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I guess The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) must have done pretty well, because just two years later it got a sequel. One thing I've noticed about Shaw Brothers movies is that sequels are shockingly rare. The genre/action movies made in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s often got tons of sequels greenlit straight away (the Stray Cat Rock series had all five movies released in a window of less than 18 months, from memory), but Shaw Brothers in the Hong Kong scene seemed to have a different practice. They produced movies with similar premises often featuring a rotating cast of actors, but direct sequels themselves weren't too commonplace (maybe that's a natural consequence of having like half the movies end with the main character dying in an epic blaze of glory).

So as for this sequel to The One-Armed Swordsman? It's just okay. It benefits from being able to hit the ground running, but none of the beats it ends up hitting are all that amazing. It's just a serviceable martial arts movie, and in typical (and unfortunate) sequel fashion, it more or less does what the first movie does, but just in ways that are slightly less exciting. It's consistent in that regard... just consistently less exciting and entertaining, and I say that as someone who liked but didn't love the first movie.

But then again, an average Shaw Brothers martial arts movie is still better than an average anything else movie, because their standard of quality was generally so high throughout the late 1960s and into the 1980s. That makes Return of the One-Armed Swordsman a worthwhile watch for martial arts movie fanatics, but I don't think I'd recommend it to more casual action movie fans, in all honesty.

Having never seen the sequel to The One-Armed Swordsman (1968), I was in for quite a shock. To put it simply, this is one of the best kung fu follow-ups I have ever seen. Knowing that the one-armed character is by this time firmly established (and a box office success), director Chang Cheh opts for full-blown action this time around. It is basically The Road Warrior (1981) to the first film's Mad Max (1979), pumping up the action quotient ten fold and rarely slowing down from beginning to end.

Sword fights come at you every five minutes or so, resulting in some amazingly bloody action. I had no idea that any kung fu film from the 60s was so bloody. This effect is remarkably enhanced by the use of palm squibs to send bloody flying and the heroes all white outfits. Another exciting aspect of the film (which would later become a Wang Yu staple) is the use of unorthodox weapons by the heavies. With eight super villains there is a lot of room for some creativity and Cheh and co. don't fail. My personal favorite is the sinister female demon that pulls any numbers of knives from under her flowing robe.

But it is not to say that the film abandons the dramatic aspects of the story. Cheh spends a decent amount of time focusing on Fang Gang's reflection of his violent ways, both past and present. Fang essentially wants to be left alone with his wife but, to employ an overused quote, every time he thinks he is out, they pull him back in. He is a complex character and it is good to his emotional complications played out on screen, especially after the final battle during a celebration. The relationship between Fang and his wife is also highlighted, with both Wang Yu and Chiao Chiao performing well.

After watching the original One-Armed Swordsman, directed by Chang Cheh and starring Wang Yu in the title role, I knew I had to watch this direct sequel, as the others had David Chiang replacing Wang Yu as Fang Gang.

Continuing where the first movie left off, we see Fang Gang leading a life of a farmer, without a care of JiangHu politics. But as the saying goes, and in martial arts movie, so long as you're a reputable swordsman, trouble will always be looking for you. The emergence of the evil Eight Demon Swordsmen clan brought about chaos, with their issuing of forced challenges and a grand meeting amongst the swordsman clans. The senior members of various clans get annihilated or captured, and its down to the junior members to try and convince Fang Gang to come out of "retirement" to assist them in their quest of rescue, and getting rid of the Eight Demon Swordsmen.

It's also pretty cool to see the main villains being crafted with various deadly weapons and different personalities. Like the one with the deadly chain-attached sickle, or the mean looking knife-shield. How about a weapon which seemed to fire pellets of poison, and a sword with extensible blade? Perhaps the more interesting villain was the lady assassin, with her demure looks, and deadly hidden knives, giving a new meaning to back-stabbing! However, being villains, our hero and his gang of merry men, while on the way to the villains' fortress, get to dispatch them one by one in deadly, bloody fashion. Although by today's standards the blood is pretty fake looking, it's still quite a bloody affair with slashing, stabbings - knives through body, and squirting blood. But I must add that it did give a sense of cheesy nostalgia to how blood was created for the screen in those days.

Classic martial arts movie scenes like the bamboo forest also get featured in this movie, though the forest did look a bit sparse, since it was filmed in a sound stage. Added to the fight scenes was a demonstration of superb "qing-gong" (light-skill, fleet-footedness) by Fang Gang, though the wire work used was extremely elementary, and came across quite laughably. Back in those days, this sequence would have been da bomb though.

The story's nothing to shout about - it has almost every thematic element that you'd expect from a martial arts movie, and classic scene settings like forests and inns. But it sure is one heck of a fun ride - bigger, bolder, badder than the original, with a lot more disposable characters for the body count.

Code 3 DVD extras contains a pretty weak lineup of only the trailer (and trailers for other movies), colour stills, the poster, selected cast and crew biography and filmography, and a one screen production notes. The DVD for the original seemed better and more thorough.

RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1968) is a direct sequel to ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967), a seminal Hong Kong martial arts film that, unlike earlier swordplay films with Wang Yu (e.g. TWIN SWORDS, MAGNIFICENT TRIO), placed the emphasis on technique and training in order to defeat a superior enemy.

Also directed by Chang Cheh and starring Jimmy Wang Yu, RETURN dispenses with the whole training routine and focuses on a turn of events designed to get the title character out of voluntary retirement and back into action for a series of swordplay battles. A martial arts tournament is set up by Unknown Nemesis (Tien Feng) as a pretext to lure rival martial artists into a trap. Word of this treachery reaches Wang Yu and he reluctantly leaves his farm and wife (Chiao Chiao, returning from the first film) to free the imprisoned swordsmen and wreak vengeance on Unknown Nemesis. After the first half-hour the film is virtually nonstop bloodshed and swordplay, all beautifully photographed on lavish Shaw Bros. studio sets.

Future kung fu star Ti Lung appears as an ill-fated fighter in an early scene with crafty villainess Essie Lin Chia. The fight choreography is by Tang Chia and Liu Chia Liang (Lau Kar Leung), who would both have a great impact on the kung fu films of the 1970s. While Wang Yu went on to star in ONE-ARMED BOXER, he never again played a one-armed fighter in a Shaw Bros. film. When Wang Yu left Shaw Bros., Chang Cheh made THE NEW ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (aka TRIPLE IRONS, 1971) with David Chiang in the title role and Ti Lung in support.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, directed by Cheh Chang, and starring Jimmy Wang Yu as the One-Armed Swordsman, sees the return of the titular hero. Now in retirement and enjoying life as a humble farmer, vowing to never pick up the sword again, Fang is approached by two expert swordsman, inviting him to the mansion of the kings of martial arts, a group of ruthless fighters who seek to kill all rival swordsman and take over all the schools of martial arts.

This is one of the campiest martial arts films I have seen in a while, and by extension one of the most fun. Fang picks up the sword after his wife (played by Chiao Chiao) is kidnapped. He unites the students of the martial arts schools, whose teachers have been kidnapped by the kings as hostages. And this is where the fun comes in. We have a seductress with a a thousand blades, a sword-gun, a tunnel digging master, a rope-blade warrior, a strong man, shield blades, the king of kings - who's balde is unknown, and hundreds of armed adherents. The One Armed Swordsman sets out to best all of these warriors, and free his wife and the masters of the schools, while building a following of young students bent on helping.

This film is wonderful. It has some of the campiest elements of any martial arts film I have yet seen. The different styles of the kings are ridiculously enjoyable, and so strange they elevate to a higher plain. In my opinion, this is a cult masterpiece, with only a few ratings on IMDB at the time of writing. Too bad, as this film is a recognizable jem. Much fun to be had in this one, and highly recommended to anyone looking for a good martial arts flick. The first in this series is worth a watch, but does not approach the quality of this rare "sequel that's better than the first." Give this under seen jem a go, it deserves the reputation.