Two blood brothers are separated shortly after birth after the apparent deaths of their fathers. The two brothers are on a mission to find the best form of kung fu. They fight numerous masters, priests, and students in their mission to learn the ultimate form of martial arts. One of the brothers falls for a girl;
however, her father is a martial arts master. The brother must win the girl in a contest that includes martial arts talent and intelligence. ?You six can kill yourselves and save me the trouble of doing it.? Chang Cheh, director of Masked Avengers, Killer Army, The Spearman, Kid with the Golden Arm, 5 Kung Fu Daredevils, Crippled Avengers, Invincible Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms, and the One-Armed Swordsman, delivers Brave Archer part 1. The storyline for this film is twisted and eventually become incoherent. The film is more about the individual characters rather then the actual plot. The acting and choreography is solid. ?You drank my snake?s blood, now I?ll drink yours.? The baby naming sequence, the two fathers getting killed, the opening introductions, Centipede versus the 5 fingers of death, the skeleton claw flashback, the tattooed manual, the lunch order, the fight for the rights to the bride, the snake attack sequence, the true father discovery, the mother slicing her own throat, the thieves being turned to slaves and then losing their tongues explanation, the changing of the seasons during the song, and the fight during the recital were amongst the better portions of the film. ?I think we should bury his head. It may frighten your wives, wouldn?t want that.? The Brave Archer is a film with an all star cast. However, they are presented on an individual and limited basis. Only a few characters receive adaquete screen time, and the characters who receive extended screen time are usually not from the Venoms. Lizard received quite a bit of screen time from the Venoms but he did not appear in many action sequences. There are four volumes to the Brave Archer collections, and I will review them all; however, I would recommend viewing any of the Venom films prior to the Brave Archer series. ?Get married, and your kung fu suffers.? Grade: C+
June 3, 2007
