Death Duel (1977)

It’s not easy to be a nobody

In the martial arts world being #1 means a relentless road to the Death Duel. Whatever you are ranked someone is waiting in the wings to knock you off by any means necessary to move up.

The Third Master of the Supreme Sword tired of the daily challenges and blood on his sword and went into hiding as menial labor in a brothel. Nicknamed Hopeless Ah Chi, he and the prostitute Hsiao Li, fell quietly in love but he left after a confrontation with rowdy customers. Coincidentally, Li’s brother and mother took him in. Eventually, she finds him at their home and it looks like for a while Ah Chi can live the contented life of a nobody.

Being that it’s a martial arts movie there are all sorts of people who want a piece of him when rumor spreads that his death notice was premature. Famed swordsman Yen Shih San is determined to know once and for all who is #1. But he will have to get in line as evil clanswoman Chiu Ti wants revenge for The Third Master spurning her.

The body count in Death Duel is staggeringly high. Almost no one is left standing by the end of the movie. Tang Chia’s fights are well done for the time. Most of the fights were filmed at a distance whether for artistic reasons or to cover the use of the stuntmen. I prefer to see the faces of the fighters though that didn’t happen often.

Lo Lieh as his Killer Clans character and Ti Lung in his Magic Blade costume made cameo appearances and showed the young Derek Yee what stage presence means. David Chiang made a cameo near the end of the film as a mad swordsman and Yueh Hua dropped in as an evil doctor. Ku Feng played against type and was the kindly brother of Ah Chi’s love interest. The movie was full of familiar kung fu faces. Yee did an admirable job as the lone swordsman who wanted to be left alone. Ling Yun didn’t have much screen time as the rival but made the best of it.

The movie was filmed on the lot but the settings were all quiet nice and didn’t look like they were meant to be torn down by marauding fighters. The OST fit the mood of the scenes and was quite lovely in comparison to others of the time. The Shaw Brothers’ gold lame costumes made an appearance though most of the costumes were more understated.

The huge cast could be overwhelming at times as fighters appeared out of nowhere to challenge The Third Master. The story itself was straightforward and led directly, albeit over a plethora of bodies, to The Death Duel. Entertaining with a a pleasing cast, Death Duel is worth watching if you are a fan of old martial arts movies. Derek Yee went on to direct the remake in 2016, Sword Master. If you’ve seen that movie this one is well worth your time to see its inspiration.

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