Death Duel

It's always a treasure to find a martial arts film adapted from a novel, because for once the story and dialogue are extremely solid and taken care of in advance, freeing up the producers to focus on what we really showed up to see: High flying, fast cutting, Martial Arts action.

And the action in DEATH DUEL is almost non-stop, as Derek Yee (Tung-Shing Yee), playing the former Champion of the Swordplay World now renounced and resigned as the "Hopeless Ah Chi" struggles to carve out a quiet life as a wanderer as old rivals turn up to claim the fame of defeating him.

And by God, Derek Yee, probably has his best ever performance here. You truly feel Ah Chi's distress, and this film required a strong lead for such an emotional narrative direction.

Likewise, the film seems very much intent on keeping things dark. A lot of the scenes take place at night, and there's even a fight where two characters are deliberately knocked into ceiling lanterns just to darken the room. Maybe there is a symbolism here, or a contrast that is supposed to highlight when the characters are finally out in the sun, or in the sunset. Interesting to observe.

The world in DEATH DUEL, the way of the wandering swordsman, and the pursuit of fame within the martial arts world, it's all brutal, and it's one where you don't really want to imagine being a part of. But no matter, you enjoy and still watch because it really feels like true hearts and souls are on the line. That is what a good martial arts movie, a dramatic story itself, should set out to be.

Score: 10/10

If you are considered one of the best sword man ... well you know you will have others who will test that. And that is putting it mildly. It doesn't matter how you feel about things or how you treat others, it is about the title. Well that is what most would say of course.

Then again how much of a reason do we need to see Sword fights in a Shaw Brothers movie? Exactly! But it is refreshing to see that a plan is put in place, that while wicked and morally very low ... it is something many may have wondered ... like why don't you try a dirty trick on someone that is unbeatable? Here we get something that is satisfying and despicable at the same time. The story may seem like it is knitted together by a string but it still works. And consdering this probably was all shot in a studio ... well it really looks good for that. Not to mention the really good stunts (forget about the fake blood and enjoy it for what it is)

I tend to really like 1970s martial arts movies, but I wasn't feeling this one. Death Duel feels like the third or fourth movie in a series, since it hits the ground running albeit not in a particularly thrilling or coherent way, but from what I can tell, it's not. It just felt muddled and confusing to me, and even if I was to accept that it's simply about a guy coming into a town and making a bunch of enemies because he has a reputation as a warrior (which I think is what's going on here, at the end of the day), it's still a bit poorly paced and assembled as far as the writing's concerned.

I need just a little something to care about, on top of the action. As for the action, it's serviceable here, but it also didn't wow me, compared to most Shaw Brothers movies from either this decade or the first half of the 1980s. It was a movie that felt a bit like it was on autopilot.

And autopilot Shaw Brothers is still competent. You do get some action here that's sort of well-choreographed, and I got the sense everyone knew what they were doing (people behind the camera, fight choreographer(s), actors, stunt-people), but no one really went above and beyond.

Death Duel sort of just happened for about 90 minutes and then it ended. At least the action was okay and it wasn't longer than 90 minutes. It won't stick with me, but neither did it offend me, so whatever.

Pleasing purposeful and taut Swordsplay - movie based on stories by Gu Long, about the supremacy of the Jiang Hu. Third master [ Derek Yee ] is the #1 at the moment , considered as the best sword fighter, but he's tired of his way of life, pretends his death and begins a simple life. Too early for Yen Shi kwan [ Ling Yun ], who aimed the whole life for fame and the answer if he could be the real #1.

Death Duel is a little different from other Gu Long movies directed also by Chu Yuan, no obscure jumble of plot and persons here, it's strictly concentrated oh Third Master and his tries to survive the power struggle, where he's attacked again and again. The then 20yrs old Derek Yee [ now director of movies like ONE NITE IN MONGKOK, VIVA EROTICA, FULL THROTTLE ] does a strong impression, mainly optically and particularly with his mimic, and performs the action sequences well. These are well choreographed, unbloody swordplay with martial arts and jumps varied, there's also good use of the environment Optically the film is rather lyric - magical, many red and blue contrasts, much fog, added a calm, but appropriate score. Really entertaining 90mins.

Movie has some relation to the other Gu Long picturizations like KILLER CLANS and MAGIC BLADE, Ti Lung has a cameo as his Swordsman Fu and Lo Lieh as the killer Han Tang.

I really enjoyed this movie, but must admit I spent the whole time feeling disappointed at the same time.

The story is really good, delivering an interesting tale supported by mostly good acting. The fighting is a bit hit and miss, some of the fights are good others, not so much.

It then dawned on me that this movie screams 'remake', however I think we have missed the chance to see it at its best.

For those of you into this genre, picture this movie in your minds eye with Jet Li in it during his prime? OMG.

It would have been one of the all time classics!