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The Butterfly
Godzilla X Mothra X Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.
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Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is a sequel to Godzilla X Mechagodzilla (2002) and a sequel of sorts to Mothra (1961). It's always good to keep in mind that Mothra is the only Kaiju to actually defeat Godzilla and kick him out of Japan before.
Kiryu, or Mechagodzilla, was badly damaged in the fight against Godzilla in the last movie and is still under repair. The military story was tepid at best. Yoshito is part of Kiryu's maintenance crew and dreams of one day piloting the Mechagodzilla. I missed badass pilot Akane Yashiro from Godzilla X Mechagodzilla. She is one of my favorite characters from all of the Godzilla movies. None of the new pilots measured up.
I thought the new fairies did a good job and loved that they were able to sing the Mosura song.
Professor Shinichi Chujo, played by Hiroshi Koizumi, from the original 1961 Mothra, makes a return and is the one the fairies come to visit early on. He and his grandson play a big role in summoning Mothra for help when Godzilla comes calling. And come calling he will as Mothra warned, because Kiryu is made from the bones of the 1954 Godzilla and Big G is drawn to it. Because of the original Godzilla's DNA in Kiryu, the giant metal monster is somewhat sentient making him a wildcard in the fight to come.
This is not one of my favorite Godzilla suits. Big G looks a little like a cobra or a Cardassian from Deep Space 9. Be that as it may, he's still wounded from the previous fight, Mechagodzilla needs more repairs, and Mothra is near the end of her life cycle. Not a three-way fight for the ages but spectacular enough.
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS is entertaining, no great moral to the story for this Godzilla aside from --- always listen to the Shobijin.
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The story takes place early on in China, then mostly in the United States, with a side trip to Japan. The narrative is constantly broken up by the use of flashbacks telling Hero's story which I found distracting. There were times it was hard to tell what time the characters were in and where they were located. Characters twenty years older tended to look almost the same as they did when they were younger to further confuse the issue.
It took a while to figure out the central conflicts were other than Hero being born under a “death star” which means he had to be a loner who wanted to be alone to keep his loved ones safe. Turns out a shady Japanese ninja and his henchmen wanted the kung fu secret of Hero's master which pitted Invincible and his ninja crew against Hero. It’s a martial arts movie which means they don’t need much of a reason to fight, but it’s always helpful to have a believable reason.
A Man Called Hero boasted a stellar cast though few had much screen time. It truly seemed a waste of Shu Qi, Ken Lo, and Yuen Biao. Bit characters became important and seemingly important characters dropped out of sight. There was a dearth of character development outside of Hero's and even then, we're missing out on nearly 20 years of story. It's hard to care about characters who only spent a few minutes on screen. Even the father-son relationship felt hollow. There were a lot of major plot holes that were never filled.
The special effects were very good, especially when the shape shifting ninjas who were dressed like chauffeurs battled Hero and his buddy Shadow. In a movie with so little character development, it would have benefited from more stunning action scenes than the few it had.
A Man Called Hero was mildly diverting but there wasn't enough depth or bright shiny objects to keep my attention through much of it. If you are a fan of Ekin Cheng, this particular manhua and know the story, or even a CGI buff, you might enjoy it. Kung fu enthusiasts may be disappointed.
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Scientists find two eggs, Rodan has recently hatched from one and it is flying around causing trouble. The scientists take the other egg back to the lab to observe it. What hatches is shockingly a mini-Godzilla. Godzilla and Rodan do battle over the baby and once again, the humans don't seem to understand that Godzilla rarely bounces into town to cause trouble unless he's been provoked. This time, he wants his kid back!
The humans have created Mechagodzilla to take on Godzilla and also have to use it against Rodan. A battle fighter plane can join with Mechagodzilla to form SUPER Mechagodzilla. Miki, the telepath of the G Force is back. And Azusa Goza plays surrogate mother to baby Godzilla.
Odaka Megumi did her best acting job of the Godzilla movies I've seen her in. All of the actors were serviceable although the 2 male leads felt largely indistinguishable. Ifukube Akira's score was superb as always.
Now to dig into the things I did not understand even after watching this movie twice. Baby Godzilla is not a Godzilla but Godzillasaur--nicer and a plant eater. Where did they get this information if he's the first one? And who is the mother? And does Rodan think he's his brother? How did Rodan hatch fully grown but Baby Godzilla is almost human size? Instead of who's the daddy, who's the mama?
It also turns out that Godzilla has another brain and it's in his rear. Not even going to touch that one. There is also a plant song that seems very important but for the life of me I don't get that story element.
Now on to what I did like. This is one of my favorite Godzilla costumes. I love his cat face and claws looks. After watching the first Rodan, Rodan's a favorite though often underused. In this film, near the end he does an incredibly sweet act that I found particularly touching. The monster fights and the fights with Mechagodzilla were all well done and of course the stake was custody of Baby Godzilla. Thankfully, this baby looked much better than and was far less annoying than Minilla. Baby Godzilla helped Godzilla be more than a rampaging destroyer and gave the humans more empathy to the giant monster. Unlike some of the revenge fueled movies, the humans built Mechagodzilla to protect themselves but also came to appreciate Big G's relationship to his son.
The theme was something about which would prevail-life or artificial life ( I can give you two guesses and one doesn't count) and the other thing they talked philosophically about was how dinosaurs would be there to replace humans when our time ran out. What I got out of it is that bitter custody battles are very costly.
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Even for a Godzilla movie, you have to leave your rational mind at the front door to enjoy this story. Either when Godzilla was battling Biollante or Mothra in a previous movie, his G cells made it into space, ended up in a black hole (whole other set of problems if a black hole is that close to Earth), collided with crystals, star making stuff, and maybe some space pollution to create a Godzilla that has powered up crystals on his back, can fly and can summon these powerful destructive crystals from the ground. Space Godzilla is fueled by rage and destructive tendencies even taking his anger out on Baby Godzilla. A mistake to be sure, because that brings Godzilla into the fight. Initially beaten by SG, we all know Big G needs his nose bloodied and to get angry before the climatic fight. Suffice it to say, eventually Godzilla, Space Godzilla, and the successor to Mechagodzilla II-Moguera meet up for a royal rumble.
The humans are at least a fairly entertaining group. Major Yuki is obsessed with destroying Godzilla after his best friend was killed in a previous encounter with the beast. His friend's sister is a scientist working on controlling Big G telepathically. Miki, the telepathic scientist from several Godzilla movies is back, and her powers have grown. My biggest complaint is that she isn't a very strong actress, probably the weakest in the cast. Her love interest and his comedic side kick round out the G Force team.
As a Mothra fan I was happy to at least see her in the opening, and her besties-the Cosmos-visited Miki several times as well as Fairy Mothra.
The big battles were well done and there were some good overlays to convey the size of the monsters. This mechanical Godzilla felt almost like a Transformer in that it could change shape, fly, walk upright, and burrow into the ground. Space Godzilla was a worthy adversary for Godzilla and he learned why you don't stomp around in Big G's territory and challenge him.
At the end, they tried to throw a moral of the story in, something about the danger of space pollution-truly out of place for this mindlessly fun film. Not a great movie by any stretch, but for fans of Godzilla it was entertaining if you didn't think about it too hard.
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What I liked:
The humans were a more engaging group than usual. The scientists had long time Godzilla actor, Hirata Akihiko, there to help them. An intrepid reporter had parachuted onto the island where the scientists were running tests to try and attempt to control the weather (nothing scary about that!) and he found a young woman who has been marooned on the island since her archaeologist father had died there years ago. The humans ran into problems having little to do with the monsters on the island and it gave them added depth as they had to work together to survive and get along.
Several giant praying mantis lurked in the jungle were a threat to the scientists and sleeping under the ground was a giant spider waiting to go all Shelob on them. The fights involving the giant monsters were all pretty well done and interesting.
If watching with children- Godzilla and his newly hatched son (which raises a lot of questions in and of itself from the mythos) are very affectionate, not scary, so this movie would be appropriate. Instead of frightening, Godzilla comes across as cuddly. There are a lot of loving interactions as Godzilla teaches his son to use his powers and also protects him. Minya protects his papa, too. And for once, Tokyo or some other town is not annihilated. Kamacuras and Kumonga might be too much for small children or those with arachnophobia.
What I didn't like:
Minya's/Baby Godzilla's costume was about as ugly as they could make it and Papa G's didn't look much better this go around. Kamacuras and Kumonga were styled better. Big G has battled far greater enemies and shouldn't have struggled as much as he did with the giant island bugs. Maybe his poorly created face caused him to feel inferior and he fought down at their level.
The sound department couldn't decide what noises to give Minya so they used a puppy, cat, lamb, and even donkey on different occasions to try and make Minya sound cute and helpless. I struggle anytime Godzilla is anthropomorphized to this extent, though it’s certainly not as bad as in Godzilla vs Megalon.
Overall, by setting aside the fearsome, destructive original Godzilla and accepting this era's kinder, gentler anti-hero, I could enjoy this movie for what it was. The humans were more compelling than in most Godzilla movies which helped as well. The truly scariest part of this whole movie was the humans' hubris in thinking they were wise enough to control the weather and not create greater world-wide catastrophes.
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When nuclear testing causes disturbances across the area, including the underwater world of Seatopia, their leader, Emperor Antonio, clad in a white toga with go-go boots and wearing a tiara with what looks like a replica of Megalon's head, calls for the giant cockroach to appear and retaliate against the humans. Megalon heads to Tokyo and starts tearing things up in town.
Meanwhile back at a Japanese lab a couple of humans and a kid are admiring the new robot they've created, Jet Jaguar, which was likely brought in to make the movie even more kid friendly. It reminded me of a creepy clown Ultraman. A couple of Seatopians show up and the kidnappings begin because they want the robot technology.
Ultimately, Jet Jaguar and Godzilla team up against Megalon and Gigan. It takes until two thirds of the movie to get the monster action going but when they do the fun begins. There are monster high fives and handshakes, dispelling any notion that these are giants guided by instinct.
When Godzilla shows up, the music doesn't announce a scary monster, it sounds more like someone's drunk Uncle Tony is stumbling onto the scene. The music was not very inspiring in this movie.
A giant cockroach seems apropos as a mortal enemy, they were here long before humans and will likely be here long after humans. I've always thought they'll be the ones to take over once we're gone in the hopefully very distant future. Thankfully, this time a giant irradiated lizard was able to keep cockroach world domination at bay.
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We are told somehow, somewhere, someway humans found a magical alien crystalline energy source in outer space and it transformed human society. We are told some alien Big Bads decided they wanted it and started attacking the earth. We are told about major cities being devastated world wide. We are told about loving longings between characters. We are told about friendships between characters. Another important thing this movie forgot---showing is more important than telling.
I found it utterly impossible to emotionally connect with any of the characters. Shu Qi is a beautiful and talented actress who was given the job of standing around looking at a monitor and giving orders. The four young pilots featured didn't have enough charisma or meaningful interactions with each other to have me invested in their lives or even remember who they were half the time. The rest of the cast acted in such a reserved manner as to feel almost lifeless.
Much of the CGI was good, even if the part of the alien spaceship they showed looked suspiciously like the ship from Independence Day. Too bad they forgot the part where we were shown what the actual aliens looked like from that movie, to make the battles seem even more personal and real. In Shanghai Fortress with all the amazing weaponry the humans had developed to combat the aliens, I'm at a complete loss why they still fought the alien robots on the ground using ineffective bullet shooting guns. There were several plot developments that made no sense.
Sometimes I can check my brain at the door and just enjoy the ride if the characters are compelling enough but this felt more like a hologram that was all visual with no substance.
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I'm going to start off with what I liked. The quality of the miniatures, sets, 1968 special effects, and space ship was quite good. I had to remind myself that this movie came out a year before the first manned trip to the moon. I appreciated their optimism that the world would be fully cooperating in 1999 not just on Earth but the moon as well. On the monster front, eleven popular Kaiju stars made appearances: Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Mandan, Kumonga, Baragon, Varan, Gorosaurus, Minya, Anguirus, and Ghidorah. The fight near the end was all you could hope for in this era from Ghidorah against Godzilla and friends.
What let me down about this movie-in a movie called Destroy All Monsters, I want to see monsters. I suppose it could have been talking about the aliens because out of 88 minutes, the monsters were only on screen for around 18 minutes. The alien story could have been interesting but the acting was stiff and unemotional from humans and aliens alike. There were some entertaining moments, but not enough to keep me from wondering what the monsters were up to while the humans were talking.
Even though I was happy to see all the monsters in one movie, it would have been nice if they'd felt like the stars instead of guest stars in their own movie.
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Based loosely on the time when foreigners with guns were invading China, there were those who thought their fighters would be able to repel bullets with their kung fu. Lau Kar Leung's character disbands his school because he doesn't want to see any more young men die trying to survive bullet wounds with kung fu techniques. Of course, now he's branded as a traitor and the other schools send people to execute him. He's living quietly as a woodcutter though it doesn't take long for Hsiao Hou and Kara Hui to track him down. Kara's character is in agreement with his philosophy, Hsiao's character ends up having to question all his training and loyalty to his master when confronted with the truth of the human body and bullets.
There are some magical elements to the action with mind and body control. Two scenes with Alexander Fu Sheng, who plays a local conman, are particularly funny with Lau Kar Leung controlling his body with a straw doll.
Aside from Kara Hui, this is not a movie with pretty actors in the lead roles. This movie was made with actors, including Kara, who could perform the fights with precision and grace.
I could go on about the clash of traditionalism vs modern warfare and the nature of kung fu touched on in the film, but honestly what I enjoyed the most was watching the amazing fight scenes. Lau Kar Leung vs Hsiao Hou. Hsiao Hou and Kara Hui in a crazy attic fight. Gordon Liu, here in a supporting role as the antagonist, fighting against Lau Kar Leung was great. Just watching Lau Kar Leung practice with the weapons was worth the price of admission. The best was literally brother on brother fighting when Lau Kar Wing and Lau Kar Leung fight using all 18 weapons and their fists and kicks. The fighting is fast, expertly choreographed, no obviously missed hits or kicks, no missed timing. It was a joy to behold watching these experts put on a show.
After all the thrilling fights, the story even came to a satisfying end. If you are a kung fu movie enthusiast, this one is not to be missed.
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Mechagodzilla is back and this time it's personal!
Godzilla has his claws full battling a refurbished Mechagodzilla, Titanosaurus, and the space aliens from the previous Mechagodzilla appearance. This time the aliens have a mad Earth scientist who can control the normally peaceful Titanosaurus to help them reach their nefarious goal of leveling Tokyo and making it their new home. Along for the ride are some Interpol agents and the mad scientist's cyborg daughter. Of course, one of the Interpol agents falls madly in love with the daughter in the five minutes he gets to know her. Godzilla movies have it all--even romance!I thought the first Mechagodzilla movie was better than this one. Godzilla was almost relegated to a bit player here. He had a face lift since his last outing, making him look angrier. Thankfully, his eyes didn't look painted on by a fourth grader this time. Titanosaurus had the most screen time. I have to say I thought the design for Titan was very good and aesthetic, he made a formidable, if reluctant opponent for Big G. Mechagodzilla was back with some new weaponry and a few surprises.
Ifukube Akira's score was dark, ominous and at times thundering. I very rarely notice the music in movies, but I thought the score was nearly perfect, particularly for the opening sequence.
I would be remiss if I didn't make note that Honda Ishiro, the director for the first Godzilla movie, came out of at least semi-retirement to helm this movie.
The monster fights and city destruction were well done and didn't go over the line into the boxing camp of earlier movies. It did look like the same city block was destroyed several times, but given it's smallish budget that feels like nitpicking. My complaint is the same one I give in nearly every review, the humans were lackluster, including the simian aliens. The human element wouldn't be as important if they didn't take up so much screen time. I'm here for the big guy, not the humans he lets live on the island.
Terror of Mechagodzilla was entertaining, with a few dark elements thrown in, particularly near the end. This was a slightly above average 1970's Godzilla movie for me.
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Big G has his hands full with Mechagodzilla, luckily King Caesar/Shisa and some plucky humans are around to help. Returning for another Godzilla adventure is Hirata Akihiko as Professor Hideto Miyajima. This veteran actor is always a welcome presence. The humans were fairly interesting in this movie as they dealt with the aliens in various dangerous, if convoluted scenarios.
Though made during the classic 1970's rubber suit era, the makers of this film backed off the camp and upped the danger for Godzilla, complete with spurting blood. I have to remind myself that these movies were often made to be kid friendly though they did tone down the humorous fight scenes in this one. The laser effects were good for this time-frame and for what looked like a movie that was shot on a very limited budget. No miniature armies appeared, only buildings and mountainsides were destroyed. This was strictly monster on monster fighting.
Many Godzilla movies have a moral behind them. In this one, King Caesar/Shisa seems to be a call back to older Japanese traditions where the priestess must sing a hymn to awaken him. He is the god-like creature who protects the island and appears when called upon. Mechagodzilla shows modern technology encroaching on society. And somewhere in between is Godzilla, an ancient creature enhanced by modern nuclear radiation. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it and King Caesar is just a giant dog eared monster, Godzilla is a giant, destructive lizard and Mechagodzilla is just a large tin can created by some aliens spoiling for a fight!
Mechagodzilla's suit and weaponry were innovative though the real Godzillas's suit was underwhelming for me in this one. This is one of the rare times I enjoyed the humans' story as much as the monster fights. That's not to say their story was riveting, perhaps it's more of a reflection of my apathy toward the monster fights. I found King Caesar/Shisa to be lacking in particular. Mechagodzilla's weaponry and fights with Big G and all the spies both alien and human running around kept the film interesting and the action moving forward. Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes if you are a fan of the classic era.
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The story had some fun twists and turns. There were corrupt Ching nobles, Ming rebels, Korean sympathizers, Japanese characters, monks, fake monks, and real monks in disguise all after a pearl that is a holy relic, but there's also a fake pearl and a poor dead body dragged around the country side. With all these moving pieces, of course there are double crosses galore.
The story had potential, unfortunately some of the best fighters were missing for big chunks of time during the movie. Angela Mao doesn't appear until the 30 minute mark and Carter Wong is also vastly underused. Paul Chu plays the ML and he is out classed by the kung fu fighters around him and it shows.
The soundtrack often sounded like spaghetti western music and I suppose with all the outdoor settings and classic good guy versus bad guy fights only with fists or swords instead of guns it was fitting.
Many kung fu movies end abruptly as if the crew ran out of film but this one had a particularly unsatisfying ending. The saving grace for this film was simply being able to see the cast in action even if they were often underutilized. Legendary Strike may not be legendary but it did have some entertaining moments.
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This review may contain spoilers
Godzilla is nearing death not only for himself but possibly all of humanity as his nuclear heart is about to explode. If that wasn't enough to deal with, Japan's G Force must also contend with some truly scary monsters created from the original 1954 Godzilla weapon-the oxygen destroyer-that have reached maturity and come ashore. Though we are still in the rubber suit era, the CGI and miniatures are quite good for this time and budget. The Destoroyah describes a number of ten foot tall monsters that look like a cross between Alien and the creatures from Starship Troopers, or giant creepy scorpions that can also shoot laser breath out. Their battle with humans in a building were probably the scariest scenes I've seen in the old G movies. The danger and stakes were immediate and personal. When a reporter is trapped in a car with a Destoroyah after her it's more compelling than when unseen humans die in buildings and cars crushed by the giant monsters.
The story for this movie is strong when it focuses on the monsters. Godzilla's son appears and fights Destoroyah, drawing Godzilla back for a final battle. The fights are good, resisting the camp of older movies.
The weak spot in this movie is as usual, the humans. This group was a particularly bland group of actors and flat characters. The one bright spot was a call back to the original Godzilla movie when Momoko Kochi reprises her 1954 role as Emiko Yamane. Ultimately, the monsters showed more believable anger and grief than the humans.
The OST for this movie was particularly good for a Godzilla movie evoking emotions and blending appropriately with the scenes. Probably the best music from any of the Godzilla movies I've watched.
Aside from the acting, the biggest problem I had with this movie was that the narrative and pacing were not always coherent or cohesive. There were times I wasn't completely sure what was going on. At others, it felt like parts of the story had been forgotten.
The movie makes a nice circle back to the original which is fitting as this was to be the last in this series. Godzilla fights one final monster, maybe his greatest enemy yet, before his punishing finish for Tokyo.
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The plot is not very deep. The evil lord needs a rare medicine and sends Lo Lieh and his deadly dragon missiles to get it. The evil second in command wants the glory and rewards so he sends henchmen to "escort" LL. Along the way innocents are killed and family members come seeking revenge. There are crosses, double-crosses and triple-crosses all with LL in their cross-hairs. Very few minutes go by without weapons being drawn and red blood or heads flying.
Several of the fight scenes take place outdoors in beautiful settings near the ocean. Some of the stage sets will seem familiar to Shaw viewers. The fights are adequate for this cast, not super fast but entertaining.
The plot was thin, the sound effects could have come straight out of a Warner Bros. cartoon, and as always the Shaw Bros. ending was hilariously abrupt, but it was a fun 80 minutes of fights, chases, and betrayals.
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This review may contain spoilers
This sequel to the beautifully made Come Drink With Me should have been called Silver Roc instead of Golden Swallow. The amazing Cheng Pei Pei, the star of CDWM, is relegated by director Chang Cheh to a supporting role in her own movie in favor of Jimmy Wang's Silver Roc.The story sets up an unhealthy love triangle. The Roc is a ruthless killing machine cutting and slashing his way across the country taking out anyone affiliated with a gang or evil family. The problem comes in when he frames the Golden Swallow for the killings bringing down all sorts of trouble on her head. Fortunately for her, Lo Lieh shows up as the Golden Whip saving her after she's been poisoned and protects her while she heals. The two of them fight side-by-side together and become friends though The Whip is falling in love with her. Meanwhile the Roc spends all of his non-killing time at the brothel.
Why did the Roc set her up repeatedly? He and the Swallow had known each other at their martial arts school years ago and he would occasionally speak to her even though he was a jerk to everyone else. Now he's trying to force her to come to him with the bad guys hunting her down relentlessly even though he's known where she is all along. I don't begin to know how to reconcile her having feelings for a man who kills mercilessly and puts her life repeatedly at risk out of "love". These aren't spoilers, it's literally the plot for the whole movie. It's that basic.
Wang is seen several times riding a horse and he rides like he wields a sword-sloppily and as if he'd never done it before. Normally, Lau Kar Leung is my favorite fight choreographer, but he missed severely with this movie, maybe it was Tang Chia's influence. Wang's ultimate swordsman abilities are akin to spray and pray with everyone falling down. In CDWM Pei Pei's moves were artistic, here they are rudimentary and she keeps having to throw her hands up like a cheerleader. Lo Lieh manages to look smooth and powerful which only accented Wang's frenetic movements. It didn't help that Wang's acting was stiff as a board in this movie.
What I did like were Pei Pei's and Lieh's performances. They came across more naturally bringing some depth and nuance to scenes that bordered on the ludicrous. Wu Ma played a good guy for a change and he was able to show what he can do with a few lines and scenes.
I know I'm coming across as harsh, but watching Come Drink With Me and Golden Swallow back-to-back was a mistake because the difference in quality and style was glaring. Chang Pei Pei commanded the screen in CDWM, in Golden Swallow she was stuck playing the vacillating female over someone who kills and threatens to get her attention. Wang's character took up most of the story which is a shame because he was the least interesting thing about the whole movie. I would have scored GS lower, but gave it a bonus point bump for Cheng Pei Pei's and Lo Lieh's diligent work to save this story.
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