The bare bones plot goes like this. Members of a kung fu school (Jack Long, Mark Long and Chang Yu Yu) come to the aid of an old man and his daughter who are attacked by two hired killers. After a fantastic opening fight the hitmen are defeated but later their masters (Carter Wong and Lo Lieh) arrive at the school to kill the old man themselves. Carter Wong plays an evil white haired Tai Chi expert, dubbed with a ridiculously high voice, who can control his breathing to make his body impervious to any blows. Lo Lieh plays the other main villain, effectively as ever, who carries a tonfa with hidden blades.

After a duel that leaves the school's teacher, eldest student and the old man dead, the remaining students swear revenge and go into hiding in the hills where they continue their training. It now falls to the remaining senior students (Jack Long, Mark Long and Chang Yu Yu) to uphold the school's honour but to succeed they must discover Carter Wong's weak spot.

Combining the expert choreography of Yuen Woo Ping with the martial arts mastery of Lo Lieh, Jack Long and Carter Wong 'Born Invincible' contains some classic fights. There's some great weapons sequences, especially swordplay, as well as some excellent hand to hand fighting. I imagine that this is one film that I am going to be watching over and over again.

BORN INVINCIBLE opens with a montage showing a youth learning the techniques of Tai Chi. A narration explains the rigors of Tai Chi, and the effects it has on the individuals who learn it. When a person masters Tai Chi, their body becomes impregnable to any weapon. But a side effect of mastering Tai Chi is that the person’s hair turns white by age thirty, and their voices attain a high tone. One such Tai Chi master is the villainous Chief Chin (Carter Wong) of the Chin Yin Chi clan. While students of the Lei Ping Kung Fu school go through an early morning training session, they witness two thugs from the Chin Yin Chi clan chase an old man and his daughter over the hill. The thugs start beating the helpless old man, much to the chagrin of his horrified daughter. The lead student, Ming Tu (Jack Long) interrupts the attack and warns the thugs to stop. Of course, they don’t and the first Kung Fu battle of the film begins. Some other students get involved along with Ming Tu, and the thugs use some weapons on the students. Ming Tu manages to fight off the duo, but not before one of his fellow students is mortally wounded. The two thugs warn the students that the Chin Yin Chi clan will be back in force to kill them. Ming Tu escorts the old man and his daughter back to the Lei Ping school, where the wise master takes them under his protection.

The two leaders of the Chin Yin Chi clan, Chief Chin and Chin Pa (Lo Lieh) show up at the Lei Ping school, demanding that the master hand over the old man. He refuses and one of his top pupils offers to go and fight for the schools honor. Despite his magnificent martial arts ability, he is no match against the Chin Yin Chi’s top dogs. Realizing the serious predicament they are in, the master himself goes to face the aggressors. Before doing so, he instructs his students to carry on the school’s name, and he selects Ming Tu as his successor, should he not survive the duel. The master and the Chin Yin Chi fighters engage in mortal combat, and soon the wise one is overpowered and killed. The old man, having taken an oath of peace, picks up a sword for the first time in twenty years and leaps into battle. His skills prove very admirable, but he too is taken down by the powerful duo. The students are horrified, and realize they cannot stand up to the invulnerable Chief Chin. The old man’s daughter is shattered. Ming Tu assumes leadership of the school and promises his students that the school will continue as the master intended, with him in charge. He also promises them that together they will take revenge against the Chin Yin Chi clan. Ming Tu comes up with a plan to take Chin Pa out of the equation, since he is not invulnerable like his cohort. So he walks into the Chin Yin Chi shrine and challenges the jackal-like Chin Pa to a duel. Chin Pa’s weapon of choice is a loaded steel baton with a blade that wounds his opponents. Ming Tu falls victim to this weapon, but escapes from the shrine.

This defeat only makes him more determined to beat Chin Pa. Ming Tu begins undergoing even more rigorous training to prepare for the next confrontation. He thinks up an way to counter Chin Pa’s baton--by covering his sword in oil so his opponent can’t get a grip on it. Sure enough, this works, and Ming Tu is finally able to kill Chin Pa. Chief Chin discovers the death of his comrade and goes looking for Ming Tu. Ming seeks additional training before he can face Chief Chin, but is forced into a confrontation with him. Ming cannot defeat the Tai Chi master, because he has no weak spot. Eventually, Chief Chin beats Ming unmercifully. The next senior pupil of the Wei Ping school, Sa Chien (Mark Long) takes charge since Ming Tu is out of action. He trains hard to beat Chief Chin, but when the inevitable confrontation takes place, Sa Chien cannot get the job done. The next pupil to uphold his school’s good name is Lu Chien (Chang Yu Yu). Lu Chien is wily and faces down the Tai Chi master, with the assistance of his deceased master’s daughter. With the aid of the revenge-driven daughter, Lu Chien discovers that Chief Chin has one invulnerable spot after all--but getting him to expose it is near impossible. Will Lu Chien find a way to defeat the undefeatable, or will Chief Chin crush the Lei Ping school entirely?

The plot of BORN INVINCIBLE is your typical revenge-driven narrative, with a few unexpected twists. Instead of the film focusing on one hero who undergoes special training to defeat the more powerful opponent, the movie has three protagonists. Believe it or not, this makes for more suspense and intrigue because you don’t know which good guy is going to topple the villain. Since BORN INVINCIBLE has three heroic characters, this means the film has three times the training sequences, which are a staple of these films. The training techniques are varied, and Jospeh Kuo is careful not to repeat the same techniques. Kuo perfectly balances the 12 fight sequences with the complex plot, and there is never a dull moment. Yuen Woo Ping’s fight choreography is so breathtaking and relentless that it leaves the viewer exhausted by the final confrontation (and a little jaded). BORN INVINCIBLE also includes plenty of bloody death scenes to please even the most bloodthirsty viewers. To contrast this ugliness, Kuo paints a lush visual canvas with almost-artsy photography in many scenes. The end result is that all areas of the production (action, plot, cinematography, etc.) are much higher than average.

This is easily Carter Wong’s best overall movie. Not because it offers his best fighting, because he fights defensively through most of the picture (if you are invulnerable, you don’t need a high-powered offense). His character has quite a physical presence and I don’t remember him looking so huge and intimidating in any of his other films. In one sequence he draws the Tai Chi Kung Fu symbol on the ground with his feet, in between beating his opponent. Visually, this symbol is seen everywhere throughout BORN INVINCIBLE, a nice touch from Joseph Kuo. What makes Carter Wong’s evil character so memorable (besides his invulnerability) is that his voice is so high. Even though his character is a Tai Chi master, Wong exhibits very little Tai Chi in his fighting techniques. Lo Lieh is equally good as the baton-wielding Chin Pa. Lieh, always typecast as a villain, excels in the role. Jack Long makes quite a debut as the sly, diligent hero who must overcome the impossible. Mark Long on the other hand, does not fare so well as the generic fighter Sa Chien.

SIGHT
BORN INVINCIBLE was originally released in the 1.85.1 aspect ratio. The transfer on Xenon’s DVD is full frame 1.33.1. The image is not pan and scanned—the positioning of the film-to-video process focuses on the center of the frame. Picture loss is minimal (we are not talking a 2.35.1 to 1.33.1 conversion here); the scope of the fight scenes are not impacted, although Wo Kuo Hsiau’s picturesque cinematography is. But this minimal loss in real estate is not the main problem. The source print exhibits a ton of wear and scratches. Yet the transfer still retains a sharp luster, with full-bodied colors. There is no softness in the image, like the transfer for CHINESE SUPER NINJAS. The other saving grace is the perfectly calibrated black level, which allows the colors to really stand out. The detail level is good and allows you to appreciate the period costumes and sets. Yuen Woo Ping’s intricate fight choreography is not lost in this transfer—it still blows you away. The title sequence for BORN INVINCIBLE features students of the Lei Ping school practicing Kung Fu in a field, while the credits flash onscreen. The credits are very slightly cropped. Though the source material is flawed, the movie is so good that I don’t feel guilty recommending it to action junkies (imperfections and all).

SOUND
The soundtrack is a solid Dolby Digital Mono 2.0. This is a movie that relies heavily on audio, and this two channel mix does the trick nicely. The soundtrack is full of kicks, chops, slashing swords, and other fantastic weapons. For some reason, when Carter Wong’s character uses his Tai Chi there a comedic sound bite that just seems way out of place. Also, the voice of Wong’s Tai Chi master has an annoyingly high pitch. This is not because the dubbing is haphazard, it’s actually that way on purpose. Just check out the original trailer (included on the DVD) and you’ll hear how much more annoying his voice is in the original language (even in the native language the character’s vocals are altered). The dubbing is more tolerable than most films of this kind, with only a couple "but stills". The English dialog is clear and natural. The musical score is an important reason why BORN INVINCIBLE is as good as it is. Composer Chen Shien Chi comes up with many different styles of music, which gives the viewer an impression that several orchestras were employed. Some of the music is synthesizer heavy. The score is rooted in the historical time period that the movie takes place. Some of the music is appropriately intense for the fight scenes, and in others its quite emotional to support the drama. The soundtrack is free from distortion, and holds up even at increased volume levels. There is a couple pops, but no audio drop-outs or background noise.

FEATURES
Xenon’s BORN INVINCIBLE DVD features some colorful menus with attractive artwork and fluid navigation. Included are talent bios (with photos and filmographies) for Joseph Kuo, Yuen Woo Ping, Carter Wong, Jack Long, and Mark Long. The extra Carter Wong fight footage consists of an exhibition match from THE PRINCESS AND THE TOXICANT. This sequence is full frame, mono, and runs 4.05. The quality is good. The other bonus footage consists of Carter and a female martial artist battling a nasty priest, with the help of some early wire-fu. This sequence from SHAOLIN MYSTAGOGUE is 1.85.1, mono, and runs 2:47. The quality is very good. Finally, is the original Chinese theatrical trailer for BORN INVINCIBLE. This cool trailer is full frame, mono, and runs 4:04. Quality is poor. It’s good to see Xenon making a conscious effort to add content to their martial arts DVDs.

CONCLUSION
The key to a superior Kung Fu film, is that it has to have a villain with truly menacing presence and ability. Carter Wong makes for one of the penultimate martial arts villains of all time in BORN INVINCIBLE. Thanks to Joseph Kuo’s assured direction, all other elements of the film live up to the precedence set by Wong. The only fly in the ointment is the flawed full frame transfer. But since the independent BORN INVINCIBLE is neither a Shaw Brothers nor a Golden Harvest production, there is unlikely to be any restoration (ala Hong Kong Legends) if ever. There is a 99 percent probability that this title will never be revisited again. To end this review on a more positive note, Xenon’s authoring, menus, and especially the extras, have improved dramatically.

'Born Invincible' contains what many consider to be Carter Wong's strongest performance; playing the crazed Chi Kung master, Wong enjoys every minute of his scenery chewing role. Yet again, Joesph Kuo shows how a little imagination in the department of antagonists always adds a fresh appeal to independent features. Kuo adds to this larger-than-life character by giving the viewer plenty of fight action to savour and making it original to boot. Legendary choreographer Yuen Woo Ping makes sure that this particular quality is emphasised throughout the course of the film. 'Born Invincible' is far from flawless though and there are reasons why it doesn't quite reach its potential. Foremost among these is the pace - the story moves along too quickly! This is not a common criticism of kung-fu genre, but in this instance the viewer is barraged by a series of events that happen with little exposition. A familiar pattern soon emerges: hero mentions training; hero is seen to train for a minute or so; hero immediately meets up with intended foe. By the time the hour mark is passed and variations of this formula occur, the viewer is left with barely enough time to take these events in. It's also fair to say that Kuo shoots himself in the foot by creating such an impressive villain and then trying to find an effective way to defeat him, something which isn't well achieved. Nonetheless this is still worth catching and, due to its short running time, it doesn't have the chance to outstay its welcome.