THE INVINCIBLE ARMOUR is a solid piece of period fu that doesn't disappoint when it comes to hard-hitting fight action. The storyline is some needlessly convoluted thing that draws in various sub-plots, the most prominent of which involves a man who is framed for murder and must fight to clear his name while the authorities pursue him. As is usual for this period of kung fu, the heroes are all Ming patriots fighting for their country's dynasty.
The complexities of the narrative pale in comparison to the martial arts involved, which is rather complex. There are no less than three styles studied in-depth here: the titular 'iron armour', which renders the human body impervious to strikes; the 'iron finger' strike, which has the power to combat the 'iron armour' technique, and the 'eagle claw' strike, which is just all-round deadly.
The producers in Hong Kong headed to Taiwan to shoot this on the cheap, but cheap production values mean that they could afford to put a whole host of Hong Kong talent up on the screen. Not least of these is the immortal Hwang Jang Lee as the villain; hidden behind his long white hair and beard, Lee remains as deadly as ever and never disappoints in the fighting stakes. I love the sinister music that accompanies his character wherever he goes (elsewhere, the soundtrack of the spaghetti western DAY OF ANGER is ripped off extensively). John Liu is acceptable as the upstanding young hero out for justice, but the supporting cast is even better. We get Phillip Ko as another long-haired master, while Corey Yuen and Yuen Biao team up for cameos as an assassin pair.
The fight action is hugely entertaining and the strikes are all hard-hitting and convincingly staged. As is usual for these films, the action gets better and better as the running time progresses, finishing with a furious final bout. Yuen Woo-ping worked on the choreography, and it shows. Hard-working director/producer Ng See-Yuen has also handled GAME OF DEATH 2 and THE SECRET RIVALS during his lengthy and illustrious career.
