The Pirate

Cool, martial arts on the seas! Oh, well, ok, on a boat then. Oh, well, ok, on the beach then. The main issue of The Pirate (apart from a limited amount of actual pirating) is a lack of spectacle in the fights. There is a liveliness to them that I warmed up to as the movie went on, but it didn't have the crazy acrobatics or wow-moments that I crave.

The first scenes promise a Shaw Brothers swashbuckling adventure, but the story quickly relocates ashore. It still maintains a slightly different feel and at least the finale takes place on a beach. These pirates are too clean and friendly - more in the vein of Robin Hood and his merry men - and therefore not very convincing. It's not a particularly good film, but Ti Lung / David Chiang combo works as always and it's competently (co)directed by Cheng Cheh. Still, a bit of a missed opportunity.

The isn't very focused most of the time but the actors and characters were mostly entertaining. The fights got progressively better as the film when on including the nearly 10 minute final fight which was done using lots of uninterrupted long shots and featured some technically impressive moves. The opening ship battle was fun too but that mass fight wasn't that impressive.