IMDb RATING
7.2/10
2.4K
YOUR RATING
The best sword master from China vs the best sword master from Japan. Who will win?The best sword master from China vs the best sword master from Japan. Who will win?The best sword master from China vs the best sword master from Japan. Who will win?
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Flora Chong-Leen
- Sheng Nan
- (as Flora Cheung)
Yeong-moon Kwon
- Shaolin Abbot
- (as Yeong-Mun Kwon)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe English subtitles on the 2021 Blu-ray release by Eureka uses names for the Japanese characters that are different from those on previous releases of the film. Norman Chu's character, previously known as "Hashimoto", is here referred to as "Miyamoto Ichiro"; and the character played by Eddy Ko, previously known as "Kenji", is here called "Kaneda". According to the audio commentary by Frank Djeng, the translated names used on previous editions were incorrect, and the new edition's replacement names are more accurate.
- GoofsWires are noticeably visible in some shots during the final battle.
- Quotes
Ching Wan: Don't you sometimes feel sad for us martial artists? If we're incompetent, then we can easily get killed. But if we're good, then either we challenge other masters or we ourselves keep getting challenged and can never have peace.
Hashimoto: Do you regret it?
Ching Wan: I don't regret the life I've chosen. Do you?
Hashimoto: Neither do I.
- Alternate versionsUK VHS versions of this film were cut by 5 seconds to remove all shots of shuriken (ninja throwing stars), as these were on the no-no weapons list of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) at the time. When resubmitted to the BBFC in 2004 under revised guidelines in which shuriken were no longer a problem, the film was passed uncut for the UK DVD release.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Best of the Martial Arts Films (1990)
Featured review
Duel to the Death has such a slight plot that even with a runtime of under 90 minutes, it still feels like it has some padding. There are two people that need to fight, and the movie builds up to that fight. There are a few extra complications introduced towards the end, but it's generally very straightforward. They make up for it with some increasingly wild things that happen throughout, which was appreciated. It feels less and less like a grounded martial arts movie as it goes along, with some wonderfully bizarre stuff popping up out of nowhere at certain points.
And I think it's generally entertaining enough to end up being a solid film. The action's creative and well-choreographed. The score sounds weirdly similar to Gone with the Wind's main theme, though. That was a bit distracting, or it could just be me.
And I think it's generally entertaining enough to end up being a solid film. The action's creative and well-choreographed. The score sounds weirdly similar to Gone with the Wind's main theme, though. That was a bit distracting, or it could just be me.
- Jeremy_Urquhart
- Aug 28, 2023
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Das Todesduell der Shaolin
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
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