| When I first encountered this film I really did not want to watch it. "Fourteen Amazons"? OMG NO! It was going to be bad. Women with three inch long leg hair, 5 o'clock shadow, ridiculous costumes, oh it was gonna be bad. But to my great surprise and delight this is actually a good old fashioned martial arts period piece with a twist. Women warriors--not men. There are very very few movies from this Shaw Brothers period that had women really fighting. And it isn't like some movies where women fight a bit but it's still a man's world.
The entire Yang family is slaughtered in an ambush, except for the female members of the family. Now they must band together to take revenge. This isn't a "girls" movie because they have simply substituted women for men. This is real fighting and it's quite good.
A good portion of the first part of the movie is dedicated to introductions and exposition. It may seem to lag but it is of great importance to understand who the characters are and their motivation. Once introductions are done the movie kicks into high gear and doesn't let up!
First time action choreographer Ching Siu-Tung took an all star cast and created one of the best all time martial arts grand epics. There is no lack of fighting or evils to overcome, not to mention revenge. These women are warriors. They are definitely not damsels in distress! On the contrary they take on male opponents without batting an eye. This is down and dirty fighting and all of the fights are violent and look very real. There are also a number of fights with multiple people and it comes off great! A cast with less talent and experience could have turned this into a bad joke, but a huge element of success is due to the strength of the women involved the film works. There are enough battles and hazards to satisfy the hardest action junky The cast includes Ivy Ling Po, Fan Mei-Sheng, Ouyang Shafei, Lisa Lu, Yueh Hu, Li Ching, Lili Ho (who is playing a male character--amazing). There are many weapons expertly used as well as a few open hand fights, many have both. Lo Lieh is a serious villain played with glee and Tin Fung is nearly as evil!
Fourteen Amazons was a huge hit for the Shaw Brothers hitting the theatres in 1972. Lisa Lu won Best Supporting Actress and there was some kind of special award for Outstanding Lead Female Performance for Lily Ho, Best Director Cheng Kang. The film also received an Honorable Mention For Drama. What more could you ask for? This is absolutely the best period piece of female fighting film I have seen! This is a classic epic you will want to have in your collection. You will definitely watch it more than once! |
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