Chin san chuen suet (1992)

Chin san chuen suet: Directed by Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. With Andy Lau, Kenny Bee, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung. A simple fisherman helps a fugitive King in a fight, and offers him refuge in a hideout near his fishing village. When the King’s group is attacked by his usurper brother, the fisherman is sent to find the King’s betrothed, the daughter of the Emperor, and bring her back. On the journey love blossoms between the fisherman and the Emperor’s daughter. Meanwhile the King’s beautiful advisor seems to be in love with him, despite the fact that she is a traitor sent to kill him by the evil brother.

“When Crouching Tiger,Hidden Dragon came out,critics fell over themselves praising it as being new and fresh. Whilst it is undoubtedly a good film,the fact is that they had been making films like that in Hong Kong for many years,with warriors jumping around the screen in tales of romance and honour. Moon Warriors is a good example. It has itu0026#39;s flaws,with one element rather laughable,but it still demands quite a bit of respect.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe action is really as good,maybe itu0026#39;s a bit more obvious the characters are on wires,but in terms of martial arts skill itu0026#39;s actually better, and just as visually great to watch. Highlights include a display of kites that suddenly somehow turns into a ninja attack,a possibly Macbeth-inspired u0026#39;moving treesu0026#39;sequence,and gorgeous Hong Kong babes Maggie Cheung and Ania Mui battling it out with swords.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDespite what you may have heard about films like this,it certainly isnu0026#39;t all fighting. A great deal of time is given to the love element,and there are perhaps too many montages to the sentimental theme song {as usual,the translated words on the subtitles donu0026#39;t really work}. Howvever,the film retains that melancholic romantic feel present in many other Hong Kong fantasy movies of the time {such as The Bride With White Hair and Saviour of the Soul}.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUnfortunately there is a subplot of a WHALE which is the herou0026#39;s best friend,and itu0026#39;s just laughable. Some versions of the film even have outtakes at the end of star Andrew Lau with the thing. Still,thereu0026#39;s plenty in the film which is worthwhile. Itu0026#39;s really quite extraordinary what Hong Kong filmmakers used to conjure up on what were usually tiny budgets and rushed productions.”