The Sword (1980)
Genre : Action, Drama
Runtime : 1H 25M
Director : Patrick Tam
Synopsis
Li Mak-Jan is a swordsman who has wandered for a number of years searching for the reclusive master swordsman Hua. After encountering two fellow swordsmen, Li comes across his old love, who tells him that not only has their town fallen on hard times (the temple is in ruins) but, worst of all, in the time he has been away she has moved on and married another man. Turns out, her husband is quite evil, of course, and just a little bit insanely jealous as well as very interested in swords, particularly those belonging to masters. The husband sends his henchman to kill Li, but Li escapes.
Huang Fei-Hung, the now famous Chinese boxer, teaches his martial arts at Pao Chih Lin Institute, in Canton. Gordon, a European businessman, who deals in import export is looking for a good security guard for his Jade collection.. So ensues a martial arts tournament to decide who get's the job.
An officer of the law and his father are framed for a robbery they did not commit. With only his father's sword at the scene and the man nowhere to be found the officer flees in order to discover who really stole the jewels so that he may clear the family name.
Yueh Hua stars as an assassin who flees after killing a hated prime minister, with Lo Lieh as the relentless imperial guard who pursues him to a remote village being terrorized by bandits. When Yueh takes over the identity of a county officer newly assigned to the village, his ruse is assisted by a pretty innkeeper's daughter (Li Ching) who insists to Lieh that Yueh is indeed the county officer and happens also to be the cousin who was betrothed to her as a child. The confused innkeeper is persuaded by his daughter to support the ruse, thus delaying Lieh's efforts to arrest the wanted man.
A fearsome swordswoman known as The Jade Raksha appears in the martial arts world and begins killing people whose surname is Yan. A swordsman figures out who she is, and asks her why - the answer being that a Yan killed her family 18 years ago... but she's not sure exactly which Yan it was. He suggests that killing the innocent is wrong, but she only has vengeance on her mind and is not to be convinced.
In legendary Chen Village, everyone is a martial arts master, using their powerful Chen Style Tai Chi in all aspects of their lives. Lu Chan has arrived to train, but the villagers are forbidden to teach Chen Style to outsiders, and do their best to discourage him by challenging him to a series of fights. Everyone, from strong men to young children, defeats him using their Tai Chi moves. But when a man from the village's past returns with a frightening steampowered machine and plans to build a railroad through the village at any costs, the villagers realize they may have no choice but to put their faith in Lu Chan... who has a secret power of his own.
A group of terrorists, led by a Brit and a psycho (in a great performance by "Rowdy" Roddy Piper) take control of the Hoover Dam and demand $25 million or they will kill civilians and dam workers they have taken hostage. But the terrorists didn't count on Sheriff Jacob Harper, (Don "The Dragon" Wilson), an ex-Army Ranger whose father is one of the hostages. But after the FBI takes over the the crisis, and relieves him of his duties, he must take on the terrorists by himself and save his father and any hostages that are still alive.
Federal Service Agent Justin Vanier has been assigned to infiltrate the mysterious Virtual Arts Academy in search of Eric, a fellow agent. In this high-tech facility, the maniacal leader Warbeck is training assassins to become even more efficient killing machines using virtual reality. Penetrating the organization as a new recruit, Justin finds Eric, and together with the idealistic Vicki must bring down Warbeck before he succeeds with his deadly plans
Sewage workers Jack and Charlie get involved in an international Asian gang war when Jack helps the boss of a Shanghai gang against one of his rebellious underlings. This underling then strikes a deal with the Japanese Yakuza in the hopes of toppling his boss and become the leader of Shanghai himself. When the Yakuza assassinate the Shanghai boss, Jack pledges to avenge his new friend's death. As he seeks out those ultimately responsible, he does battle with a variety of ninjas and mercenaries from around the world.
Wily ace thief Trinity steals the dragon ball from Shaolin Temple. The dragon ball gets misplaced. Trinity joins forces with gruff, determined Interpol agent Bambino, formidable karate master Meng Ray, and feisty tour guide Wen Ling to retrieve the dragon ball before it falls into the hands of the wicked Paschy.
In early Republican China, rumors were going around about the treasure in Wudang Mountain. An American conspirator took his well-trained kung fu daughter to Wudang by sponsoring a Taoist martial arts competition, to steal the treasure. Out of expectation, a disciple represented Wudang to compete with other martial arts masters for the championship. During the competition, resentment incurred against different parties, the relationship became complicated, a Korean female Tai Chi descendant fell in love with the American conspirator and the secret of the treasure had been revealed. The treasure is the key of the magnetic field of Wudang, if it's stolen, Wudang would be devastated. To protect Wudang, a group of young heroes rallied around to defeat grant masters. It's the time the long-lost Wudang martial arts returned
François Villon, in his lifetime the most renowned poet in France, is also a prankster, an occasional criminal, and an ardent patriot.
Sensing a rebellion is brewing in the small town of Lung Wei Village, the Manchu warlords command the village magistrate to hunt down the rebels. He hires four warriors, all of them expert martial artists, to stop the rebellion. The stakes are high: If they don't succeed, the rebels may change the course of Chinese history.
Ah Chi (Ka-Yan Leung) is obsessed with the martial arts and, more often than not, his kung-fu clowning gets him into trouble. Ending up facing Hsia (Eddie Ko) of the notorious Jade Brotherhood is inevitable. As a result, Hsia forces Chi's martial arts master to expel him. Masterless and working for a fish vendor, Chi meets a crafty kid (Yat Lung Wong), whose uncle Chow Tung (Chin Yuet Sang) is a master of the Insane Mantis style. The Jade Brotherhood aims for control of the small town but Chi is training with a new Master and will not accept bullies in the neighbourhood.
A secret mission with the code name Project Daredevil is planned by the notorious Black Ninja Gang.
During China's 1920s Republican Period, warlords carve out personal fiefdoms across the country and impose self-serving laws with the barrel of a gun. Into this anarchy rides a masked feminine Zorro, nom de guerre Violet, to do battle, right wrongs and foment rebellion against the most corrupt and brutal warlord of all, Tung Ta-Chou. Unbeknownst to Tung, however, Violet is his own daughter. Tung orders his psycho enforcer Master Wu to track down and dispose of this pesky rebel queen. Meanwhile, Violet begins a flirtation with an attractive stranger who comes to town with the other half of a treasure map held by Tung. Ultimately, Master Wu betrays the warlord on the lure of the complete treasure map, enabling Violet and the stranger to apprehend Master Wu and beat the warlord at his own game.
Captain Lu is the respected head of security of a village, but his wealthy boss runs the town, and is corrupt, while the boss's son is a dissolute skirt-chaser. Pai Yu Ching, the Southern Fist, swaggers into town, and clashes with Captain Lu, which earns him an offer to work for the town boss. However, nearly everyone in the town is something other than what they seem. Lu has a shameful secret in his past, which motivates Miss Li to ask Pai to kill him. The town boss is minting counterfeit coins, and someone is trying to gather the evidence of this. Events bring Lu and Pai onto the same side, which is fortunate, because the town boss brings in Mr Lung, a fearsome martial arts genius, to kill off all his enemies.
After the death of her father, the viceroy of a small Caribean island, the beautiful young Isabella is in a big danger. The crafty duke of Burt wants to grab the power on the isle so he decides to eliminate her. Fortunately then comes a group of pirates stranded after a shipwreck. Their leader is the brave and bold Alan Drake. The pirates are hired to protect Isabella and the adventure begins.
After seeing his father murdered and his mother abducted by a caveman-like martial arts cult, a small boy is taken in by a wizened old kung fu master, who rigorously trains him until he is endowed with almost supernatural fighting skills. This training, however, takes much less time than it would in most martial arts films, in which the kid would attain mastery at about the same time he reaches adulthood. Instead what we get is a sword-wielding 5 year old waging a bloody war of revenge against an assortment of adult-sized demons and people in heartbreakingly threadbare monster costumes.
This tale is about a decapitating swordswoman who will let nothing stand in her way when she falls in love with a bandit's son. Chiao Chiao, made famous in One-Armed Swordsman, is the girl who won't let such trifles as craniums keep her from freeing her man from jail.