Verdict
Summary
With a vivid prologue and a visceral, no-holds-barred climax that has tons of guys getting their skulls smashed with a red pole, complete with the removal of dozens of teeth, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter is one of the more intense and action packed films from the Shaw Brothers pantheon.
Plot:
The seven sons of the Yang dynasty are savagely attacked and massacred, and only two sons survive … but only one will get revenge.
Review:
A Mongol horde trap the seven valiant sons of the Yang family, and in an ambush that kills five of the sons and their father, the Mongols have all but declared their bloody victory. The 6th brother (Alexander Fu Shang) makes it home alive, but by then he’s completely in shock and gone insane at watching all his brothers and his father be massacred, but he conveys a bit of hope: The 5th brother (Gordon Liu) also got away, but where he ended up is anyone’s guess. Time passes. The 5th brother takes refuge at a remote monastery where he implores the master to allow him to become a monk. He is denied, but he shaves his head and brands his skull anyway, and over time he becomes quite adept at the skills that are taught there, and he becomes a master at the 8-diagram pole weapon. When he finds out that his sister (there are at least 8 of them) has been captured by the Mongols, he does away with the peaceful teachings he’s been taught, and takes up the pole to do some major damage to his family’s enemies.
With a vivid prologue and a visceral, no-holds-barred climax that has tons of guys getting their skulls smashed with a red pole, complete with the removal of dozens of teeth, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter is one of the more intense and action packed films from the Shaw Brothers pantheon. It also has a solid final shot, which is great considering that so many of the Shaw Brothers movies end abruptly and sometimes without warning. Alexander Fu Shang was supposed to have been the star of the film, but he was killed in a car accident during the filming, and so director Lau Kar-leung did an incredible job masking that tragedy and retooling it for Gordon Liu. A solid effort all around, this one keeps action alive.
Arrow Video’s recently released Blu-ray of The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter comes in a new 2K restoration with three audio tracks (Cantonese, Mandarin, and English), plus a new commentary by an author, new interviews, a new filmed appreciation, and more. This is certainly one to add to the martial arts film collection, and anyone collecting Shaw Brothers titles.
