Now is probably also a good time to bring up a bit from Chang Cheh’s memoir, where he states that on these series of movies that he “co-directed,” he actually made the first film himself, such as The Water Margin, and then subsequent films in the series were made by the other directors (Pao Hseuh-Li for The Delightful Forest and Wu Ma for All Men are Brothers).
Everything about this movie is bigger and better than anything the Shaw studio had previously attempted, and it’s easily one of the best - if not the best - film I’ve seen so far in my chronological series. This kind of martial arts epic was unheard of at the time, the closest thing I can think of is Chang Cheh’s The Heroic Ones, a film about the 13 sons of a barbarian king, but The Water Margin is The Heroic Ones turned up to 108. We may not be privy to all the details, but you can rest assured that every character has a motive and a rich backstory.
Certain characters might not get much screen-time or development - Chen Kuan-Tai is on-screen for less than 10 seconds, drinking a bowl of wine - but it is made very clear that this is a teeming world full of rich characters. At the same time, Chang casts virtually every actor employed by the Shaw studio, resulting in a true martial arts epic that feels huge and sprawling. Chang Cheh’s adaptation attempts to bring a small slice of the overall story - chapters 64-68 - to the silver screen, focusing on the tale of how Lu Junyi the Jade Unicorn (Tetsuro Tamba) and his protégé Yen Qing (David Chiang) came to join the group. The novel, also known as Outlaws of the Marsh, is about a group of 108 men and women who came together at Liang Shan Mountain in an effort to fight the corrupt Imperial ruler. That’s quite the run for a novel, and judging by the amount of quality storytelling in Chang Cheh’s The Water Margin, it’s with good reason. The Water Margin is a classic of Chinese literature, a novel written in the 14th century that has inspired and entertained the Chinese people ever since. Starring David Chiang, Tetsuro Tamba, Toshio Kurosawa, Ku Feng, Chin Feng, Fan Mei-Sheng, Yueh Hua, Wong Chung, Ti Lung, Lily Ho Li-Li, Pang Pang, Tung Lam, Wu Ma, Cheng Lui, Paul Chun Pui, Chen Kuan-Tai, Danny Lee, Wu Chi-Chin, Lee Hang, Lau Dan, Lei Lung, Zhang Yang, Leung Seung-Wan, Lo Wai, Lee Wan-Chung, Shum Lo, Wong Ching-Ho, James Nam Gung-Fan, Lau Gong, Cheng Miuĭirected by Chang Cheh, Wu Ma & Pao Hsueh Li
AKA Seven Blows of the Dragon, Outlaws of the Marsh