Chase, The (1971)

Before Bruce Lee exploded onto the scene, Golden Harvest was grooming James Tien to be their new male superstar. His ascension didn’t last long for he soon fell into Lee’s enormous shadow with the release of THE BIG BOSS. But before Tien fell to supporting roles he did notably star in a few films including THE CHASE. This mystery wuxia pian is standard material with the usual stilted swordplay, elaborate costuming, intrigue, and exaggerated acting that populated most similar films from this era. But this film was a bit behind the latest trends being set by Shaw Brothers, notably by featuring too much dialogue. It also comes up short on sets and extras, although it gains a few points with Chen Kuan-tai’s rugged choreography.

As was customary at the time, the lovely leading lady Maria Yi (THE BIG BOSS) gets top billing, but James Tien is the real star. He plays Shih Hai-lung, an archetypical young wuxia hero, naive, yet deadly with a sword and full of potential. He sets out with a damaged Red Sword to look for his father’s killer and find a matching sword that has gone missing. Trouble follows him everywhere for nearly everyone wants to get their hands on his sword which holds the secret to an ultimate power when paired with its missing twin.

Shih battles his way to the home of the Tien Lung Clan in hopes of finding out from their leader, Han I-chu (Tang Ching), who killed his father. But on the way, Shih loses his sword to the wiles of the seductive Yun Tsai (Fong Sam). From here on, the plot thickens as Shih tracks down Yun and befriends Chi Fang-fang (Maria Yi), a feisty swordswoman and her martial brother, Wei Ping (Gam Saan).

Wei Ping suspiciously assassinates the clan leader, supposedly to cover up the truth about Shih’s killer. Meanwhile, Shih recovers his sword and Yun attempts to play all sides for reasons related to Shih’s quest. The murky truth about his killer and the Red Swords finally comes to light in a whirl of flashing blades as Shih and Chi battle members of the Tien Lung Clan and the real villain behind all of the subterfuge.

Like any film genre, the wuxia pian has its inherent, potential drawbacks. The stories are almost always removed from reality, generally complicated and packed with characters that can be difficult to keep straight. But the worst aspect is when the film stalls due to excessive dialogue and that’s what happens in this case. The film practically dies two-thirds of the way in under the crushing weight of multiple flashbacks and convoluted explanations. I’m with director Edward Zwick (THE LAST SAMURAI) who is of the opinion that the best storytelling in movies is non-verbal. Writer/director Wong Tin-lam’s handling of the story is too unsophisticated to attempt such complex storytelling techniques.

Adding to the film’s problems are Golden Harvest’s dull and plain sets that pale in comparison to Shaw Brothers’ usually elaborate stages. Also, it may just be a perception, but the extras seem predominately old and tired.

In the film’s favor, the action is nicely choreographed by then-emerging kung fu star Chen Kuan-tai and Lin Wen-wei. Wire-assisted trickery like rooftop leaping and horizontal lunges are smooth, while the swordplay and group combat is entertaining. Bonuses come in the form of limited grappling, a nasty claw weapon, a great finishing move at the end, and samurai-influenced swordplay performed by James Tien.

The Japanese influence is further evidenced by some gruesome limb-cleaving. One nice shot cleverly uses trick editing on a real arm rather than the usual rubber one.

Maria Yi performs quite well in her action scenes and puts to rest her image as a victim in THE BIG BOSS.

THE CHASE is an average wuxia pian with solid action, but poor pacing and an overly-convoluted story. There are no big names or memorable performances to see. It’s not recommended as an essential purchase, but fans of vintage (pre-’70s) wuxia films may still want to check it out.