Viewer Comments:The Shadow Whip
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Excellent kung fu flick. I loved the whip as an unconventional weapon, especially when it starts pulling legs off. Another wonderfully unconventional thing about the movie is its setting: this is the first kung fu movie I can think of that takes place in the snow. It's these little things that really help this one stand out, in addition to the great fight sequences and good twisting and turning plot.
Very entertaining movie featuring the beautiful and talented Cheng Pei Pei who uses the whip as her weapon. Tien Feng (the Whip Master) gives an excellent performance. Great old school classic with a good storyline. Plenty of fights. Highly recommended.
-Roger Judd, Jr. (see my profile)
| Entertaining martial arts film with the intoxicating Cheng Pei-Pei as a master swordfighter known for her deadly skill wielding a powerful whip. While the fights between swords and whip may seem a little far-fetched, the film wields a compelling story of vengeance and past crimes, invoking as much a mystery as an action story. Typical for Shaw Bros films, the sets are magnificent and the color photography is beautiful... The setting is snowy northern China so we have interesting scenes on horseback in the snow and ancient icicled fortresses, and Cheng is equally compelling in a white fur cap and winter outfit. The musical score, also typical of Shaw Bros films of the era, is needle-dropped from John Barry’s James Bond scores, except for original opening and closing title music, attributed to Wang Fook-Ling. A very enjoyable revenge thriller/crime mystery set in ancient China with beautifully designed group fights and an interesting conception in its whip-versus-sword, despite a proclivity toward some pretty unconvincing flying/soaring through the air moments. |
This is unquestionably one of Lo Wei's best efforts. I disagree with the previous reviewer who said that the fight scenes were not very good. The fights are very well orchestrated in this film. I dislike sped up choreography and this film may possibly have one or two very short scenes of sped up fights. However, I do not remember being disappointed with any of the action in this film. There's a great scene where Ku Feng (one of the greatest actors in this genre) plays an excellent villain busting up a tavern. Yueh Hua is excellent in this film as well. The cinematography is stunning and somewhat rare for this film was shot in the middle of winter and deep snow is everywhere.
This film is a great representative of the vintage martial arts cinema produced by Shaw Brothers. A must have for any fan of this genre.
| AGREE? | READER COMMENTS | AUTHOR |
| Y | i agree with you're review this is a fantastic movie cheng pei pei fans will be disappointed. | kung fu kid |
This is a pretty good movie, which is made much better by the prescence of the beautiful Cheng Pei Pei. The story involves a villain who is searching for Cheng Pei Pei's guardian. The villain suspects Cheng Pei Pei was trained by the man he seeks because of her prowess with the whip. Most of the fight scenes, however, are not very good. The fight scenes are obviously speeded-up, and whips are such inferior weapons as to be laughable. (Ever heard of a really famous martial artist in history who used a whip?). Still, the story is pretty good and you have Cheng Pei Pei to look at...
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