1977 Taiwan with Lo Lieh, Yueh Hua, Hsu Feng, Ma Ju-Lung, Woo Kei and Go Ming. The "first family" has risen to the top of the martial world and they do not tolerate evil. The three leads take out three gangs of evil then report home. Their master is about to take the golden chair as leader of the martial world but Yueh Hua notices it is trapped. It seems some people are against the first family, though the master continuously denies he has ever offended anyone. More attacks go against them and it is suspected there must be a spy. Also, the poison guy is not the mastermind, there is also a man wearing a mask. Lo Lieh is falsely accused and flees to find the real killer. He is trapped by the man wearing the mask. There are a few more plot twists to untangle before the final fight. Thankfully, it all makes sense at the end. Lo Lieh goes down as the true hero of the movie. I highly recommend this film for fans of the genre. I must stress – for fans of the genre – and rate it a solid seven out of ten well-above average. This is not a well-known movie even among fans but it is available on the Rarescope DVD label. The copy is wide-screen, subtitled and though not a frame by frame restoration the color and resolution are good enough to watch on a modern television. If you have not even watched "The Seven Samurai" and cannot tell Sammo Hung from some other anonymous stuntman, then you might want to cut your teeth on some other more well-known martial arts movies first just to see if this sort of film is for you.

This is a uniform in this edition costume action movie, which managed to gather together three of the cycle's major stars and the director of early Jackie Chan vehicles. No one could accuse it of being brilliant or innovative entertainment but the hand me down production values and pacing are good.In movie mythical China, the First Family send the trio of heroes (including the always glamorous Hsu Feng, star of the King Hu masterpieces) sorting out bad hats. However back at base, a hooded visitor is working for the leader's overthrow, corrupting Yue Hwa and Lo Lieh with his slow acting poison.Is that Sammo Hung briefly doing his Tibetan Chief Iron Hoops routine again in the inn?

Confession: I am utterly ignorant of samurai schlock. I haven't even seen The Seven Samurai, which I innocently suppose the whole genre is dedicated to vulgarizing. I only even watched this because someone lied and told me it was a Canadian co-production; I spent half the movie convincing myself they were galloping around Jasper. So I can't grade this in its generic context. But in my oblivious way, I had a pretty good time with it. I like the frequency and insistency with which the fights break out, which is no doubt the genre's selling point: the hits just keep on coming, although there's some obvious budget-consciousness in this film's sporadic, limited wire work. The characterization could be more compelling, but the plot is a solid frame-up storyline that moves along nicely with a biggish ensemble portraying a nice assortment of types. The simpering comic relief isn't allowed to overstay its welcome, a female sibling is allowed to kick ass on an almost equal footing with the guys, and the severed-arm gag towards the end is a nice bonus. Obviously not great, even on its own terms; there's a pervasive feeling of secondhandedness about it. But I had a good time.