Director King Hu had a full village constructed for the opening half of the movie, and then left it alone for nine months to give it a weathered look.
Although filming began in 1968, this movie was not completed until 1971.
Director King Hu stated that the Ming Dynasty was a period "when Western influences first reached China", and that he conceived his films as critiques of the unjustified killings depicted in such Western movies as the James Bond film franchise, where the hero indiscriminately guns down faceless enemies.
Due to its length of three hours and twenty minutes, this movie was originally exhibited commercially in two parts.
Number nine on the Hong Kong Film Awards' List of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures.