Sunday, September 21, 2008

Ode to Gallantry (film)

Ode To Gallantry is a Shaw Brothers film directed by Chang Cheh, starring the Venom Mob. Formerly one of the rarest Venom martial arts films available, it has been digitally remastered and released by Celestial Pictures. In this film, Kuo Chui plays a dual role.

Plot


The simple Bastard , played by Kuo Chui, stole a pancake because he was starving. But, turns out the pancake contains Xie Yanke's Black Iron Token, which is sort of a Wonka's Golden Ticket of the wuxia world, granting him any wish he might like to make to Xie, who would be obligated to fulfill it. Xie , for his part, is the terror of the Clans as he appears yearly demanding the Clans repay in blood for any heinous acts they committed through the year, which at times results in Xie culling an entire clan. The only way that a Clan can avoid the cull is for the Clan's leader to sacrifice for them.

Fearing Bastard might make him promise to stop his annual harvest of death, Xie spirits him away and trains him in martial arts so powerful that he is certain it will kill him. Instead, it makes him super-strong when he is rescued and his chi unblocked by a Clan that mistakes him for their villainous leader, Shi Zhongyu. They bring Bastard back and treat him as their boss, some realizing he is not Shi Zhongyu, but most hoping he will sacrifice himself to Xie should he come and demand blood from the Clan.

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