La ghigliottina volante

Was this the film that started the whole decapitating fad?

A very atypical Shaw Bros story here that doesn't involve your typical training to enter Shaolin temple or revenge motif. Instead, you're not sure who to root for or jeer at. My favorite scenes include anyone with the flying guillotine. Just seeing those bodies headless and limbs flailing (the red paint smears were a great gory touch!). By the end, there's double crossing and power corrupts. Really great use of Shaw Studios sets and the colors and costumes looked great on this Celestial DVD release. Also, stick with it and you get a great finish to boot. So, while not a classic Shaw Bros film, this one is a "cut" above the rest.

(Flash Review)

This is meant to be lightly campy I assume or is it just the 70s and low budget? The Emperor had ordered two important officers executed and has entrusted a stealthy ninja to do a clean job. The ninja needed to invent the Flying Guillotine for the special task. This weapon can lop heads clean off from a long distance. The Emperor has also commanded a group to train with the main ninja to master this weapon and become a killing arm to kill traitors. When ordered to assassinate more than just traitors some question their loyalty to the Emperor vs their morals. When the main ninja questions the orders, now he is the one order to die. Can he survive as the warriors he trained who now aim to lop off his head? Overall, this is lightly entertaining. Quality of early Bruce Lee movies.

I found this on DVD -- some sort of low-budget or bootleg pan-and-scan transfer -- and since it wasn't marked very well hoped it might be the Yu Wang film. Alas it wasn't but this, I suppose the first of the three films involving the flying beekeeping hat of death, stands out on its own terms.

We meet the inventor of the flying guillotine, complete with an origin scene involving a lot of chin scratching. The basic premise is that an evil emperor has a few grudges and trains a crack team of assassins who use the deadly decapitator to carry out his will (complete with a decent training sequence). A few guys on the team get hit in the conscience (with shades of Macbeth) and the story gets moving. A hero emerges, the villains reveal themselves, it's a whole lot more shaded than I expected.

Be forewarned that this isn't a film of great fight scenes. Yu Wang brought those to the flying guillotine genre later. This is an HK action flick with a plot -- more like a grainy, overdubbed Die Hard. Perhaps a shot at emulating Kurasawa or Leone without the budget and great equipment, plus an awesome metalworker with a blade fetish. There are great fights but the first kill without a clean separation of mind and body happens around the 40 minute mark.

You'll also see some nice early wire work -- the assassins bound silently atop buildings in ways that would evolve to Crouching Tiger. The fight scenes are there, they just aren't the whole point of the movie and the guys fight more like real grunts than Bruce or Jackie. The guillotines might here have been like seeing light sabers for the first time.

It may not have the reputation or sense of humour of its successor, aside from the weapon itself you'll barely need to suspend disbelief, but it's heads and shoulders above most other HK films being produced at the time. In fact it's probably the reality-factor that I liked so much and I swear it reminded me of a Shakespearean plot way more than it should have. Add that up with great early effects, terrific editing, and the coolest gadget to behead a censor or two at 100 yards and you've got yourself a winner.

Slightly underrated, I don't think that the influence of this movie is overlooked, but its IMDb rating certainly is. I think that this movie is overshadowed by its successor, Master of the Flying Guillotine, which indeed contained more fight sequences.

However, The Flying Guillotine is a martial arts movie that concentrates on his plot and is aware of his weaknesses.

Is an exceptionally strong plot for a 1970s Hong Kong movie, can engage the viewer with a wonderful camera angle of rooftop instead of using endless fight sequences, many scenes were shot in a realistic natural environment and some cool transition brought up by important objects.

I also have praise to give to the sound effect of "The Flying Guillotine", it's sound is well used to build tension and fear, because you know that something is happening. Unconsciously, as a viewer, I was always trying to estimate the proximity of the danger, which is fascinating.

A paranoid emperor has 12 assassins trained in the use of a new weapon - the flying guillotine, which can take a guy's head off at 100 paces. The weapon is pretty cheesy actually, but in a good way if you like these old Shaw Bros flicks.

The main appeal of this film is that it is plot driven with a good story line, touching on concepts of morality and when to question loyalty.

However, the kung fu is a bit sparse and we don't really see much martial arts until probably 40 minutes in.

Worth watching though, better plot than most of these 70's kung fu flicks even if it isn't exactly packed with kung fu action.