supposed to be this HUGE hit(like Men In Black by today's standards) and it flopped majorly! but this movie lives on. go fig.

For some odd reason, then I've actually never watched the 1993 movie "Se Diu Ying Hung: Dung Sing Sai Jau" (aka "The Eagle Shooting Heroes") before now in 2025. And it is not because I didn't know that the movie existed, and I even had a DVD version of it laying around since around the mid-2000s. But I just never got around to watching it, which is odd as I am a big fan of Maggie Cheung.

But 2025 would be the year that I finally got around to sit down and watch what director Jeffrey Lau had to offer. Maybe I had been missing out on a great action comedy in Hong Kong cinema here.

While I have indeed not read Louis Cha's novel, upon which the movie was based, then I must say that writers Louis Cha and Jeffrey Lau certainly put together and enjoyable and funny script and storyline. The movie doesn't take itself particularly serious, and you have to sit down to watch this with a very open mind and be prepared for an abundance of silly scenes.

I have to say that I am overwhelmed by the sheer amount of acting talents that starred in the movie. This was most definitely a treat for any fan of the Hong Kong cinema. Sure, I knew that the movie had Maggie Cheung in it, but I wasn't aware that talents such as Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Brigitte Lin, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Jacky Cheung, Carina Lau, Joey Wang, Veronica Yip and Kenny Bee was also starring in the movie. The sheer amount of great performers on the cast list really took me by surprise. Needless to say that the acting performances were good.

My rating of director Jeffrey Lau's 1993 movie "Se Diu Ying Hung: Dung Sing Sai Jau" lands on a six out of ten stars.

There is a wind that blows and all the good things grow with it. After the wind is gone, the good things turn back and never come any good things alike again.

So this film is from a wind that was blowing during that span of years in Hong Kong, never again you would be able to see those director, actors, screen writers, dress designers, stunt man so passionate and joyfully getting involved for fun, for imagination, for successful results.

The same name, even same director had shot anther one with the same Chinese name in 2011. It's rated very low in IMDb and it's rated like 3 in a Chinese review site. You can see how people hated it because the lack of dedication of the actors, the ridiculous taking-audience-as-a-fool jokes and random involvements of all the celebrities from musical industries into the acting business and they are naively thinking themselves that they are doing a good job. It's a shame, as simple as it is.

But this film has stars in it, real stars. Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung, Carina Lau Brigitte Lin, Jacky Cheung...I just can't name them all here. The director is the same director who 2 years later directed the 2-squeal films (A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box, A Chinese Odyssey Part Two - Cinderella) which turns to absolute classic now and ever and make Stephen Chow an iconic star as well.

The Mandarin voice-over done by Taiwan people is superb so if you are learning mandarin, it's top Mandarin. Originally it's Cantonese.

If you like Gongfu movie, this one is a blast. It's fine nice delicate cut between a flying Gong Fu super power guy and gravity still making sense here. It's a blessing in the 90s when computer is not good enough to make all the digital stuff. I personally prefer a stunt man than GC effect, it's real fake, not fake fake.

Again, the wind was there and people had no intention for fame and fortune because there is none, they made a laugh and take great joy about what they did - this film.