1979 · wuxia · shaw-brothers · swordplay
The Deadly Breaking Sword
Directed by Sun Chung1h 41m1979
Leaving behind an inch of sword in the spent corpses of his opponents, Tuan Changqing is known as the Deadly Breaking Sword. After barely surviving a duel, one of his foes is treated by the diabolical Dr. Kuo, who uses his powers of mind control to transform the man into a somnambulistic killer. After Tuan Changqing teams up with Rabelaisian gambler Xiao Dao, the story proceeds as a comical kung fu buddy flick.
Our read: The Deadly Breaking Sword (1979) reads as a sombre, breathless, grounded wuxia · shaw-brothers · swordplay entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Sombre, breathless, measured wuxia / shaw-brothers, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- sombre
- brisk
- intense
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“You want Shaw Brothers swordplay comedy with a deadly swordsman and gambler ally.”
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