Born Invincible (1978)

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

A Brilliant Conflict

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Carter Wong grows a pair of white eyebrows and becomes the most iconic villain of all martial arts movies – the invulnerable white eyebrows character. I have been watching every martial arts movie ever made in chronological order from 1967 and my first notice of a white eyebrows villain was in 1968 in "The Swordsman of All Swordsmen". More famous invulnerable white eyebrows villains include Hwang Jang Lee and Lo Lieh. The rules of the villain also state that he does have one vulnerable spot that he can move around by will according to the time of day. This superpower is associated with a martial arts practice called Taiji Qigong that is an advanced part of the popular kung fu style usually referred to as Tai Chi in the East. None of the fights show real Tai Chi. Technically, a lot more is lost in the translation. The English dub oversimplifies the line "You must strike when he is not himself." The ability to shift one's vulnerable spot is always associated with the time of day. In the movie the shadow of the sword is shown to represent that factor. When he is not himself is not really when he is laughing. Every villain has that same laugh. A more accurate translation would be along the line of "You must strike when he does something a Qigong practitioner would never do – display overconfidence." As a practicing martial artist for most of my life I tend to notice details like this and they usually don't take any enjoyment away from the typical audience. Another thing I have over thought about the invulnerable villain is why no one ever thinks of dropping a net over him. Also the villain acts just like Superman in the old TV series when he stands tall to deflect bullets but then ducks when the empty gun is thrown at him. If he was really invulnerable he would not have to block or avoid any weapon or blow, he could just attack and nothing else. Nobody wants to see that fight choreography though so I will stop now. Many other reviewers have called this the best martial arts movie they have ever seen. I'm happy to read that but I encourage them to see more. I respect your opinion but there are many more movies out there and I am sure you will find other movies that are better.

Joseph Kuo has made a brilliant movie because the antagonist, the Chi Kung super villain, is such a good caracter. Carter Wong looks a bit like the icelandic world strongest man champion, Magnus ver Magnusson, but thats the only similarity. He is a killing machine, and there is nothing to be done to stop him. And that will be his demise. He is too evil for this world, and being a Chi Kung master, he should have evolved beyond blood lust. When Wong is asked by his female master to spare Lo Leihs life, Joseph Kuo shows signs of genius. The arch villain has a human side, but is is as repressed as that of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. But more than just a super villain, Born Invinsible has a great cast of protagonists. The confidence and skill of Jack Long makes the deadly fights even more dramatic. And can there be a sexier woman than Lo Leih telling Carter Wong to go to hell?

While most of the stars of this movie are quite forgettable, two stand out: Carter Wong and Lo Lieh. Together, they are two nearly invincible killers filled to the brim with gongfu power.This is without a doubt one of CW's best, if not his all-time best film. He plays a white-haired master of taijiquan (hence the actual name, tai ji qi gong) who has trained since the age of 5 in this mystic art and is truly invincible -- except for his one weak point.A classic "revenge for wronged school/slain master" plot makes this film move solidly through its paces. Lo Lieh is terrific as a baton wielding parter to Carter Wong. Basically the young students of a gongfu school train hard to take revenge on the pair for slaying their master. But it's not as easy as it first seems.This movie has quite a few training scenes, all of them terrific, with some quite awesome schticks developed. The dubbing detracts not at all from the film, as the voice-over man perfectly reduplicates the squeaky voice that CW speaks in (due to his powers -- explained in the film). While CW's gongfu is not as good in this movie as in others, say, like Invisible Terrorist, he still keeps it up, and besides, why learn how to fight when no one can hurt you? The rest of the cast make up for it in spades.This movie is worth buying if you love 70's gongfu movies, even non Shaw Bros. ones.

This is one of the rare kungfu movies ever made in Hong Kong. Nothing is boring here : interesting script, direct and efficient scenery, good acting. But what makes this movie so good is the fightscenes that are inventively and beautifully choreographed. Not only it's very good but it's also very hard-to-find. Dammage.