This review may contain spoilers
Cheng Pei Pei in a melodramatic sword romance
Cheng Pei Pei was an ethereal killing machine in The Thundering Sword. What started out as a standard martial arts movie in 1967 quickly evolved into a romantic melodrama only with the stereotypical roles reversed.Chang Yi and Lo Lieh belong to a sect that believes martial arts are for healing, not killing. The Thundering Sword is a sword that can break all others and their leader Tien Feng sends them on a quest to find it so that the dangerous weapon can be destroyed. Chang Yi comes upon Cheng Pei Pei as she dispatches a handful of villains who had made the mistake of attacking her. Chang Yi reprimands her for killing them which she doesn’t take too seriously even as she is instantly smitten with the righteous fighter. Later that night she stumbles across Lo Lieh who had survived numerous deadly traps to recover the Thundering sword. She steals the sword when he’s not looking and throws three poisonous darts into his chest for his troubles. When she realizes he is a sword brother to Chang Yi she takes him to an escort service to have him carried home where he must be treated within three days. After receiving 5000 pieces of silver the escort service promises that they will deliver him or die. On the road to the temple, perma-smirk Chen Hung Lieh thinking the group must be protecting the sword, attacks the convoy with Cliff Lok at his side. He awakens Lo Lieh only to torture him and leave him for dead. When Pei Pei realizes the escort agency failed, she returns to collect their debt…to be paid with their lives. Around 30 bodies later she leaves just as Chang Yi arrives, quickly followed by Ku Feng who accuses him of the mass murder. Pei Pei and Chang Yi reunite and marry which antagonizes Chang’s jealous sect sister made worse when she discovers that Pei Pei was the reason Lo Lieh was poisoned and crippled. When Chang Yi is captured and tried for the escort deaths, Pei Pei tries to tell anyone who will listen that she was the perpetrator.
I recapped the story to bring up a point that I thought was interesting. In old martial arts movies, men fought for a hundred different reasons and dying at the point of a sword or by an iron fist was not unexpected. Somehow when a woman was defending herself and killed the bandits, it was harshly judged. In this movie, the sect at the Baiyun Temple where Chang Yi and Lo Lieh trained were taught not to kill. Pei Pei at the Centipede/Caterpillar sect, was not taught those same rigorous morals. Her first impulse tended to be to lash out, especially toward her poor loyal maid. The fights were largely the swipe and fly backwards style although there was the occasional imbedded sword in a body or dismemberment. At one point in a long scene Pei Pei went behind a curtain with a stuntman playing her coming out the other side in order to do some acrobatics. Ever fierce and graceful whether wielding a sword or a whip, Pei Pei was entertaining to watch. Chang Yi and Lo Lieh didn't have to learn much fight choreography because they scarcely lifted a sword.
Cheng Pei Pei gave a wonderfully complex performance as the ferocious fighter and also as the tender, concerned lover. Chang Yi in a rare hero role was unable to sell it, coming across rather stiff. I wish that Lo Lieh had been given that role instead as he had little to do in this film. He had great chemistry with Pei Pei in Golden Swallow and could have given a deeper performance than Chang Yi. Both Chang Yi and Lo Lieh would end up typecast as villains within a few years. Tien Feng played his share of bad guys as well. Despite their limited time and success, it was fun seeing these ‘heels’ playing ‘faces’. Also worth noting, the music and cinematography for this category of film was quite good.
If you’re looking for one of Cheng Pei Pei’s more traditional sword-fighting roles, best to skip this one as it devolved into a very melodramatic romance with little fighting in the second half. What was worth seeing for me was Pei Pei’s opportunity to shine in a more diverse emotional role.
11/30/23
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