Long Road to Gallantry (1984)

[One Armed Boxer]

Long Road To Gallantry

Year Made – 1984

Long Road To Gallantry would be the second of the only two films veteran choreographer Lung Yi-Sheng would take on full directorial, writing, and choreography duties, and if both efforts only show one thing, it’s that this wasn’t a man who did things by halves.

Made a year after his first effort, Demon Of The Lute, Long Road To Gallantry takes a traditional Shaw Brothers swordplay saga and elevates it to the next level. Many familiar faces return from his first film, most notably the ever stunning Kara Hui and Jason Pai Piao, and they are also joined by a couple of newcomers who would go on to make a name for themselves in the Hong Kong movie industry.

First up is Ho Chia-Chin, who became more well known in the west under the name of Kenny Ho. This was his debut movie as the main star, and he lights up the screen with a great performance matched with a searing intensity during his fight scenes, of which there are thankfully many. After watching this film its hard to believe he didn’t go onto much bigger things, he joined Jackie Chan’s stunt team for a few years, gaining bit roles in the Chan classics Project A Part II and Police Story 2, but then mostly worked in television, before attempting to be launched as a new action hero in Yuen Wo-Pings 1995 take on Under Siege, Red Wolf, which wasn’t the success it was planned to be.

Secondly, the film can boast Rosamund Kwan in her first period role. After starring in Long Road To Gallantry Kwan’s career went from strength to strength, starring most memorably to martial arts fans as Aunt Yee in Jet Li’s Once Upon A Time In China series, and she is still active in roles today. Interestingly, both her and Kenny Ho would share the screen again 3 years after this film in Project A Part II, and even then it was Kwan who had the much bigger role, sharing leading lady status with Maggie Cheung.

The story of the film itself centres on a long standing family feud between two rival factions, the brilliantly named Thunder Gang led by the Leng family, and the Dragon Sect led by the Li family. Both parties have a manual which holds the secret to mastering the Jiu Xuan Force, which can ultimately grant the practitioner invincibility. The Thunder Gang leader Leng Tian Lei, played with gusto by Lung Tien Hsiang, has the manual which explains how to practice the Jiu Xuan Force, and the previous leader of the Dragon Sect, Chang Tian Yi, played by Chen Kuan Tai, has the manual which provides the antidote to anyone who’s been hit with the Force.

Kenny Ho’s character, Du Meng Fei, walks into the middle of this feud after rescuing Rosamund Kwan’s character, Mu Wan Er, who is part of the Dragon Sect, from a group of Thunder Gang assailants. It turns out that Leng Tian Lei had a newborn daughter who was taken from him 20 years ago, after a failed attack to steal the manuals from the Dragon Sect was foiled by Chang Tian Yi, leading to his wifes death and his daughter being left behind, to be raised by Tian Yi under the protection and values of the righteous Dragon Sect. Tian Lei has been trying to capture all the girls who are part of the Dragon Sect so that he can try to identify which one is his offspring. Kwan ultimately turns out to be the long lost daughter, leading to split loyalties and questioned identities.

To complicate matters further, Kara Hui arrives on the scene playing a character named Li Sai Nan, who before it is revealed that Kwan is the daughter of Tian Lei is pretending to be the daughter herself, so that she can get close enough to Tian Lei to kill him. It’s revealed that she is in fact one of the last surviving members of the Li family, and she has been attempting to assassinate Tian Lei under the guidance of her uncle, played by Jason Pai Piao who has been living as a recluse for the past 20 years in an elaborate cave.

Along the way a love triangle develops between Kenny Ho, Rosamund Kwan, & Kara Hui, several characters loyalties are swayed back and forth, a couple of helpless goldfish fall victim to the Jiu Xuan Force, and everything culminates in an epic battle as Leng Tian Lei attempts to wipe out the Dragon Sect and seize the ultimate power for himself.

The plot may sound complex, however on film it works perfectly, and is certainly no more difficult to follow then any of Chor Yuen’s adaptations of Gu Long’s wuxia pien novels. Director Lung Yi-Sheng’s choreography skills are really put to the fore in this film, his style has a certain quirkiness to it, which certainly goes hand in hand with many of the films he has worked on as an action director as well, among them the crazy kung-fu classics Buddha’s Palm & Portrait In Crystal.

Kenny Ho has many scenes where he ploughs his way through a small army of attackers, and although in some scenes the action is slightly undercranked, in others they are clearly run at normal speed, and these have an energetic pace to them which is unusual for many Shaw Brothers movies. Adding further to this feel is the way Ho remains unarmed for the majority of the film, taking on all his attackers with fists and feet with a real look of determination on his face is a pleasure to watch, and is probably also a sign of the trend kung-fu cinema was heading to at the time, leaning more towards hand to hand combat than the weapon orientated fight fests of the past.

Nobody is neglected on the action front though, with all the main players getting a chance to throw their weight around. Kara Hui in particular looks at the peak of her powers, owning every scene she is in with her grace and agility. If anything the only downside of having such a feisty female in the cast who had trained under the legendary Lau Kar Leung, is that when it comes to Rosamund Kwan to get involved in a fight scene, the constant change of camera angle to a long range shot amongst the branches only highlights the fact she is being doubled more than it would normally.

The highlight fight of the film in my opinion though is actually mid-way through, on storming into the Dragon Sect’s headquarters to try and seize the other manual, Lung Tien Hsiang is suddenly confronted by Chen Kuan Tai, who literally drops in straight onto the screen! The two explode into a battle of fists, feet, and crazy wire-work in a brilliantly staged duel. I have to say as well, having now watched both Demon Of The Lute and Long Road To Gallantry, I am convinced that director Ling Yi-Sheng should be credited as the original creator of ‘bullet-time’, the effect that the Wachowski brothers used in the ground-breaking Matrix movies.

He uses a technique, quite how I’ve yet to figure out, where when the two fighters take to the air to battle it out, the camera spins around them from the ground capturing every movement from a 360 angle, it’s a great shot to see, which he has used in both films he’s directed. Although I’m sure its debatable if the Wachowski brothers had actually seen these films or not, the scenes look incredible to watch, and had I viewed Neo & Agent Smith colliding with each other in the subway station guns ablaze first, I’m pretty sure I would swear they must have got their inspiration from these movies!

Another unusual thing Yi-Sheng uses for a Hong Kong period movie of the time, is that he sets the fight scenes to music. This actually works incredibly well, with the music helping to create the mood of the fight, not something you would normally see in your average Shaw Brothers kung-fu flick. The music played during the brawl between Chen Kuan Tai & Lung Tien Hsiang is particularly effective, the upbeat pace of it matching the intensity of the fight, and also during a flashback sequence to when Tien Hsiang is describing how he lost his wife, even though the fight on-screen is fast moving and dynamic, the music stays sober and melancholy, capturing the mood of the memory perfectly and adding a rarely felt depth to the duel.

There is the perfect mix of traditional Chinese instruments and the more modern synthesiser driven tracks in use, in particular the plodding synthesiser effect used whenever Tien Hsiang unleashes the Jiu Xuan Force technique is the perfect compliment to the crazed forms he puts on display. When you combine all of these factors together along with the high production values, Long Road To Gallantry is essential viewing for anyone who considers themselves a fan of martial arts madness.

5 stars

[jmungus]

Long Road To Gallantry is essential viewing for anyone who considers themselves a fan of martial arts madness.

word! possibly SB`s most excellent showcase of (heavily) wire-enhanced fu/swordplay action.

good flow, crazy gung, wicked gem.

[venoms5]

Nice review! I have only watched this one once since I bought it, but is this the one where....

POSSIBLE SPOILER AHEAD....

Lung Tien Sheng's female disciple convinces him to spare one of the opposing clan members but then Lung is betrayed by Chen Kuan Tai's character and is attacked from behind or something to that effect?

[Tex Killer]

I have to disagree there on 5 star rating. Plot may appear good on paper but when watched movie I found it to be almost water thin and some things were predictable(maybe reason is there are few cliches seen in other movies). Time between action was almost boring. Jason Pai Piao and Hui Ying Hung are decent actors but director did not get most out of them. Even as very end is (sort of)sad, there was very little feel of drama...Dang Tak Cheung is obviously better action director than director...

I think result would have been better if he not responsible for about everything in movie.

Action is good. Lots of wires and undercranking but hand to hand combat scenes are exciting. And here and there is some nice swordfights between ladies.

"The highlight fight of the film in my opinion though is actually mid-way through, on storming into the Dragon Sect’s headquarters to try and seize the other manual, Lung Tien Hsiang is suddenly confronted by Chen Kuan Tai, who literally drops in straight onto the screen! The two explode into a battle of fists, feet, and crazy wire-work in a brilliantly staged duel."

I agree to that on OAB, and we also get to see Shaw Magic Carpet in that scene:wink:

Ultimately fairly entertaining but could have been better. For better jason pai piao 1st which comes into mind is excellent "portrait in crystal".

[Iron_Leopard]

I mentioned in a previous thread I have a fascination with the dying days of Shaw Brothers flicks. Mostly films from 81-85. 

This movie popped up in my recommendations on Amazon Video and when I saw it was from 1984 and starred Kara Hui I hit play instantly.

Happy to report it's not bad at all. I really enjoyed it. Story, characters, action. All above average. I would definitely watch this one again in the future.

So cool to see my girl Rosamund Kwan in an early role. This was my first time seeing Kenny Ho in anything I think. What else do you recommend of his? I liked him a lot.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Yeah, I share your fascination with 80's Shaws, and this one is a fun ride.

I like Kenny as Andy Lau's friend in Dragon in Jail and of course his shot at an action lead in Yuen Woo Ping's underrated Red Wolf.

[Chemical Lemon]

I think this one is based off a book. Same book I think as “the Jade Bow” the Great Wall movie that Lau Kar Leung and Lau Kar Wing did choreography on. I think that’s the movie that brought them to the attention of Shaw Brothers. I think there might be another SB movie based on this story but I can’t remember which one if there is. So many of these movies share the same plot points. 

[One Armed Boxer]

On 12/26/2017 at 10:05 AM, TibetanWhiteCrane said:

I like Kenny as Andy Lau's friend in Dragon in Jail and of course his shot at an action lead in Yuen Woo Ping's underrated Red Wolf.

Agreed.  Kenny Ho is one of those guys whose career just never took off the way it should.  He kind of reminds me of Ben Lam, who had a much longer career, but still never quite hit the big time either.

Interesting to see this thread again, this was actually the first review I ever wrote, and it was originally published on the now defunct kungfucinema homepage.  Ah, memories.

[ShawAngela]

On 12/26/2017 at 12:37 AM, Chemical Lemon said:

I think there might be another SB movie based on this story but I can’t remember which one if there is. So many of these movies share the same plot points. 

It must be Ode to gallantry, if I'm not mistaken.

There are some Shaws' that are remakes of themselves, such as The swift sword with...I don't remember which one, Legend of the fox and New tales of the flying fox, The duel and Flag of iron and so on...

[Cognoscente]

On 12/28/2017 at 6:04 PM, One Armed Boxer said:

Agreed.  Kenny Ho is one of those guys whose career just never took off the way it should.  He kind of reminds me of Ben Lam, who had a much longer career, but still never quite hit the big time either.

Jackie's stunt team could have been their own Venoms - Mars as Chiang Sheng, Ben Lam as Sun Chien, Kenny Ho as Lo Meng, Chris Lee as Kuo Chui, and Rocky Lai as Lu Feng.