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The Battle Wizard

Original title: Tian long ba bu
  • 1977
  • 1h 17m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
649
YOUR RATING
Chen-Chi Lin and Danny Lee in The Battle Wizard (1977)
ActionFantasy

A bookish young man and his sword-loving sister find themselves battling a trio of villains, one of them a beautiful but masked woman who has promised to either marry or murder the first man... Read allA bookish young man and his sword-loving sister find themselves battling a trio of villains, one of them a beautiful but masked woman who has promised to either marry or murder the first man to see her unmasked.A bookish young man and his sword-loving sister find themselves battling a trio of villains, one of them a beautiful but masked woman who has promised to either marry or murder the first man to see her unmasked.

  • Director
    • Hsueh-Li Pao
  • Writers
    • Louis Cha
    • Kuang Ni
  • Stars
    • Danny Lee
    • Ni Tien
    • Chen-Chi Lin
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    649
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hsueh-Li Pao
    • Writers
      • Louis Cha
      • Kuang Ni
    • Stars
      • Danny Lee
      • Ni Tien
      • Chen-Chi Lin
    • 12User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

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    Top cast38

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    Danny Lee
    Danny Lee
    • Prince Tuan Yu
    Ni Tien
    Ni Tien
    • Mu Wan-Ching
    • (as Tanny)
    • …
    Chen-Chi Lin
    Chen-Chi Lin
    • Chung Ling-erh
    Chuen Chiang
    Chuen Chiang
    Han Chiang
    Han Chiang
    • Sze-Kung Hsuan
    Tao Chiang
    Tao Chiang
    • Yueh Chang-lung
    Lu Chin
    Lu Chin
    • Chin Hung-Mien
    Norman Chu
    Norman Chu
      Ping Ha
      Ping Ha
      • Madam Chung
      • (as Teresa Hsia Ping)
      Shu-Hua Hsin
      • Chief Chung
      Chih-Kuang Huang
      Ling-Ling Hung
      Ling-Ling Hung
      • Shu Baifeng
      Hsiung Kao
      Hsiung Kao
      Chan-Hsiung Ku
      Tsan-Hsiung Ku
      Ta Lei
      Ta Lei
      Ho Li-Jen
      Ho Li-Jen
        Shang-Yun Liang
        • Director
          • Hsueh-Li Pao
        • Writers
          • Louis Cha
          • Kuang Ni
        • All cast & crew
        • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

        User reviews12

        6.1649
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        Featured reviews

        10gavjacob

        I can't even begin to describe the brilliance

        *this is my first review* This movie us a masterpiece. The editing alone makes it one of the best movies ever made. The CGI for that time (1977) was above and beyond what was normal for that time, and rivals even movies coming out today, such as Avengers: Infinity War. The brilliant script was enough to convince George Lucas to make Star Wars. Anyone can see that it is a blatant rip-off of this work of art. One tiny flaw was the acting. It was, sadly subpar for a screenplay this astounding. I am forced to give it a 9.7 out of 10. (This saddens me deeply.) In conclusion, I recommend that you watch this movie at least 71 times (to realize the true meaning). I have seen this ingenious film ~3000 times (coming up on 4 years and 2 months), and I'm still picking up on the subtle references. My daily routine involves me watching this film twice a day - in the morning and at night. I would also recommend you force your friends and family to watch this. It will enrich your life and those around you tremendously. I had depression, my girlfriend broke up with me and I lost my job. I was on the verge of giving up until this movie stumbled into my life. I now have a loving wife, 3 kids, a steady job and an amazing best friend. I beseech all those that read this to watch the movie. Your lives are missing so much. I was lost until I found this. I never realized how much I was be missing until it stared me in the face. (A metaphor for those that don't understand what I mean: you don't realize how cold you are until you lose your sweater. In the same way you don't know what you're missing until you see it right in front of you.)
        7Leofwine_draca

        FX fuelled wackiness

        THE BATTLE WIZARD is a wacky, effects-fuelled martial world romp from Shaw that once again features Danny Lee in a kind of superhero-style role. This one came out just four months after STAR WARS and may have been influenced by that film's reliance on then-cutting edge FX technology. It's a short, fast-paced little adventure, with a ton of action and bizarre touches to make it enjoyable; Chiang Tao's half-human terminator and the fighting gorilla are highlights here. The guy with metal legs is also a hoot, and Tien Ni has a great role as a conflicted femme fatale.
        7daustin

        Wacky kung fu freakout

        This is one of the crazy ones, along the lines of Buddha's Palm or Holy Flame of the Martial World, though not as fun or inventive. Danny Lee plays a scholar who is uninterested in kung fu, who pursues the "Red Python" which can grant great power. His task is complicated by his philandering father, the cute Lin Chen-chi and her magical snakes, and angry Tanny Tien-ni and her dagger-shooting leg bone.

        The movie is filled wacky costumes, fake monsters, goofy visual effects, and kung fu "laser" beams. As short as it is, it still gets a bit bogged down in dialogue and exposition. Still, there's enough craziness along the way to hold you until the mind-blowing ending , which features Danny Lee fighting a kung fu gorilla, and a man on retractable metal chicken legs who fires flames out of his mouth. Worth watching, at least for the ending.
        6markovd111

        You won't know what you have watched, but you will still be amazed!

        This is one of those "so bad it's good" type of movies. Plot and editing are all over the place, as are action scenes, but that doesn't matter when people shoot laser beams from their hands and spit fire like dragons. It's a great to watch with your mate to laugh and question life while watching it. I give it 6/10 though. Not everyone can watch this and the movie has a very slow beginning. I recommend it just to hardcore fans of kung fu movies and bad movies!
        7alisonc-1

        Let the Zaniness Begin!

        A bookish young man named Tuan Yu (Danny Lee) believes that he doesn't need to learn to fight; his father, the brother of the king, disagrees and Tuan Yu decides to walk about in the world to see if he does need that skill. He soon meets Chung Ling-erh (Chen-Chi Lin), a snake-loving girl, who promises to teach him kung fu if he will teach her to read. In the meantime, Miss Mu (Ni Tien) is a fighter without compare, who always wears a mask and vows to either kill or marry any man who sees her face. The three soon find themselves facing all sorts of danger, not least from the husband of a woman who was having an affair with Tuan Yu's father. They will need to find a red snake, a deadly green toad and a lot of courage to make it through....

        This is one of the Shaw Brothers films that makes almost no sense if you try to think about it logically, but is a lot of fun to look at anyway. There's all sorts of mayhem, including a gorilla (or rather, a man in a gorilla suit), bullet-like objects being shot from some characters' fingers, a guy who periodically belches out fire and oh, so much more! This film was rushed out just four or five months after the original "Star Wars" film, which it definitely seeks to emulate in terms of what were then state-of-the-art special effects; and it looks just as silly to modern eyes today as that original "Star Wars" does (I mean that affectionately). Tons of fun!

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        Related interests

        Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
        Action
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        Fantasy

        Storyline

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        Did you know

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        • Trivia
          The sound that the antagonist (Yellow Robe Man in the English subtitles) makes when breathing fire in the final fight scene was created using the call of the Chinese crested tern, a critically endangered species of bird at the time of production.
        • Goofs
          Chung Ling-erh makes a deal with the Prince to teach him kung-fu if he will teach her to read. This never takes place in the film, but towards the end she adeptly scribes a message onto one of her snakes to send to the Chief, showing that she already knew how to read and write.

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        Details

        Edit
        • Release date
          • September 9, 1977 (Hong Kong)
        • Country of origin
          • Hong Kong
        • Language
          • Mandarin
        • Also known as
          • Das Blut der roten Python
        • Production company
          • Shaw Brothers
        • See more company credits at IMDbPro

        Tech specs

        Edit
        • Runtime
          • 1h 17m(77 min)
        • Color
          • Color
        • Sound mix
          • Mono
        • Aspect ratio
          • 2.35 : 1

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