Our story begins with a one-armed masked man making short work of a group of martial artists before making like horse s--- and hitting the dusty trail. The local villagers begin to speculate as to just WHO this mysterious, one-armed bandit might be. Coincidentally, there happen to be about half a dozen suspects in the vicinity. That's right: almost every other character in THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMEN has a missing limb. Suspicion falls on both Li (David Chiang) and Fang (Wang Yu), who each suspect the other. When a group of "barbarians" using huge spiked clubs attack the pair in a tavern, our heroes manage to dispense with them between sips of tea from teapots- which they use to toast one another both during and AFTER the fight. And, lest you think he's been forgotten in the mayhem, Lo Lieh as yet ANOTHER one-armed swordsman plays a pivotal role at the end (and he has an unsurprising surprise up his sleeve). There's a scene early in the movie involving some wooden men that come to life; it's the kind of thing we've come to expect from a Wang Yu-directed movie (though co-director David Chiang might've had a say in it as well). A fun but minor romp.
Review of The One Armed Swordsmen
