Somewhat misleading in name is Chang Cheh’s The Invincible Fist, an entertaining wuxia crime story that sounds more like an old school kung fu title based on the title. In reality, it’s a pure swordplay actioner with a wide array of bizarre weaponry wielded by notorious warriors with equally odd names. It’s also a fine early vehicle for emerging martial arts stars Lo Lieh and David Chiang.

The film uses the well trod robbers-on-the-run premise that has appeared more recently in Hong Kong with Johnnie To’s Breaking News (2004) to tell the tale of how a group of skilled swordsmen flush with the spoils of their latest heist are tracked down by the martial world’s top “bounty hunter” Tieh Wu-ching (Lo Lieh). Like To’s film, Chang gives the lead villain, an aging bandit named Ma Wai-jia (Fong Min), a human touch that allows the audience to sympathize with his plight even as he ruthlessly plots to kill the man sworn to bring him to justice. The key element is his blind daughter Kuei-ku (Li Ching), a lonely young woman who knows nothing of her father’s criminal activities and whom becomes Wu-ching’s lover after he stumbles into her home while wounded from Wai-jia’s dart. This sets the stage for an awkward, yet satisfying confrontation between the two adversaries as both try to shield the innocent Kuei-ku from the violent truth.

For a late-60s swordplay film, The Invincible Fist has terrific pacing that is set in the film’s opening as the bandits perform their latest raid on a wealthy household. Wu-ching soon arrives on the scene with his younger brother Er-long (David Chiang) and a posse of swordsmen in tow to track down the bandits, all of whom hide behind aliases. From the moment that Wu-ching identifies his first target, a bandit named “Iron Bat” Tso Yin-chung (Chan Sing) who is posing as a traveling peddler, a frantic race begins to find the ring leader. At the same time, Wai-jia instructs his men to kill their hunter as a matter of self preservation.

This two-way struggle between super cop and super robber becomes the staging ground for a series of slick wuxia battles where everyday objects such as watermelon seeds become deadly implements in the hands of skilled warriors and esoteric weaponry rule the day. Here, one will find “Golden Abacus” Lee Bu-lok (Cheung Pooi-saan) launching abacus beads like bullets or transforming his fan into a three-section staff with hidden blades. Ku Feng plays Peng Yun-chiang, the Southern Goose who uses geese-shaped darts to kill his associates before they can talk. Wai-jia himself wields a rope dart capable of being fired with deadly accuracy and speed. You’d think a simple sword-wielding hero wouldn’t stand a chance, but Wu-ching is portrayed as the best of the best. Not only does he bring outstanding sword handling skills to bare, but he also employs cunning to outwit his opponents. Besides this, he’s the epitome of a righteous knight-errant, who courteously allows his enemy the dignity of maintaining his false image in the mind’s eye of his daughter.

Wu Ma is credited as assistant director, but I suspect he may have had more control of the production than one might expect. There’s a dramatic element to how much of the film is framed that doesn’t quite match up to your standard Chang Cheh martial arts movie. Wu was one of a small number of filmmakers who collaborated with Chang repeatedly and although he never really distinguished himself as a director through more than forty films, he has proven to be a more balanced genre filmmaker with regard to drama, character interaction and humor. The film climaxes with a very well-staged and intimate duel between Wu-ching and Wai-jia, where both men are wounded, desperate and getting sloppy. It’s not exactly the stoic and grandiose image Chang usually created for his film finales. In this way, the fight sequence looks a bit like a forbearer to Ching Siu-tung’s animalistic sword battle that ends Zhang Yimou’s House of Flying Daggers.

The Invincible Fist also benefits from some of Shaw Brothers’ better production standards. The sets are first-rate, the soundtrack is dynamic and actually sounds tailored to the film, and even the make-up is excellent. One particular close-up of a hairline on a character’s wig is practically invisible. This standard sadly wasn’t always maintained through much of Hong Kong or even Japan’s classic period film eras.

The production isn’t perfect. One glaring shot of a wire hoisting Lo Lieh cannot be overlooked. Likewise, audiences may find themselves chuckling at Li Ching’s old-fashioned dramatics as the woe-is-me blind girl or how every time Lo Lieh is just about to get one of his suspects to snitch, they are killed off at the last moment. This cliche must haven occurred at least three times. But the great thing about being martial arts movie fans is that we don’t have to let things like this get in the way of enjoying some excellent wuxia action from Lau Kar-leung and Tong Gaai or a couple of great performances from Lo Lieh and David Chiang.

Speaking of these two actors, it’s interesting to see how Lo acts as Chiang’s elder brother. In most of Chiang’s subsequent films with Chang Cheh, Lo was essentially replaced by Ti Lung and it was this pairing that became the foundation for Chang’s second generation of kung fu movie talents. Meanwhile, Lo drifted away from Chang’s camp and went on to international stardom by being cast in King Boxer (AKA Five Fingers of Death), the kung fu movie that started the whole kung fu craze in America. The Invincible Fist rates as one of, if not Lo Lieh’s best swordsman role, where he didn’t have to give up the limelight to any screen heroines or better-looking male stars.

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