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The successful night club singer Johnny [ David Chiang ] is blackmailed by his former criminal friends into working with them again. They want rob a jewellery store and need him for disguise. Starting the robbery Johnny see's his lost love Lily [ Wang Ping ] working there, then fights against the gang and gets shot by the security. Now he's wanted by the police and his former colleagues....

Apart from 5 songs performed by David Chiang a completely "common" thriller, not a musical or pistol opera, as worried before. The background music also takes places at the very beginning or end of the movie, and is only held at concerts of Johnny, not during the movie, he didn't start singing in the middle of action. The OK mandopop songs written by Chang Cheh are rather funny also, not only because of the silly lyrics, but also the choreographed gig, the costumes of the dancers and especially the petrified David Chiang and the cameo of Ti Lung as guitarist and drummer.

The story begins well, Johnny [ his artist name is the "Narcissus" and hell, he looks like one ] gets a fictitious letter , leading him to the old accommodation , where the criminals try to get control over him. Their plan is well thought and the ways before the robbery - which is in the middle of movie - are quite suspenseful and clever. Then it's slowing down, not only because of Johnny's injuries. Speed is lacking, the big love story doesn't work, the played emotions are too played, they simply overegg the pudding.

In contrast to that the determination work of the police is boring, the audience knows the truth already. The chase of the gang is little boring also, because there really isn't any, except 2 thugs "visiting" once. Anyway the film is quite good, if there's speed, but there are simply too less moments of it. The armed robbery is adrenaline pumping, the later foot chase in the underground also, sporting some good action sequences. The showdown is also dealing with guns, next to few fight choreographies of Lau Kar Leung and Tang Chia, film is also mildly bloody.

I wouldn't recommend the movie, it's quite interesting the first half, then it gets worse and little boring. No comparison to Seijun Suzuki's TOKYO DRIFTER.

Occasionally too gluey Eastern about the rising of Ma Yongzhen [ Chen Kuan Tai, in the German title he's giving a pirate, not a boxer ] , who hast to recognize later, the air up there is quite thin. The formal data's of the movie are quite impressing: John Woo as assistant director, Chen Kuan Tai became one the Top Actors thru it, it's with KING BOXER and FIST OF FURY one of THE influential movies of the time, followed by a somehow sequel [ IRON MAN ] and a remake [ Corey Yuen Kwai's HERO, with Takeshi Kaneshiro and the then-comeback of Yuen Biao ].

An epic is aimed, the premise is well, but due to the missing pace and the lacking dramatic and elaboration it isn't reached. The action scenes are either rigid or way too exaggerated, and some sequences could have been cut; a running time of 2hrs is too much for that. For example the Wrestling episode, which is terribly long, but also some sections with Ching Li as eye-catcher and secret love interest of Ma Yongzhen, which adds nothing at all to the film. So there's only struggle to the next, the opponents are always increasing, Ma himself is little impressed by that. At the end he runs around a tea house, collapsing it and beating the sh*t out of estimated 200 thugs, and already has an Axe cut in his belly. Thats too silly.

Movie has sure his strengths, production values is as high as the body count, Chen Kuan Tai does very well in his first leading role, there's an expanded cameo of David Chiang and the gangster story is something new, compared to the usual revenge - plot. The prologue and epilogue are quite fine, between them is a good film, but not an outstanding one.

Pleasing purposeful and taut Swordsplay - movie based on stories by Gu Long, about the supremacy of the Jiang Hu. Third master [ Derek Yee ] is the #1 at the moment , considered as the best sword fighter, but he's tired of his way of life, pretends his death and begins a simple life. Too early for Yen Shi kwan [ Ling Yun ], who aimed the whole life for fame and the answer if he could be the real #1.

Death Duel is a little different from other Gu Long movies directed also by Chu Yuan, no obscure jumble of plot and persons here, it's strictly concentrated oh Third Master and his tries to survive the power struggle, where he's attacked again and again. The then 20yrs old Derek Yee [ now director of movies like ONE NITE IN MONGKOK, VIVA EROTICA, FULL THROTTLE ] does a strong impression, mainly optically and particularly with his mimic, and performs the action sequences well. These are well choreographed, unbloody swordplay with martial arts and jumps varied, there's also good use of the environment Optically the film is rather lyric - magical, many red and blue contrasts, much fog, added a calm, but appropriate score. Really entertaining 90mins.

Movie has some relation to the other Gu Long picturizations like KILLER CLANS and MAGIC BLADE, Ti Lung has a cameo as his Swordsman Fu and Lo Lieh as the killer Han Tang.