Featuring an ensemble cast of Hu regulars and other familiar faces, the plot is somewhat muddled with too many characters making things rather confusing – you may need to watch this twice over to keep track of what’s actually going on. The story, set during the Ming-era, even begins with an explanation of sorts and we know that Chinese officials have – for quite some time it would seem – tried in vain to protect China from nasty Japanese pirates – led by the notorious Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung) – and an assortment of corrupt government officials. In desperation, the Emperor (Lei Zhao) entrusts General Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi) with a very special task: he is to assemble a group of extremely skilled warriors (the valiant ones) to first discover the pirates’ hideout and then eliminate them. So far, so good! Overseeing the operation is General Yu Da-you (Roy Chiao) who indeed assembles a band of feisty warriors, including fierce husband-and-wife sword fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Ying Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Feng Hsu) whose outfit, including a white turban, suggests that she belongs to an ethnic minority group living in China. At the other end of the spectrum we have the aforementioned pirate leader Hakatatsu, followed by Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) – the apparent owner of ‘pirate island’ (which turns out to be not quite an island) and Yuen Siu-tien as an expert archer.
This then is the premise in a nutshell though of course, it’s nowhere as simple as that. For one, it all takes a while to get going… even assembling the band of valiant ones takes time. Once they set off on their journey and have to fight off various foes, things get considerably more complicated when representatives from the Japanese side initially offer their help… though are they really what they seem to be and as the journey continues, can General Yu and his fighters trust anyone? The fight scenes (Sammo Hung was responsible for much of the choreography) look stunning and dynamic – whether in close-up or long shot – though it’s a shame that obviously some wire work was used which makes this tale, inspired by historical events, look less realistic.
When our Valiant Ones finally get to confront the pirates, one of the biggest surprises is perhaps Hakatasu’s bizarre make-up – what’s that all about? Really, Cap’n Jack Sparrow’s eyeliner fades into insignificance compared to the make-up Sammo Hung sports… or perhaps it is a nod to the fact that in younger years, up-and-coming Sammo Hung was a student at the Peking Opera School in Hong Kong. Or perhaps pirate leader Hakatasu is a fan of Kabuki, who knows.
Either way, the showdown (and of course, the build-up before the showdown) is perfectly staged and excellently performed though one word of warning: there is no happy ending here!
Cinematographer Cing-Chu Chen and editor King Hu both have worked their magic here and thanks to the new 4K restoration, the picture looks even more glorious.
Bonus material includes optional English subtitles (original soundtrack in Mandarin), audio commentary, interviews, video essays, archival interviews plus a Collector’s booklet. The first print run (2000 copies only) is presented in a Limited Edition O-card slipcase.
