Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

poe426 BEACH OF THE WAR GODS starts off with a belligerent Japanese warlord pushing around the Chinese villagers he's overseeing: he informs them that he'll be raising their taxes- soon- and they'll pay or suffer the consequences. Enter Hsiao (Wang Yu), traveling swordsman. He promptly puts the Japanese in their place. Knowing they'll retaliate, he begins recruiting local swordsmen for the upcoming festivities. By the time the Japanese arrive en masse to set things right, Yu and his friends have booby-trapped the beach in every way conceivable (and in some ways inconceivable; this being a Wang Yu movie and all). The first assault comes at night. The Japanese retreat to lick their wounds until daylight, when the second wave attacks. They fare no better in the light of day. In quintessential Wang Yu fashion, he throws in everything but the kitchen sink when it comes to his larger than life free-for-alls. One of the things that make Wang Yu movies worth watching is that they're no-holds-barred fun, especially when Wang Yu goes all Wang Yu on their a**es (watch for him dangling from a windmill, a la the end of AMBUSH). Can't beat that.

dbborroughs As Japanese pirates are raiding up and down the Chinese coast a general gathers together some men and turns the local fishermen into soldiers in order to have them fight back.Mix of Japanese samurai films and traditional Chinese Martial arts movies is pretty much a non stop action film. Supposedly based on a real incident this film plays like a spaghetti western version of the Seven Samurai relocated to China. (Yes I know how redundant that sounds but if you see the film you'll know what I mean).After a brief set up the film becomes a series of battles as the pirates make repeated attempts to attack the fishing village. The action is very well done blending a variety of styles into an almost seamless whole.The film is hard to discuss beyond that because the brief film (it runs only 95 minutes) is essentially one long set piece. There are no real characters other then the general, the the villagers all blending together and then men they hire more their "quirk', the guy with all the knives is just a guy with all these knives. One really wish they had taken a couple of more minutes to build some characters instead of just the action.If you don't mind just action and want a martial arts film that isn't run of the mill I'd definitely give this film a try.(Fellow reviewers here on IMDb mention poor dubbing I'm guessing on a video tape copy and hoped for a good subtitled release. I saw this on a DVD as part of Joy Sales Legendary Collection series where the stunning picture is matched with a poor Chinese Vocal track that seems to be separate from the film. I know that all Chinese films from the period were post dubbed and that there are often two vocal tracks -Mandarin and Cantonese, but which ever one they used here was a poor choice)

Brian Camp In BEACH OF THE WAR GODS, an action-packed Hong Kong swordplay adventure from 1972, Jimmy Wang Yu rallies three fighters to help lead the men of a Chinese beach town in battle against the invading Japanese. One of the fighters is an expert knife thrower and comes with his own arsenal. It all leads quickly to a massive battle in the town streets. The swordfights are reminiscent of those found in Japanese samurai films, but with more action and vigor. (Interestingly, Wang Yu often made kung fu films with anti-Japanese themes, yet his films often reflected the influence of Japanese samurai films.)The problem here is the lack of a buildup to the main battle and lack of character development. After a simple setup, Wang Yu and company gather and prepare for battle. Then--boom!--the battle begins and lasts till the end of the film! Action fans will love it, but those seeking a little more depth and substance may feel unsatisfied. Wang Yu not only stars, but wrote and directed the film as well.

Stormrider I found this movie in an old shop and bought it just for fun,not thinking it would be nothing other than an ordinary old Hong-Kong movie(badly dubbed and often lame fighting).Boy was i wrong!The main actors in this movie is the kind of people that you just can`t help finding cool whatever they do.Since this is a Golden Harvest production the sets,costumes and props are well made.The directing by Wang Yu is superb,his visual style of camera angles and the use of slow-motion is just like the movies are made today.The fight-choreographing is sharp,and visually stunning.Compared with other movies from Hong-Kong,usually filled with rain of blood,this movie is more clean.I`m quite used to large bodycounts in any hong-kong movie,but this movie takes killing to a new level.The final battle between the chinese and the japanese is nothing other that a long massacre with people filling your Tv-screen.The only bad about this movie is the dubbing,i only hope that this movie some day will be released on DVD with the original cantonese language.