Shi ren guan shi ba qi

I have a hard time believing this film was made by Joseph kuo. Clearly made towards the end of his career, this film is the least representative of his work i can think of. There are bits and pieces of film swept off the cutting room floor from kuo's magnificent '18 bronze men'. And some of the actors from that film have been hired for this, and some of the costumes have also been salvaged, to maintain the illusion of continuity. But the beauty, scope, and intrinsic dignity of that far superior film are completely missing here. The story is silly, and even allowing the bad dubbing, the dialog is silly, too. The kung-fu is mediocre. the camera-work and editing show neither taste nor skill; fortunately, the film moves along quickly enough to let the matter pass.

The film stars meng fei, and allowing that i have never been a fan of his, his performance here is perfunctory at best by any standards. And he was apparently at the end of his career, as well, because his face is puffy, he's out of shape, and on top of all this, he looks way too old to play the role he was given.

Really, i suggest that this is not a film by Joseph kuo, but a patch-job put together by a Taiwanese studio to cash in on the cult-status kuo had among 'fu film fans at the time.

Okay as a filler, but otherwise useless.

And, until further research proves otherwise, don't credit this - or blame this - on Joseph kuo.