Reviewed by:
pollypolly After 5 months of bloody battling, General Chin's troops finally succeed in penetrating General Lu Teng's fortress and after a brave fight, Lu (
Chi Kuan Chun), his family and his men are all wiped out. A cunning identity switch of Lu's only surviving son and heir results in General Chin (
Kam Kong) adopting him, so that his own daughter can have a partner to learn kung fu with.
The two children, Ti Feng (
Polly Kuan) and Wen Lung (
Meng Fei) are taught the matchless 'Double Guns' technique by Instructor Lin (
Lo Lieh) until their kung fu finally reaches a totally superior level.
The pair become Commanders in their fathers army and are despatched to wipe out General Yueh Fei and his troops who are the new opposition. A bitter feud erupts between the two Generals and both parties eventually send their commanders to go undercover and infiltrate each others bases. As a result, various military strategies and revelations are unearthed which inevitably leads to a tense and dramatic showdown as Wen Lung learns of his true identity.
'Immortal Warriors' is an immensely enjoyable film which boasts a great ensemble cast of genre favourites, competent storytelling and on several occasions some absolutely blistering Kung Fu!.
The cast alone should be enough to sell this one. Meng Fei is very good in another one of his cocky but brave roles. He is the ace up General Chin's sleeve and relishes every act of victory and bloodshed that is presented to him. Polly Kuan is technically a villain in 'Immortal Warriors' and although she isn't particularly evil in any way, she is loyal and stays by her fathers side throughout the whole film. She is seemingly un-fazed by her tyrant fathers actions , though she does begin to show a more compassionate side to her character as the story progresses.
Kam Kong is suitably nasty as General Chin and reminds me of his role in 'Crane Fighter' (though not quite as formidable). However, despite these three main characters, the first half of the film is stolen by superb bit parts from Lo Lieh - who is excellent as a white haired Kung Fu instructor and even manages to squeeze in a few trademark beard stroking shots!,
James Tien has a cracking fight at the city gate posing as a wine seller and of course there is Chi Kuan Chun as the General at the start of the film. I should also mention that whilst Polly and Meng Fei are top billed it is actually General Yueh Fei and Commander Wang Tso that turn out to be the true heroes of story.
I don't alway need a clear resolution to a film but I felt that for this particular story it was something that was needed. After a fairly lengthy and talky dramatic scene with Meng Fei, his mother and Wang Tso - I expected a fairly bloody finale considering how emotional Wen Lung had become. However, the film opts for a different kind of ending which would have been disappointing if it wasn't for the sheer quality of the final fight which precedes it.
Still, don't let that put you off, 'Immortal Warriors' is a well made and very exciting movie which contains a little something for everyone. Don't miss it!
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