Hao xia

When Kong's Lau's marriage is interrupted by Hoi Sang Lee for revenge -- Kong's father had stolen the villa from him -- Kong befriends Pai Wei, a notable fighter with no friends, who offers to go kill Kong's enemy. Damian Lau, a hard-drinking wanderer joins him on his quest.

It's all of John Woo's operatic and balletic techniques, and a story about professional honor among hitmen, applied to Wuxia, except for the bit where the hero rolls over firing two handguns simultaneously. I got the impression that Woo didn't really believe in what he was doing; he had been directing for about five years at this time, and had recently switched from the Shaw Brothers to Raymond Chow as his producer. Although there's lots of humor in the movie, including a "Sleeping Wizard" who fights in his sleep, this one, while worth looking at -- what John Woo movie isn't? -- is one of those movies that tries to move its genre tropes outside of its usual settings, and winds up awkward for that.

This is one amazing piece of work! I mean really; when you see a movie in the TV guide about a movie made in 1978 and it is an Asian film, you don't really have high expectations! But I decided to watch it after miserably missing "The Killer" on Showcase (I was going to record it)! But I began watching it and the host of The Showcase Revue said that it was "John Woo with swords and knives", so I gave it a shot. It was excellent! It was in subtitles though. Even so, I enjoyed this movie immensely! It is equally as good as Hard Boiled and The Killer (if not, better)! This is full of Woo's trademark styles. Amazing choreography, action - packed battle sequences, blood, action, and violence. It is set in the samurai era. Just give it a chance - you won't be disappointed!

Last Hurrah for Chivalry is a movie I'd been excited to watch for a while, because I love classic martial arts movies and I love John Woo as an action director. I'd heard this was his best movie made before he started making more modern action movies with gunfights and all, so the prospect of watching a John Woo old-school martial arts movie was always intriguing. Even if the movie hadn't been great, I think I would've just enjoyed the novelty of Woo making an action movie outside what (I imagine) is his comfort zone.

Thankfully, not only is there novelty value here, but the movie is also just a really good martial arts flick. The majority of the action is so well-choreographed and fun to watch, with probably the best fight in the movie occurring around the halfway point - a one-on-one fight in a field, complete with tons of slow-motion and spectacular scenery. It's fantastic, and then the way the climax feels like a video game - two heroes fighting through different rooms and enemies, all the way to a boss fight - is also very entertaining.

Its story is a bit chaotic at the start, introducing viewers to a man who wants revenge, but wants to get other people to do it for him. We're shown a town that's filled with what initially feels like too many characters (and side-antagonists), but I think these scenes generally pay off by the end. The story becomes easy to follow after the first half-an-hour, with at least one fairly clever twist, and characters that you come to care about more than most martial arts movie characters. I think that's what takes Last Hurrah for Chivalry from being good to very good/great.

And not only is the action really well choreographed and shot, but there's also so much of it, with it feeling like 50 to 60% of the movie is just action. It's a blast to watch, is kind of exhausting in the best way possible, and shows that John Woo can do more than just great gunfights and car chases. I'm continually feeling like as far as the action genre goes, maybe no one does it quite as well as John Woo.

I am a kung fu fan, but not a Woo fan. I have no interest in gangster movies filled with over-the-top gun-play. Now, martial arts; *that's* beautiful! And John Woo surprised me here by producing a highly entertaining kung fu movie, which almost has *too much* fighting, if such a thing is possible! This is good stuff.

Many of the fight scenes are very good (and some of them are less good), and the main characters are amusing and likable. The bad guys are a bit too unbelievably evil, but entertaining none the less. You gotta see the Sleeping Wizard!! He can only fight when he's asleep - it's hysterical!

Upon repeated viewings, however, Last Hurrah For Chivalry can tend to get a little boring and long-winded, also especially because many of the fight scenes are actually not that good. Hence, I rate it "only" a 7 out of 10. But it really is almost an "8".

All in all one of the better kung fu movies, made smack-dab in the heart of kung fu cinema's prime. All the really good kung fu movies are from the mid- to late 1970ies, with some notable exceptions from the late '60ies and early '70ies (and early '80ies, to be fair).

Scott is right. The best 2 person sword duel ever put on film is in the middle of this movie. The sword fights with multiple fighters are not the best although quite good. However, the fight in the middle is the best even compared to Japanese samurai movies. Chinese swordplay scenes in my opinion have never surpassed the Japanese in terms of entertainment value. Especially in scenes where one guy must battle a group of enemies, Japanese movies excel, example being the Lone Wolf and Cub series. Even though duels in Japanese cinema last only seconds or a minute at the most, the sheer intensity of those moments made them better. But, this is one example where Chinese swordplay surpasses the Japanese. The scene in the middle of this film was a five minute long fight with the most amazing choreography ever. The other fights in this movie are good too but even if they sucked this movie would get a 7 for that one scene. If you haven't seen it, you have to. John Woo is the man.