Xuan feng shi ba qi

I'm not sure whether I wasn't paying attention or whether this film really is as confusing as it seemed, because I couldn't figure what was going on for much of the time. Better known in the UK as 18 Shaolin Riders, this is a typical 70s/80s chop-socky epic with perhaps a bigger budget than most. The plot revolves around a band of Robin Hood type riders who steal from the rich to give to the poor, but who are infiltrated by a master criminal from whom they once stole a knife. Or something. There's some carp involved as well, but I really can't be bothered to go there. As if the plot wasn't bad enough, the UK DVD is atrocious: the one I watched was mostly dubbed (as badly as these flicks always are) but for some reason it would revert to subtitles – in mid-conversation sometimes. It's as if a couple of versions have been spliced together, and I'm not entirely sure all the reels are in the right order. Unless you're a die-hard chop-socky fan – and there are some decent fight scenes – avoid this one.

It starts with riders on horseback then a guy tries to pawn a tiny sword. There is an abrupt cut to a man crashing down into a meeting of thieves. He explains he is with the 18 Swirling Riders and they rob from the rich and give to the poor so he will not join their robbery. The escort company moves out and as soon as someone says that it seems safe they are attacked. The robbers discover it was a decoy of rocks instead of treasure. Cut to someone leaves a note warning the swirling riders they have gone too far and are no longer good. Cut again to a big dinner with Chia Ling as the daughter of old master. A young man is putting on an old man disguise and tells her the plan is going well.

At just 12 minutes in there are too many characters and audience confusion. A girl pretending to be a male scholar asks Master Tu many questions about the treasure chest he just escorted. She is exposed as a spy for the swirling riders. With a wave of a fan she removes her face mask and becomes a man again,

Wen Chiang-Long as Lo Yun Chun of the swirling riders and gives a speech about how they are the good guys, in case the audience missed the earlier exposition. He tells Master Tu that his escort company should not accept business from corrupt officials then he has to fight his way out. Chia Ling hauls something away in a cart full of wood along with a funeral procession. They bury a coffin but it seems a treasure chest was involved somehow. A treasure chest is delivered to Don Wong and to their surprise a girl is inside. Fan Dan-Gung explains she planned everything so she could meet the swirling riders. But why? She has the tiny sword from the first scene as an explanation. It seems to relate to her master's murder. They investigate. Eventually they find more people who aren't whom they seem to be, some fantastic flying cuff link weapons, and other stuff that just is not that interesting.

I have to rate it below average. The attempts to make the story interesting by adding all the characters, disguises, weapons, and hidden motives fail because, as Bruce Lee would put it, it lacks emotional content. The only feeling it evokes in the viewer is "who cares?" when all is said and done. Despite reading three negative reviews about this movie I watched it anyway. Other reviewers complained of the poor video. My copy was English dubbed (by the A-list voice actors) and wide screen, not an Ocean Shores VHS to digital file and the resolution was good enough to watch on a modern high definition television. Some of these old movie files are watchable only on a cell phone because of the low resolution. There were abrupt cuts obviously due to missing pieces of film and the dubbing does drop and Chinese is spoken a few times.

A gang of Robin Hood-esque warriors, the Swirling Riders like to steal from the rich to give to the poor. They are also masters of disguise, pulling off latex faces here and there, as well as being some of the finest fighters in the land. And they are also a very odd bunch of people...

After being tricked by a girl in a box who reveals a tiny paper knife, the team agree to help find out who killed her teacher...? Well I think that's what they agreed. The print I was watching was pretty rough on the edit with fast cuts on certain scenes that most probably meant some things got lost along the way!

While it has a lot going on in terms of cast, locations, sets and fights, 18 Shaolin Riders gets a little bit tripped up in itself to start with. Seemingly shot on a decent budget, this Taiwanese made classic aims for mystery and hidden motives with its disguises, double crossings and secret meetings. It's not that it fails to do so, it just doesn't do it wonderfully to begin with and may lose viewers too early.

The cast is great of course with the fantastic leads of Wong Tao, Wen Chaing Lung, Chen Jen Lei and Judy Lee getting the most of the screen time, and not forgetting the star-power of co-stars Chen Sing and Lo Lieh as the bad guys of course. Regular faces of HK and Taiwanese 70's kung fu cinema also pop up throughout!

Although there is never really 18 riders in the film (well, not until the final shot), 18 Shaolin Riders is a very interesting piece overall. I found it to be somewhat experimental in many ways with its cinematography, editing and choreography that tries to give something a little bit different that other films of that time. The fights themselves are far from boring often mixing some wire-fu with fast hand-to-hand combat, and offers some nice stunt work also. I saw shades of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers at times which was interesting mixed with the grounded action.

I say it often, but it would be great to see this film in its original cut, language and ratio as I believe the English dub and release has some major issues that take away from what should have been.

Overall: 18 Shaolin Riders gets better as it moves on delivering an interesting kung fu film with some nice moments!