A lot of credit must be given to director Chang Cheh for managing to juggle 13 principle characters in his 1970 martial arts epic (and considering the size and scale of the story and production, the term "epic" is appropriate and not just an adjective) The Heroic Ones. The group fight scenes are fantastic: chaotic and bloody; busy yet not crowded or cluttered. You would think that watching one or two fighters go up against 10+ foes simultaneously would get boring after a while. But it doesn't. The Heroic Ones also scratched a very peculiar itch I have for kung fu films: it highlights a minority culture that doesn't get much (or any) exposure outside of China. In this case it was the Shatuo people, a northern tribe of sinicized Turks who seized great political power in the 9th and 10th centuries. Because of the nature of the narrative (which concerns Chinese political struggles and uprisings), it isn't able to explore the idea of the Chinese frontier like King Hu's Dragon Gate Inn (1967). And though it is briefly mentioned, the idea of Chinese prejudice against their powerful northern neighbors doesn't play an important part in the story. Oh well...review the movie you have, not the movie you want.
In May of 2018 I wrote a proper piece on this film here:
https://www.theyoungfolks.com/review/121077/film-canon-the-heroic-ones-1970/
8/10
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