The Daredevils / Ode to Galantry
Eureka Entertainment
When fans think back to the Venom Mob, they most likely link them to the classic The Five Deadly Venoms. The film that launched the career of this talented group of performers and martial artists, the Venom Mob became an inspiration to everything from the way martial arts was performed to the far reaches of pop culture.
Eureka Entertainment brings to life a beautiful restoration and enhancement of two Venom Mob films paired together for an incredible experience that irradiated the genre to eye opening possibilities.
Directed by Chang Cheh, The Daredevils gives us more depth in both the cinematography and storyline. The results feel more like a transcendent of its time than the traditional kung fu ideology or schlock elements a lot of the 1970s kung fu films churned out. Not that it’s a bad thing but much like the early 1970s Bruce Lee films, Cheh was able to stand out of the crowd and create beautiful art in motion.
The number one thing the viewer strives for in any kung fu film are epic fight scenes. We will get to that in a moment. The Daredevils is a film about revenge. Actually it’s more of an avenging plot because of its original revenge attempt. And what makes this stand out is the amount of firearms that is actually portrayed in an Asian kung fu film. But Cheh was consistently challenging norms and making right the wrongs of Chinese history, in this case Republic era China.
Former bandit-turned-soldier Han Peichang (Wong Lik) murders Division Commander Yang (Wang Han-chen) and his entire household to gain control of his estate and army. Yang’s eldest son, Daying (Lo Mang), escapes only to seek justice for his father’s death. He does this by seeking help from his friends. Blinded by his grief and anger, drama ensues and sets the stage for a captivating story filled with scene after scene that move like poetry.
A rarity for this collection of films, almost all members of the Venom Mob appeared in The Daredevils. The only one not appearing was Wei Pai. A member suffering Tourette’s syndrome, Pai was not capable of the acrobatics involved to the level of the rest of the group. This left Lo Mang, Sun Chien, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, and Philip Kwok to work through a blend of entertainment, technique and traditional fighting styles, which is what makes the end fight scene to be a spectacular feat of constant movement, explosive stamina and shot after shot of cinematic brilliance.
Ode To Gallantry is more storytelling in a traditional sense. The last film the Venom Mob made, it felt like a return to form to come full circle. The story is richer, the costuming more traditional, and a film that makes women as powerful as men, departing from the all male cast in The Daredevils (the only women you see in the film are in the background).
The film set things up for the group to fade into obscurity as their maturity was past the heyday of kung fu films as art. Life was changing, the 1980s was a transformation, and the Venom Mob cut out to do exactly what they wanted to do. Cheh saw it in them from the beginning, together as a team.
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