Shi san tai bao Li Cun Xiao

The only real importance of this film is historical - and only for those who know something of the history of Hong Kong cinema. The script is by Chiu Yin Peng, who soon went on to become the most eccentric director in hong Kong (Demon Warrior, Fantasy Mission force, Shaolin Popeye).

The story is about a woman who has an affair with a statue - yes, that's right - and the child she gives birth to becomes the typical 'young hero' we see in countless chop-socky 'fu films of the '70s. The character (not the actor, who is merely walking through the paces) gets really annoying, because he misses his mom so much, he keeps shouting out "Ma! Ma! Ma!" like a sheep with a speech-impediment.

Of course, since it's a period piece, the film has to include a bit of political intrigue concerning an usurper-king; and there's some weird wizard who literally keeps popping up at odd moments throughout the film, anytime there's a loose plot-twist to resolve by magic.

But the real shame of the film is that there are good fight-performers here, but the director shoots most of the fighting in medium-shot (so we can't see the leg work) or even close-up (and we can't even see their fists!).

At any rate, the statue-father teaches his son how to turn to stone and fly through the air with the greatest of ease, and there are atmospheric fog machines, and sudden discontinuous jumps from one location to another, and characters that disappear, and whole armies represented by only five soldiers - - well, you get the idea.

If the fight scenes had been better, I might still have recommended it - as it is, don't bother.