Dirty Ho

If anyone thinks that martial arts films are unsubtle escapism, with violence and little else, then Dirty Ho is a shining example of what they can be. Even from the point of view of the fight sequences, the two 'disguised' fights whilst drinking wine and admiring antiques are as well choreographed as any fights before and since.

However, the nature of the relationship between the Prince and Ho is very deliberate and complex. The Prince, a Manchu, and thus regarded with a great deal of suspicion (if not outright hostility) by southern Chinese, is throughout the film the model of a good Confucian, knowledgeable about all manner of fine art, wine and antiques. Ho is uncouth, rude and violent towards him, yet the superior (and distinctly Chinese) virtue of the Prince ultimately convinces him to serve him.

This is not only a obvious difference from a majority of Hong Kong films, in which the Manchu dynasty tends to be portrayed in a very negative light, as foreign, barbaric invaders, Dirty Ho provides a balance, indeed in some ways in represents the way the Manchu (Qing) dynasty, initially a foreign and, to the Chinese, barbaric people, soon was assimilated to become more Chinese than the Chinese.

And besides that, it is a fantasticly crafted martial arts film, with all the usual training sequences and an absolutely brilliant stylised fight sequence during the opening credits.

No pun intended - families can be a good and a bad thing I reckon! Also sibling rivalry can obviously go beyond just teasing and be mad at each other. That all being said, we first get to learn the two main characters. Who don't seem to keen of each other ... but we know things can change - will that happen here too? This we will have to see.

What really was interesting: most weapons looked fake in previous movies, but it seems they have used better material for some of the weapons here. Shiny metal and all that - still fake probably, but not as obvious as they were before. Another small note: I had forgotten about how they treat their hair - especially the long ones where they (s)wipe it back, either with their hand or just a small head movement - both looking cool.

The movie also introduces a lot of humor - even making fun of previous Shaw Brothers entries - the one armed series and so many more - pulling back the curtain/fourth wall and all that. You have to dig the comedy/teasing of course. There is also gender based stuff here - they really were ahead of their time in some aspects. And if you like the fighting ... well there is a lot of that too. Plus the training - where fire was away or shot in a way where it probably was not close to any of the actors ... it is different here too ... the stakes are high - the kicks are too! No pun intended.

Classic Gordon Liu... not only does he wear a mustache, but his fight scenes are excellent.

If you are a Shaw Bros. or Gordon Liu fan, this one is not to be missed. This one is screened as a comedy with Kung Fu, not the other way around, and it is excellent.

Felt like it was more concerned with comedy than action, and either the comedy didn't translate well or I'm just a bit out of it, because I didn't really understand a lot of the humour here (what I'm assuming was meant to be funny, that is).

If anyone knows what was up with those scenes where people were sort of sparring while conversing and also trying to make it look like they weren't fighting, I'd love to know. I just didn't get what was going on, truly.

Some of the more traditional martial arts scenes were satisfying, though. The last 20 minutes were particularly great (it even did the normal speed to slow motion back to normal speed technique decades before Zack Snyder popularised it).

Not bad overall, but I'm a little sad I didn't completely get or appreciate what it was going for at points.

This review is based on the version I watched on Prime Video.

Firstly, the dubbing is absolutely atrocious. I always prefer to watch these movies in the original language with subtitles, but this option wasn't available and I had to settle for the excruciating American dubbing.

The over the top sound effects in some scenes was very cringey, and so this movie mainly suffers on the audio alone.

The other negative point was the abrupt ending, as it would have been nice to have an explanation for the assassination attempts on Wang. I was originally going to rate this a 7 for these 3 points, but thought I'd be generous as the film makers can't be blamed for the dubbing.

I had no expectations on this movie and hadn't heard of it before doing a search for Gordon Liu movies, and I wasn't disappointed. The story isn't ground breaking, but it is rather deep for a movie of it's genre, but the movie really excels in the fight sequences.

The fighting is beautifully choreographed, and the subtle style used throughout is impressive, impeccably timed and entertaining to watch. As the movie progressed, I realised a striking similarity to moves later used by Jackie Chan in his movies (not that he copied the moves but there's definitely similarity).