The Sword Stained with Royal Blood (1981)

The Sword Stained with Royal Blood (1981). 1h 44m

“Like most kung fu films, we lose a lot in translation, but we get the gist of a young hero learning ways to fight powerful evil people.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHere, weu0026#39;re not sure for a while who the evil ones will be. In fact, the hero is played by an actor who often plays bad guys.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHere, he is a very likable chap, and he meets a girl who is very stubborn and has a bad temper. Thatu0026#39;s what makes the film as good as it is. The two leads are very charming and charismatic.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe acrobatics and constant gymnastics are what often become tedious in these films. Here, they are more than tedious. We stick through this crazy choreography, though, because of the charisma of the two lead characters.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFortunately, although our hero ends up having to fight 5 kung fu artists by himself, he is not totally alone, as two family members are there to make sure the u0026quot;henchmenu0026quot; donu0026#39;t interfere. They have a brief battle of their own. A mute servant also adds to the appeal, as does some very stylistic settings, including a cave of danger with an Indiana Jones atmosphere.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll in all, very watchable, although the tedious fight scenes are a bit of a drag. In this film, it is the drama in between that salvages it.”