Zhe jian chuan ji

DRESSED TO FIGHT is a low rent wuxia story lensed in Taiwan. It features a sprawling cast, a wide-ranging plot, and plentiful action scenes which while not particularly outstanding or memorable still serve their purpose in supplying adequate excitement and thrills. Certainly this is the kind of film which is indebted to the likes of DRAGON INN and A TOUCH OF ZEN and there's absolutely nothing new here at all, but it's still fairly good.

The main character is a wandering swordsman who goes around rescuing fair maidens and beating evil villains. The fights seem to pop up every few minutes so a lot of the running time is taken up with pure action. The special effects are limited but effective and there are some amusingly wacky moments, like the hands beckoning out of the ground or the flying sedan chair. The one thing that annoyed me was an annoying tinkly sound effect used to represent clashing weaponry in the big action scene at the climax which is really overdone. Although the usual detractions of appalling dubbing and poor picture quality are present in release versions, DRESSED TO FIGHT is one of the better low budget wuxia films I've watched.