The Water Margin

Based on historical events of the 12th century, "Water Margin" tells the story of 108 heroes referred to (by their enemies) as the "Liangshan bandits". They want to fight against a corrupt government, and therefore they ask 2 famous fighters to join them. These 2 are reluctant at first, but get into trouble with the so-called law very soon. Thus they don't really have freedom of choice anymore.

"Water Margin" is a fine example of Eastern classics produced by Shaw Brothers who got a cast full of stars together including Tetsuro Tamba as Master Lu. The best role, however, went to David Chiang as his right hand man Yen Ching, the Young Dragon. With irresistible charm, he defeats anybody - from pretty ladies to fierce fighters. The movie begins slow, introducing countless characters, but becomes very powerful and gripping in the second half. One recurring theme of the musical score seems to be inspired by Carlo Rustichelli's music for "I quattro dell'Ave Maria", which reminds the audience once again how often western movies and kung-fu cinema influenced each other. "Water Margin" was later followed by the sequel "All Men Are Brothers".

First time i saw this film was back when I was 5 years old. We had it in beta format. it was titled Seven blows of the dragon. The fight scenes and weapon usage is flawless. Epic. unforgettable. Last time I ever saw this film was more than 20 years a go. Now, amazingly, it has been released on DVD in it's original title on the Shaw Brothers DVD collection. ( Everybody note, the DVD title of this film is "The Water Margin" ) I also found a sequel of this film called "All men are brothers", but it's no where near as good as this film. Rent it, enjoy it. It will definitely build you up towards one of the most intense final confrontations you've ever seen on a kung-fu movie of this kind.

If you want a great martial arts flick with unbelievable choreography check this masterpiece out well worth your time to watch and savor!!!! David Chiang shines in this movie his grace and style is a wonder to behold.Hunt this movie down now! If you enjoy any kind of action/martial arts movie you will not be disappointed!

The Water Margin is the Avengers: Infinity War of Shaw Brothers movies, though I'm not sure if any other chapters of the epic story it partially adapted here were necessarily told in other movies. It still feels like getting introduced to a story that's ongoing; maybe like coming to the end of Marvel's third Phase without watching anything from the firsty 10 years of the MCU (I double down on the superhero movie comparison there, making it even more likely that I'm going to annoy someone).

I guess the comparison came to me because there are so many characters here, and even though I've only really scratched the surface of everything made by Shaw Brothers, I still recognized a ton of actors here (the movie probably gets an extra half-star for David Chiang; I just always like seeing him on screen, and he's cool/charming).

Action is okay. Pacing stays fast because of how much is happening and how many characters there are, but those qualities also make things harder to follow. It feels a little more like a drama than an action movie at times, but maybe that's a consequence of watching it a couple of days after John Woo's martial arts film Last Hurrah for Chivalry, which was probably more than 50% action; just relentless stuff.

"The Water Margin" is based on a great ancient tale from Chinese literature. HOwever, it's not the entire story--just a small portion of the text "Shuihu Zhuan". I am certainly no expert on it--and that's a serious problem, as I had a lot of trouble understanding the context for the film as well as the sheer number of characters. Keeping track of them was impossible for me though I assume many Chinese viewers would be far more material with the characters and source material. I wish I could have sat and watched this with a Chinese scholar--and it's very likely you'll feel the same way. The story is about revenge and abuse of power--but I did have significant trouble following the story. And, although it's a Shaw Brothers film, martial arts are not that prominent in the movie. My advice is that if you know the story well, watch it. I have no idea how to score it for you. But, for the average fan of martial arts flicks who is NOT familiar with the story, I say skip it--it's just too confusing and the action isn't enough to keep your interest.

By the way, when this film began, my uncle turned to me and asked a very obvious question--'how are those boats moving so fast?'. This is because the ships' sails are not down and there are no oars--yet the ships are going VERY fast across the water! This is supposed to be the Middle Ages--yet the boats appear to be moving as a result of outboard motors. Could the ancient Chinese have been THAT clever? I think not--though they were darned advanced at the time!

By the way, much of the soundtrack for this film was 'borrowed' from the Hollywood film "Hang 'em High". It's pretty weird, as the original film was a western made to look and sound like a spaghetti western--and now it's in a Chinese martial arts film!