Prolific doesn’t come close to describing the filmography of director Chang Cheh (One-Armed Swordsman & Five Venoms). He began directing in 1950 and didn’t stop until 1993. While he was busy, his output went into the Stratosphere when he joined The Shaw Brothers in the mid-60s. How prodigious was Cheh? There are 10 movies in Furious Swords And Fantastic Warriors – The Heroic Cinema of Chang Cheh. This is a small fraction of what he made there. There were years where he had 8 movies released as director. He averaged around five films a year. Chang Cheh was able to do all these films because Shaw Brothers was set up to be a movie factory beyond the dreams of the classic Hollywood Studio system. When you were hired to work at Shaw Brothers Movietown studios, you lived on the lot. Along with the soundstages, backlots and postproduction offices were massive dormitories where all the talent lived. Actors, set builders, editors or members of the camera crew were on call around the clock. Chang Cheh used this to his advantage. For over a decade, he had something shooting around Movietown. He also trusted his assistants (including John Woo) and fight choreographers so he could juggle multiple projects at once. During this era when Hong Kong martial arts films had an international market, Chang Cheh didn’t make fans wait a year for his next feature film. You won’t be waiting long to go from one movie to the next with this boxset.
Men From The Monastery (1974 – 93 minutes) has Chen Kuan-tai (Heroes Two), Alexander Fu Sheng (The Brave Archer) and Chi Kuan-chun (Five Shaolin Masters) as Shaolin monks dealing with the corruption around them. The film follows them individually until they meet up at the end. It’s always good to see Alexander Fu Sheng on the screen. Shaolin Martial Arts (1974 – 112 minutes) has Alexander Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan-Chun escape after the fall of the Shaolin Temple. They find themselves being pursued and must fight to survive. Gordon Liu appears here before his legendary starring role in 36th Chamber of the Shaolin.
King Eagle (1971 – 84 minutes) is a forbidden romance with wuxia twist. Ti Lung (A Better Tomorrow) is King Eagle, a fierce swordsman. Things get weird when he falls in love with 7th Chief An Yuk Lin (14 Amazon‘s Li Ching). Turns out she has an equally powerful twin sister 8th Chief An Bing Er (also Li Ching) who isn’t down with this. There’s a lot of fighting between the romance. Iron Bodyguard (1973 – 99 minutes) is based on an historical event. Tan Sitong (Come Drink With Me‘s Yueh Hau) is a poet and the governor’s son who becomes pals with Wang Wu (Iron Monkey‘s Chen Kuan-tai). He’s impressed how Wang Wu deals with associates accused of theft. These are troubled times and both men find themselves being labeled as rebels by government officials. The film was co-directed with Pao Hsueh-li.
The Fantastic Baby (1975 – 101 minutes) adapts the “Red Boy” story from Journey to the West. It’s an action play about Red Boy being instructed by his parents Princess Iron Fan and Ox Demon King to take on the Monkey King. Can he really do that? It’s a much different film than Cheh is remembered for making with it’s odd soundtrack and theatrical structure. There’s plenty of acrobatic action. The Weird Man (1983 – 91 minutes) was Chang Cheh’s last film for Shaw Brothers. The film is rather weird for a Cheh movie since it has supernatural plot. There’s plenty of wild special effects including a priest who has his head cut off and must return from the dead to get his revenge of the man who ordered him executed. It’s strange when his head gets whacked off. As weird as things get, there’s plenty of Cheh style action on the screen.
The Trail of the Broken Blade (1967 – 109 minutes) is the film Cheh made right before One-Armed Swordsman made him a hit director. The film also stars Jimmy Wang Yu (Master of the Flying Guillotine). Wang Yu goes out to find a fugitive to reunite the man with his lost love. However he does a have a secret about why he takes the mission The Wandering Swordsman (1970 – 108 minutes) stars David Chiang (New One-Armed Swordsman) as the title character. He’s roaming the countryside on China trying to be a version of Robin Hood. He’s stealing from the rich to give to the poor. However his latest band of Merry Men aren’t quite into the second half of the business plan. The movie also stars Bolo Yeung (Bloodsport).
Trilogy of the Swordsmanship (1972 – 113) is an anthology film where Chang Cheh directed one of the three films and co-directed the other three. “The Iron Bow” (co-directed with Griffin Yueh Feng) has a mother and daughter running a restaurant. The mom gets sick of men asking to marry her daughter. She declares the first guy who can shoot an arrow with a huge iron bow will be her husband. While the bow has a string on it, the metal weighs it down and makes hard to launch an arrow. Will her daughter end up an elderly spinster? “Tigeress” has Cheng Kang (14 Amazons) co-directing a tale of a prostitute who is in a strange triangle. In order to not get her military boyfriend in trouble, she agrees to lure out a bandit who has a crush on her. “White Water Strand” is directed only by Cheh and features the action duo of Ti Lung and David Chiang. Lung and his men get in trouble. When Chiang comes to their rescue, he risks his neck. It’s an interesting to see short Shaw Brothers action.
New Shaolin Boxer (1976 – 101 minutes) opens with Alexander Fu Sheng (The Chinatown Kid) practicing moves while wearing thick leather studded bracelets and a belt that makes him look like an inspiration for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. When he comes to the aid of woman being accosted by a hoodlum, Fu Sheng leaves his delivery cart to engage in martial arts. Except the hoodlum stabs him with a large hunting knife. His life goes bad as he heals. He gets rejected by his kung fu teacher for being too trusting and naive. When he shows no mercy to thugs at his uncle’s restaurant, he ends up in more trouble with the other cooks. Is he ever going to get it right? This appears to be a longer cut than what was originally exported so don’t be surprised when the dialogue goes to Mandarin with English subtitles.
Furious Swords And Fantastic Warriors – The Heroic Cinema of Chang Cheh is an amazing accomplishment. While these films don’t contain his most acclaimed films, the ten titles still thrill with plenty of action on the screen. Chang Cheh was a cinematic force in his prime at Shaw Brothers. He made a lot of extremely entertaining films while keeping Movietown churning away 24 hours a day.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic for all the films. You’ll see them in the proper Shawscope aspect ratio. The 1080p transfers lets you see all the action. The Audio on all the films is Mandarin LPCM 2.0 mono. English dubs in LPCM 2.0 mono are provided on Men From The Monastery, Shaolin Martial Arts, Iron Bodyguard, The Weird Man, The Trail of the Broken Blade & New Shaolin Boxers.
Audio Commentaries include David West on Men From the Monastery, The Weird Man and The Trail of the Broken Blade; Frank Djeng & Michael Worth on Shaolin Martial Arts, Iron Bodyguard and New Shaolin Boxer; Mark Leeder & Arne Venema on King Eagle, The Fantastic Magic Baby, The Wandering Swordsman and Trilogy of Swordsmanship; and Frank Djeng on The Fantastic Magic Baby. All feature background on the films and performers.
Saving Shaolin: Legends of Modern Martial Arts (15:45) is about the Hong Kong film industry needed to recover from the death of Bruce Lee. The studios began to make movies about the story of Kung Fu going back to the Shaolin Temple. The real history of the Shaolin Temple gets addressed.
Men From The Monastery VHS Footage (2:48) includes Export Version opening and closing credits in English.
A Sword Raised To The Sky: History and the Iron Bodyguard (15:08) separates the fact from the fiction of the event and the characters. The film features figures who appealed to the Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong. We get the background on Wong Wu and Tan Sitong. The studio cast younger actors for the historical heroes.
Interview with Wayne Wong (18:27) has him talk about Trilogy of Swordsmanship. The original title is the Gathering of Heroes. The anthology film featured traditional Peking Opera characters. He gets into how Shaw Brothers made the film to stay relevant with the rise of Golden Harvest with Bruce Lee.
Illustrated Booklet with an essay about Chang Cheh’s career by James Oliver.
Eureka! Entertainment presents Furious Swords And Fantastic Warriors – The Heroic Cinema of Chang Cheh. Directed by Chang Cheh. Screenplays by Chang Cheh and others. Starring Ching Lee, Li Tung, Yueh Feng, Cheng Kang, Lau Kar-leung, Lily Li and Alexander Fu Sheng. Boxset Contents: 10 movies on 5 Blu-ray discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: October 21, 2025.
