The Protectors (1975)

Chang Cheh’s frequent directing assistant Wu Ma helms this lightweight mixture of wuxia action and crime storytelling as Lo Lieh and Chang Pei-shang portray a pair of sword-slinging escorts who end up on opposite sides when a gang led by Wang Hsieh attempt to rob a shipment of silver. As the only chivalric hero among backstabbing friends and foes, Lo must fight to secure the silver, maintain his honor and rescue his girlfriend (Yeung Oi-wa) after she’s taken hostage.

THE PROTECTORS is somewhat of an oddity among Shaw Brothers’ 800-plus film library. At only 62 minutes in length, it is one of the studio’s shortest features. It’s unusual crime-related wuxia plot and dominate casting of Taiwanese supporting players means that it has more in common with Wu Ma’s other independent features than anything from Shaw Brothers. It also features comic actor Dean Shek in a rare role as a serious swordplay villain named the “Spear Prince.”

As the heroic, black-clad Ling Xiao, Lo Lieh channels a similar performance in Chang Cheh’s GOLDEN SWALLOW, although this time without being out-staged by Jimmy Wang Yu or Cheng Pei-pei. The role may not be as memorable as Lo’s famous performances in EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN and CLAN OF THE WHITE LOTUS but it still shows the action star in top form. He is doubled though during some of the wide shots, which isn’t surprisingly given that Lo doesn’t have a strong background in martial arts or stunt work.

Scripted by highly prolific Hong Kong writer Ni Kuang, the plot fits well into its one-hour block except for the underdeveloped presence of Yeung Oi-wa as the damsel in distress. The characters are all simple, as are their motives. Wu Ma assembles the story with more of a Western flavor, although it’s subtle. Usually, Hong Kong action movies from this era would show each sequence in order. Wu uses a lot of overlapping edits with cuts between scenes that are happening at the same time. While this looks more sophisticated in its presentation, it doesn’t hide the obvious flaws in the script.

Lo Lieh is supposed to be an escort and yet is easily lured away from the silver shipment he was hired to protect in order to chase down one attacker. Also, the villains come up with some rather flimsy excuses for leaving a captured Lo Lieh alive. Despite all the double-crossing that goes on between characters, the film’s plot is so rudimentary that it could have been crafted during the silent era and marketed to young children. Thankfully, the action sequences are a little more complex than the story.

Choreographed by Lau Kar-wing and Chan Chuen, action scenes feature ample creativity, mostly in the area of weapons combat. Most of the main villains possess a distinctive weapon such as a spear with a head that extends, a double-bladed sword that shoots one of the blades and rope that is used to ensnare victims and cannot be cut. Wang Hsieh has the coolest weapon. It’s a staff with joints that allows the weapon to wrap around objects and lock them, sort of like a folding yard stick. I’m guessing something must have happened to the functional prop during the shoot because after this weapon’s ability is briefly shown early on, it’s never revealed again even though Wang continues to use the fully extended version.

In keeping with wuxia conventions of the day, the action frequently employs wires, trampolines, rapid camera sweeps and zooms, and ground-level shots of fighters leaping over the camera. All of this is an attempt to lend the fighters mildly superhuman dexterity and leaping abilities and it’s well done for the most part.

Staging for fights is above average with suspenseful pauses in between engagements to build tension, very good character placement and continuity between line-of-sight breaks, and excellent use of wires to hide their presence.

Lau Kar-wing is very good at performing and choreographing weapons combat. Although he isn’t in this movie, his presence is felt through the excellent sparring between Lo Lieh and his opponents. A highlight is a fight between Lo and fellow AD Chan Chuen. The final encounter between Lo and the three top villains including Chan Shen as the “Thousand Hands Buddha,” Wang Hsieh and Chang Pei-shan is worth waiting for, not that 55 minutes is a particularly long wait. Its great fun to see Lo choose to dramatically kick one of his enemies to his death rather than dispatch him with his sword.

Although the fight scenes appear to be well crafted there is still a strong vibe that the movie was shot in a very short time frame. The short running time is one clue. Another is the heavy dependence on nondescript outdoor locales, some of which were used repeatedly in older SB films. There are also a few gaffes that were overlooked. The most amusing one is during a panning wide shot when one of the “dead” escorts with a sword held between his arm and torso decides to lift his head, look around and reposition his body to a more comfortable position while he is still in frame. Another is during the opening credits where an otherwise cool montage of sword fighting takes place. During a slow motion sequence one of the stunt actors reacts to a sword blow that is never delivered.

In THE PROTECTORS, Wu Ma tries to add something new to the genre with the crime plot and manages to generate adequate action and excitement in the process. However, there never really is any great distinction from so many other similar swordplay films. On top of that, the production feels rushed and lacking in the quality that defined SB’s better wuxia films. Without more elaborate sets, A-list actors or a more developed story, the film is ultimately little more than a forgettable B-grade actioner that falls below the work of Chang Cheh and Chor Yuen. Its mildly fun while it lasts, gives Lo Lieh a welcome starring role and will likely appeal to diehard genre fans and that’s about it.