Jing zhong bao guo

A rarely seen example of Taiwanese cinema from the early 1970's. Many Taiwanese films from this time seem to be lost so this could be a treat but.....

This film is a telling of the early life of legendary Chinese general Yue Fei. While he seems to have been a real historical figure, most of the stories about him are fantasy. This film is no exception. We start with a battle between a flying dragon and a golden eagle depicted with marionettes. The eagle wins and flies down to perch on the house of a woman who gives birth during a flood. The child is Yue Fei. The film cuts forward to Yue Fei as a thirteen year old living with his mother in abject poverty. He attracts the eye of a local scholar/ kung fu instructor who takes him on as a student. After passing an archery competition Yue Fei is accepted to a military school. The film cuts to his twenties, he marries and is awarded a post combating bandits. Throughout all this is the ongoing strife between the native Chinese and the invading northern tribes.

The first 40 minutes of the film is quite enjoyable as we watch the young Yue Fei grow up and gain his martial art skills. There are a few odd scenes like where the boy wrestles a smoke belching snake. The child actor is very good. Once the film cuts Yue Fei's adulthood the film flounders for the remaining hour. The adult actor is wooden compared to the boy actor and the story goes nowhere slowly. The biggest battle is the attack on the bandit hideout but the film goes on for 20 minutes after that with little in the way of action. Perhaps the decisive battle of the title is in Yue Fei's head but it's quite boring to the audience.

Not great entertainment and little in the way of kung fu action. Skip it.

It starts with puppets and miniatures to show a flying dragon, eagle, and a storm at sea. After the credits a street vendor deals with a young boy. The boy fails at cutting firewood but finds many bundles on the roadside and brings them home to mother. Next, a scholar is teaching him to write.

My copy is a computer file that plays as wide screen on a HDTV. The resolution is almost as good as a regular DVD. The dialog and embedded subtitles are Chinese which I do not speak. I believe there was a DVD release by a Taiwan company named Hoker that has English subtitles.

I am on a mission to view and review every martial arts movie of the golden age from 1967 to 1984. I found this labeled as martial arts. The labels "drama, war" on IMDB are most accurate as there is scant martial arts in the movie. Since this movie is out of my genre I have little to add and will avoid being too critical. If an old Taiwanese drama about a child growing up to become a famous general is your desire then here's one for you. Unless you speak Chinese do not bother as without the English dialog it will not hold your attention.