1977 · wuxia · shaw-brothers · jin-yong
The Battle Wizard
Directed by Pao Hsueh-Li1h 17m1977
A brother who loves books and a sister who loves swords must face a yellow-robed warrior, the Red Python, a sinuous snake-charmer, and a silk-masked beauty (who must kill or wed the first man to see her face) before they can bring peace to their battle-addled family.
Our read: The Battle Wizard (1977) reads as a neutral, breathless, surreal wuxia · shaw-brothers · jin-yong entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Neutral, breathless, measured wuxia / shaw-brothers, surreal in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- kinetic
- inventive
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How The Battle Wizard feels to watch.
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What watching it is actually like.
“You want wild 1970s Hong Kong wuxia fantasy with snake charmers, masked beauties, and kung fu.”
Skip it tonight — You dislike old-school wirework, over-the-top fantasy, or Shaw Brothers style.
Eight films that feel like this one.
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