Brothers Five (1970)

Swordswoman Yan Loi (Cheng Pei-pei) aids the five heroic Gao brothers in reuniting and training in a formation fighting technique known as the Five Tigers with One Heart in order to defeat ruthless martial arts master Long Zhen-feng (Tien Feng), the man responsible for killing their father and turning his Flying Dragon Villa into a disreputable haven of villainy. Lo Wei helms this entertaining, fight-filled wuxia actioner that’s ably choreographed by a young Sammo Hung and features leading men Chang Yi, Yueh Hua and Lo Lieh.

BROTHERS FIVE is one of writer-director Lo Wei’s final films for Shaw Brothers before he broke ranks to join startup studio Golden Harvest, along with action director Sammo Hung and actor Chang Yi. It is among a string of successful wuxia films Lo Wei helmed for Shaws before he became known internationally as the director of Bruce Lee’s first two films and for jumpstarting Jackie Chan’s career.

Even by Hong Kong standards, BROTHERS FIVE possesses an unusually large amount of screen fighting. Lo sets up a scenario where each of the five brothers attempts to take on the baddies of Flying Dragon Villa on their own for different reasons. It’s established that each of them is a capable fighter but they cannot individually cut down seemingly endless numbers of minions, as well as Long and his chief lieutenants. Each of them is forced to retreat before Yan brings them all together for a join assault.

Weapons in the film are varied and showcased very nicely by the five male leads. Yueh Hua, an actor who had come to fame playing the Monkey King in Shaw’s THE MONKEY GOES WEST and its two sequels, is brother Gao Wei who wields an iron hat, the sort that is basically a circular brim with a hole cut in the center. Chang Yi is Gao Zhi, a fighting scholar who wields a weapon I have not seen before. It’s a giant iron calligraphy brush with a sharpened brush tip capable of slicing and puncturing enemies. Actor Chin Han is Gao Hao, a blacksmith whose enormous strength makes up for his lack of martial arts training and allows him to wield a heavy hammer with devastating hitting power.

Actor Kao Yuen is Gao Yong, an escort company captain and a typical swordsman with a traditional Chinese broadsword. What isn’t typical or traditional is his fighting style. Sammo Hung came up with an unusual style for Gao Yong that seemingly borrows some of the dynamics of European swordsmanship. Where the left, or empty hand is often left to hold the scabbard and deflect attacks, Gao Yong uses his left hand to apply various throws, locks and holds in support of his sword arm. His solo assault on Flying Dragon Villa is a fruitless endeavor plotwise but it provides a brilliantly choreographed sequence that sword enthusiasts should thoroughly enjoy.

Sammo also makes a brief but notable fighting appearance in the film as Gao Yong’s chief lieutenant. When their caravan is attacked by the villains of Flying Dragon Villa, Sammo leaps into action and ends up suffering a gruesome Chang Cheh-style fate at the hands of the bandits.

Appearing late in the film is Lo Lieh who would go on to become the first martial arts star to break into the U.S. market with the release of FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH (aka KING BOXER). He plays Gao Xia, a Robin Hood-like thief and master of the whip and throwing daggers. Lo provides a charismatic performance, hinting at some of the terrific roles he would turn in years later, most notably as the villainous Pai Mei in EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN.

I get the distinct impression that Lo Wei wasn’t really interested in having a fighting female lead in this film but may have felt it necessary since most wuxia films at the time were headlined by female stars. Cheng Pei-pei is certainly a capable and energetic fighting star but doesn’t get to do much until the end as she helps the brothers train and later joins them in their final assault on the villa.

The film falters in several areas. Lo’s plot is underdeveloped and relies too much on well-choreographed but repetitive group-fighting sequences to fill out the running time. It gets to be a bit much to see each of the brothers fighting at the same front gate to the villa. Between them, they kill and maim dozens of baddies and at no point does the lead villain ever plot or plan anything in response. In other words, the only thing driving this movie is a series of assaults on one location.

Sammo’s choreography keeps the action enjoyable. It does falter near the end as the formation fighting technique that the brothers intend to use on the villain is revealed. All it involves is having four of the brothers stand on top of the blacksmith as he spins around. It looks ridiculous and reminds me of some of the wuxia nonsense Lo came up with in the early Jackie Chan movie TO KILL WITH INTRIGUE. Thankfully, this accounts for very little of the fighting and the rest is nicely put together.

Villains in the movie are somewhat forgettable with the best being FIST OF FURY co-star Tien Feng portraying the white-haired supervillain Long Zhen-feng. His weapon of choice is the guan dao and I’d wager that the person doing most of the handling is a stunt double as Tien was not known for his screen fighting ability. His character is an early version of the supremely powerful, white-haired martial arts villain that became a staple in future films such as THE SECRET RIVALS and EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN. Of his minions the only one to stand out is a Mongol-like warrior played by Ku Feng. He has distinctive red hair, a trident and a large spiked shield.

The production itself is up to Shaw Brothers’ usual standards. The one major gripe I have is related to Celestial Pictures’ re-mastered surround version, which is the only version in circulation as far as I know. They butchered the soundtrack by overdubbing new, poorly mixed synthesizer music on top of the original score. I may be more sensitive to this than some but I found the new score distracting and highly irritating to the point where I had to turn down the volume. It sounds like complete amateur work. There is now far too much dissonant music that plays at the wrong times and drowns out the original Mandarin-language dialogue. It’s not the first time Celestial has done this with a Shaw Brothers film. Many of their re-mastered prints were over-produced with unnecessary ambient and musical additions made in order to “enhance” their surround mixes. It’s a shame because this is solid wuxia actioner on its own.

Related Topics: Chang Yi, Cheng Pei-pei, guandao, Lo Lieh, Lo Wei, Sammo Hung, Shaw Brothers, swordplay, Tien Feng, Whip, Wuxia, Yueh Hua