San suk san geen hap (1983)

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writers:

Shui Chung Yuet (writer)
Jerrold Mundis (writer)

Release Date:

5 February 1983 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Horror | Adventure | Action | Fantasy

Plot:

Chinese soldiers in an ancient civil war get caught up in a fantastical quest to save the universe.

Plot Keywords:

Mountain | Magic | Ghost | Quest | Sword

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Biao Yuen	...	Ti Ming Chi
Hoi Mang	...	Yi Chen (as Hoi Man)
Adam Cheng	...	Ting Yin
Moon Lee	...	Mu Sang, Countess's Guard
Brigitte Lin	...	Countess
Damian Lau	...	Abbott Hsiao Yu
Sammo Hung Kam-Bo	...	Fat Man / Chang Mei
Judy Ongg	...	Li I chi
Norman Chu	...	Heaven's Blade
Hark Tsui	...	Guy fighting Fat Man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hark-On Fung	...	Evil Disciple
Kwan-Li Shen	...	Chi Wu-Shuang

Also Known As:

Warriors from the Magic Mountain
Xin shu shan jian xia (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Zu Mountain: New Legend of the Zu Mountain Swordsmen (Hong Kong: English title) (literal title)
Zu Time Warrior (International: English title) (dubbed version)
Zu Warriors
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | UK:PG | South Korea:15 (2006) | USA:Unrated

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)

Delightful attack on the senses

Because this movie was made in the 1980s, I did not expect the special FX to be the equivalent of anything made in the states, or even up to the level of The Stormriders. However, I found this film a lot more enjoyable than the latter. This film is almost a non-stop ride full of swordfights, optical FX battles, flying people, and it still leaves room for some interesting themes also.

The plot deals with a soldier being disillusioned by the endless civil wars that have been fought. He goes to a mountain where he joins a swordsman, a monk and his apprentice, Sammo Hung, and some lovely ladies in a quest to defeat the Blood Demon, a being of pure evil. On the way, the soldier (Yuen Biao) and the monk's apprentice (Mang Hoi) must find some swords to use in the battle.

The action is nearly non-stop. It first starts out with some basic swordplay. Once Yuen reaches the mountain, than everything shifts into overdrive. Optical FX fly across the screen at dizzying speeds. Humans and demons fly across the screen at dizzying speeds. People get frozen alive. Women fly around with swirling cloth in their wake. Men fly around chained to boulders. Eyebrows are used to contain evil. All I can say is...wow. Only Ching Siu Tung could come up w/ some as imaginative as this.

As I mentioned earlier, there are some interesting themes involved. Tsui Hark seemed to make a statement against world leaders who start senseless wars and kill innocent people. Also, he talks about how battles become futile when people won't set aside their differences for a common cause. If we want to save the world or even ourselves, we all have to work together.

Of interesting note is the International dubbed version. That version makes the film into a dream sequence and turns the war parable into a love story spanning many generations. A lot of scenes are cut and shortened, giving the Zu mountain segment a very rushed feel. Overall, the subtitled version is a lot more preferable.