I kinda like these Brigitte Lin swordsperson mini-epics. Dragon Chronicles and Eagle Shooting Heroes are probably the daftest, East is Red is probably the moodiest, Swordsman 2 and New Dragon Gate Inn are fairly straightforward, and this one is a good old vicious revenge movie in a similar vein to The Bride With White Hair. I don't expect ultra-realistic fighting, or a plot I can follow with one braincell (when there is one), so I'm happy making do with the belly laughs. It's populist entertainment in a feisty pantomime style. I might be a bit soft in the head, but I enjoy the style. It's not high art, but it's not trying to be.
As far as I'm concerned, most of Brigitte Lin's swordsman/woman epics are played strictly for laughs. Some more subtly than others. Anyone taking fantasy movies like this one too seriously is probably in the throes of a terminal humour bypass. No doubt anti wire fu beardstrokers and grumpy snake/crane purists will be up in arms at the unrealistic action sequences, but that's their sole function in life, bless 'em.
The subs are fairly comprehensible and legible on the Mei Ah laserdisc transfer, so it ain't that hard to grasp what's going on and why. The ending is bit abrupt, but I'm used to that. They probably overshot the shooting schedule by twenty minutes and fried the budget on lyre ammunition. Que sera.
