Holy Flame of the Martial World
By Chris Hyde
July 6, 2004
Looking for outlandish thrills and non-stop wuxia action? Then look no further than the Shaw Brothers’ Holy Flame of the Martial World.
After two years worth of Shaw Brothers Region 3 DVD releases from Celestial Pictures, excited fans have been exposed to a full range of material from the storied studio and may just think they’ve seen it all. There’ve been action filled kung-fu classics, sumptuous period epics, musical comedies, macabre ghost tales and so much more. And yet none of the films that have come to the digital format thus far have reached the spectacular and outrageous heights that this 1983 Lu-Chun Ku helmed bit of martial arts madness does.
Supposedly made in response to the wildly out of control Golden Harvest film Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain (in its original '80s incarnation, not the more recent lost-in-CGI remake), Holy Flame of the Martial World evinces the same style of reckless and breakneck plotting as that great Tsui Hark picture possesses. The action begins at a furious pace right from the very first minute and relentlessly continues until the final credits roll. Along the way, the viewer is treated to dazzling sword fights, high flying hand-to-hand combat, absurd story machinations, cheesy special effects, demonic characters and even a mild-mannered snake boy. As if all that weren’t enough, the cast is also peopled with a wonderful group from the Shaw Brothers stable (including Yeung Ching-ching, Liu Hsueh-hua and Mary Jane Reimer) as well as starring the inimitable Philip Kwok Tsui, who also action directed the extravagant fight scenes.
The plot of Holy Flame is relatively straightforward: in a prologue, the parents of two infant twins are pursued by a pack of martial arts villains who are hoping to get their hands on the powerful yin and yang holy flames whose location the pair has knowledge of. When they won’t reveal the whereabouts of these talismans the couple is killed, and at first it appears that the babies will suffer the same fate. At the last second, however, Philip Kwok in the role of Yama Elder shows up to pluck the male child from danger and to promise the primary bad guys that he’ll be sure to train the kid so he can grow up and take his revenge in 18 years. Figuring that they’ll need some backup down the road, the nasty old sorceress (Liu Hsueh-hua) scoops up the female infant with the intention of misleading the child in such a way that when she grows up she’ll want to gain vindication in her own right.
The story then fast-forwards to 18 years later, actually picking up speed as the holy flames are recovered and fought over, the siblings meet without knowing of their familial history and various other characters wander in to play their little parts in the drama. The action plays out throughout the film with utter and colorful abandon, as the entire running time of the film is filled with amazing swordplay, off-the-cuff wirework and completely over-the-top sequences. Some of the highlights include the aforementioned Snake Boy - who ends up being a critical player in the plot - and a strangely greenfaced demon that likes to chatter on in English for no apparent reason. Also fascinating are the acid and demonfilled lake, the young maiden (Mary Jane Reimer aka Yung Jing-jing) who ends up with a venomously charged finger, the lead character’s masterful flying swordwork and the assorted special effects scenes, which - though pretty darn primitive - conjure up ghosts and even flying Chinese characters for our heroes to battle.
Essentially, the film is a nonstop thrill ride that doesn’t let up at all during its hour and a half length. In fact, so much stuff happens that viewers may even find themselves getting a little worn down towards the end. Happily, though, the entire package is so entertainingly directed and the cast of characters is so engaging that the film is at the end little but an enjoyable romp. Sure, there’s plenty of hammy acting that goes on as many of the principals overdo things a bit in the emoting department. But the whole project has such an air of unrepentant fun that this flaw isn’t nearly as much of a problem as it might otherwise be. This movie has such a swing-for-the-fences vibe that when it does occasionally fall flat, one can forgive its makers for having made such an exciting movie that its occasional overreaching ends up more asset than liability.
Created during some of the headiest days of Hong Kong film, this movie completely captures the old school spirit that sometimes energized the martial arts cinema at the time of its debut. While there’s no real danger of this one being taken all too seriously, the ridiculous goings on and frenetic pace result at bottom in a completely enjoyable thrill ride that wisely keeps its running length near the 90 minute mark. As usual, this new Celestial Pictures Region 3 DVD has a great-looking digital transfer, and though the extras are somewhat paltry, there’s at least some photo stills and bios to add a little heft to the release. (It’d be real nice if the outfit would return to including the original trailers on these DVD’s, however). While 2004 has already seen a slew of wonderful releases from the vaults of the Shaws, it’s tough to imagine that too many more of them will up the ante on wuxia insanity in the way this one does. For when it comes to delivering sheer excitement and ludicrously madcap adventure, Holy Flame of the Martial World has few equals amongst the output from the studio—and that, my friends, is really saying something.
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