<PERSON>
“You can beat me, but don't call me a bastard.”
Bastard Swordsman is a 1983 wuxia film which follows a bullied outcast who must stand up for his kung fu school when they find themselves under attack.
Wanted to check out more <PERSON> (because he’s awesome and I’m sick so wanted something fun) and this was one I’d heard good things about.
In a lot of ways, the shyness and angst of <PERSON>’s character kinda reminded me of <PERSON> in The New One-Armed Swordsman, only a lot less gay — he’s subtle and withdrawn and I loved his performance here, it well reflects his also reserved character in Duel to the Death, but the differences between the characters are also staggering.
It’s also a wuxia that leans more into the high concept and wild special effects, though isn’t as weird as something like Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. The fights here are very much the flying through the air, gravity defying wire work as well as throwing lasers at each other, which was real fun.
On the whole, whilst I prefer <PERSON>’s other wuxia of that year, this was still a nice underdog story. 378