The New One-Armed Swordsman

The New One-Armed Swordsman (Xin Du Bi Dao) (1971)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Chang Cheh

Starring: David Chiang, Ti Lung, Ku Feng, Li Ching, Chan Sing

From: Shaw Brothers

Featuring an epic bromance.

It's been almost 6 months since viewing anything from Shaw Brothers; as I saw this heavily praised on a random website and I've seen the first two movies in this series way back in 2014, why not choose this?

While it has the same director (Chang Cheh) it has nothing to do with the first two films, starring Jimmy Wang Yu; rather, it has David Chiang as the lead. He is a cocksure young swordsman who loses in a battle to an older master at this art. His punishment: hacking off his own arm! Understandably, he is pretty mopey about it for awhile as he works at a sake joint, where he is bullied by A-holes. Thankfully for him, he both meets a cute young lady known as Ba Jiao and a guy named Feng who he quickly becomes bros with. Really, they call each other “brother”.

I slightly prefer the first two to this; that is no harsh slight as New is still a fun old time for those that enjoy the old wuxia films. It was intriguing seeing how long it took our eponymous hero to pick up a sword again and kick ass. It never becomes boring due to the other person in the bromance, Feng. There was no shortage of intrigue, martial arts or ace swordplay; it was pretty bloody also, with an astounding death that I won't spoil but it raised my eyebrows as I was not expecting something so brutal. The finale is at least a little preposterous... not that it wasn't a blast to watch due to all the carnage that was unleashed.