The Heroic Ones (1970)

"There's no joking in the army"

The “Iron Triangle” of Chang Cheh, Ti Lung, and David Chiang brought the pain in The Heroic Ones. This Shaw Brothers film was about as epic as they got for a 1970 martial arts film. Walled towns, plenty of outdoor scenery, treachery upon treachery, and pretty much every stuntman on the SB payroll made this movie a step up from so many of the throw away films from this era. It was also beautifully restored.

Near the end of the Tang Dynasty the emperor asked King Jin and his 13 General sons to rid him of the bandit usurper Huang Chao. Warlord Zhu Wen was also concerned about the bandit who had conquered Chang’an. King Jin sends nine of his sons to spy on Huang and assassinate him if possible. The 9 Generals are led by the youngest, Li Tsun Hsiao, which causes jealousy among two of the older brothers. Cracks in the brothers’ solidarity soon threatens them all.

The Heroic Ones was different from other Shaw Brothers productions in several ways. One of which was that it was not the Mings and Qings fighting but rather set much earlier in the Tang Dynasty. While there were two military antagonists, the primary drama, like a good old-fashioned Shakespeare or Greek tragedy, took place within the family. As this was a Chang Cheh film, there was no doubt going into it that there would be buckets of blood spilled and few, if any, of the brothers left standing. The man had a sadistic streak running through him. He outdid himself with one of the most gruesome deaths I've seen from this era. For another character’s death, someone said, “Your belly is open.” (Was disemboweled) I truly wanted the dying man who continued to fight to reply, “Do you honestly think I don’t already know that?” or “It’s just a flesh wound.”

I watched this movie for Ti Lung. But during this era when he and David Chiang made over 20 films together, in order to have Ti, I had to have the other. Chiang was enormously popular at the time, I just never saw the allure. I loved watching Ti Lung’s fierce fighting style, even when he was relegated to a supporting role. I’m always happy to see Ku Feng, although his character could be dimwitted at times as could Chiang’s. Eldest brother Chin Han also made questionable decisions that resulted in brothers being killed. The lone woman in the cast, Lily Li, had a brief appearance when the brothers needed a place to hideout.

The fights were well choreographed for 1970. There were a lot of swipe and flip, or swipe with stuntmen jumping off walls or into the water. Martial Arts Directors Tang Chia, Lau Kar Leung, and Lau Kar Wing staged large creative fights with no lack of blood though not as spurt happy as Chang’s later films would be.

The sets were enormous and well built. I’m not sure why the antagonists guarded their gates so heavily. The brothers tended to scale the fortress walls quite easily. Upon its introduction, there was no doubt that the Bridge of Peace would need to be renamed, The Bridge of Pieces. I cannot imagine how many costumes had to be made for the extras or dug up from other films. As a Shaw Brothers film there was no shortage of bare chests and furry vests and capes. Sadly, no silver lamé. Surprisingly, a young, thin Chan Sing was almost unrecognizable in his fancy costume which he didn’t remove for the entirety of the movie! There were also numerous spears wielded by both sides. One character was so committed to destroying King Jin that he burned down his own town! Whether a miniature or a set, the fire was realistic.

Most martial arts films from this time ran around 90 minutes. The Heroic Ones clocked in at 2 hours, too long for this kind of film. In all fairness, Chang Cheh and writer Ni Kuang kept the action and treachery cranked up enough to keep my attention, though I could have done with fewer banquet and dancing girls scenes. In nearly every way*, this old martial arts flick was slightly above average for the genre and time. Still only for fans of these old movies and graded on a curve.

13 January 2025
*Never go into these films expecting Bruce Lee level of fighting, he was the one and only or modern CGI and camera aided fighting scenes that anyone can do. There were numerous martial arts trained and acrobatic stuntmen to sell the action in these more balletic bloody battles.

Read More