Beach of the War Gods (1973)

Very well executed

Brilliant and touching

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of my friends said that the only movie that he disagreed with Des Mangan of SBS was this movie. Obviously my friend did not like this movie, so unfortunately my approach to this movie was slightly tainted. I was also quite tired and slept through the last part of it, but I caught enough of it to know what it was about and to talk about it.Beach of the War Gods is set in medieval china when Japanese pirates were attacking and capturing cities and moving south along the coast. They sent envoys to a small village and told them to give up 1000 gold or die. The villagers could not pay so attacked and the pirates inflicted a large number of casualties. At that time, a lone wanderer was in the village and challenged and killed the envoys. As such the village was set on a course to go to war with the pirates. The wanderer then goes and recruits a small army and returns to set up a defence of the village. The second half of the movie is one long battle scene where the villagers fight off the pirates.There is nothing that deep about the movie, other than the old idea that if you force somebody to do something that is impossible for them to do, then they will do what is least expected. Here the villagers had no hope in fighting off the pirates, but as they could not meet the pirates demands, they had to fight or die. It was fortunate that they had a helper, but even then the pirates learnt that they could not force their demands onto people because they can and will fight back. This is a story of an underdog turning on his or her oppressors.This movie also had a feel of a 1960's swashbuckling movie. I remember seeing a few of them some years ago and one in particular had a huge battle raging for at least half of the movie. This movie was quite reminiscent of them, and it was that feeling that I liked in the movie. Also the ending was quite well done.

As Japanese pirates are raiding up and down the Chinese coast a general gathers together some men and turns the local fishermen into soldiers in order to have them fight back.Mix of Japanese samurai films and traditional Chinese Martial arts movies is pretty much a non stop action film. Supposedly based on a real incident this film plays like a spaghetti western version of the Seven Samurai relocated to China. (Yes I know how redundant that sounds but if you see the film you'll know what I mean).After a brief set up the film becomes a series of battles as the pirates make repeated attempts to attack the fishing village. The action is very well done blending a variety of styles into an almost seamless whole.The film is hard to discuss beyond that because the brief film (it runs only 95 minutes) is essentially one long set piece. There are no real characters other then the general, the the villagers all blending together and then men they hire more their "quirk', the guy with all the knives is just a guy with all these knives. One really wish they had taken a couple of more minutes to build some characters instead of just the action.If you don't mind just action and want a martial arts film that isn't run of the mill I'd definitely give this film a try.(Fellow reviewers here on IMDb mention poor dubbing I'm guessing on a video tape copy and hoped for a good subtitled release. I saw this on a DVD as part of Joy Sales Legendary Collection series where the stunning picture is matched with a poor Chinese Vocal track that seems to be separate from the film. I know that all Chinese films from the period were post dubbed and that there are often two vocal tracks -Mandarin and Cantonese, but which ever one they used here was a poor choice)

The 70's kung fu craze that swept North American B movie theatres with the popularity of Bruce Lee reached its pinnacle with this movie. Following Lee's death there were many heirs presumptive that were supposed to take off as international kung fu stars, but never did. These include Bruce Li, Sonny Chiba, Jackie Chan (whose international popularity took hold many years later and in fact has surpassed Lee's in many ways), Chuck Norris, (who had inherent North American appeal, but lacked the mysticism surrounding Lee), and perhaps the most talented of them all, Jimmy Wang Yu.Wang Yu movies had elements of myth, magic, history and violence that has been touched on, but not equaled by Ang Lee's recent Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.Old all the Wang Yu movies, Beach of the War Gods comes together in a way that truly raised the genre to new heights. A Chinese general arrives in a coastal town to fend off a Japanese invasion. While based on an historical incident, the movie employs all the trademark fantastical elements of great kung fu films. The various leaders of the Chinese and Japanese forces have special powers and skills and these are the 'hard men' of movies before the term existed.The costumes and sets in Beach of the War Gods are something to marvel at. The fight scenes are seamless and bloody, and the pacing is enticing from beginning to end. While the characterizations are a bit thin, well..get with it..this is a kung fu movie, not Pride and Prejudice. All in all, a must-see for fans of the genre.

In BEACH OF THE WAR GODS, an action-packed Hong Kong swordplay adventure from 1972, Jimmy Wang Yu rallies three fighters to help lead the men of a Chinese beach town in battle against the invading Japanese. One of the fighters is an expert knife thrower and comes with his own arsenal. It all leads quickly to a massive battle in the town streets. The swordfights are reminiscent of those found in Japanese samurai films, but with more action and vigor. (Interestingly, Wang Yu often made kung fu films with anti-Japanese themes, yet his films often reflected the influence of Japanese samurai films.)The problem here is the lack of a buildup to the main battle and lack of character development. After a simple setup, Wang Yu and company gather and prepare for battle. Then--boom!--the battle begins and lasts till the end of the film! Action fans will love it, but those seeking a little more depth and substance may feel unsatisfied. Wang Yu not only stars, but wrote and directed the film as well.