this is a unique entry in his filmography. unique because the deep cerebral message expressed by wang yu's decent into obbession and madness. it can be interpreted and applied to many different aspects of life but the message is a simple one. obbession no matter the object leads to ruin and a seperation from others, paranoia and suspicion of others to protect ones obbession. it can be a great lesson to us all especialy those of us that are crazy collectors of rares and hoarders. its as if the director predicted the rares scene (but obviously he did not). weather its money, material goods or women. gain at the cost of our humanity is evil and the road to destruction. humbleness and surrender is the best way to deal with others and not rebellion and obbession without humanity. as far as the action its the standard wang yu fare the invincible warrior against all odds. wang yu defeats dozens of adversaries with ease and not much trouble. and almost seems formulamatic and contrived. when our anti hero is defeated it re-enforces the lessons and drives home the point as wang yu is humbled unwilling to accept his defeat. his obbession drives him to destroy and hurt all who love him. i don't want to give away any spoilers but. he sacrifices everything he should have valued everything that we all hope for and the cost of it all is crushing when he realizes what he has done. finally he surrenders and some how regains his humanity in the end but it is hardly reconized in the aftermath of his vile behavior. this point would be lost on the average viewer but the director uses a unique method of expressing wang yu's decent into madness. buy changing his look as he decends lower in the depths of his lower self(evil). i would describe it as the "bert look" thats bert from bert and ernie lol complete with the unibrow lol. this many all sound pretty heavy and depressing and it is. this film is downbeat and has a very serious message and tone devoid of any screwball comedy just the way i like them. i would reccommend all collectors and fans of the genre to see this. it should be required viewing to all from the old dons and veterans to the new blood and less experienced viewers of the genre. and should be revisited from time to time to refresh the lesson to us all. you heard it here folks
