"The Cavalier" is one of 50 films on Mill Creek Entertainment's "Iron Fist Frenzy" box set. This film features Lieh Lo and another actor as mercenaries on the run from the Qing empire at the turn of the 20th century. They are also on the run from Nancy Yen's character who is a kung fu prodigy searching for a husband. Her grandfather says she will marry anyone who can beat her. One of the mercenaries challenges her to a duel and Lieh Lo ends up rescuing him from her. Therefore, he has earned the girl in a contest he didn't even know was happening.
The film is a series of chase sequences between Yen and her grandfather chasing the mercenaries who are also chasing the Qing. This a a comedic martial arts film and it often times feels like an unconnected series of events sewn together to make a feature. There are cartoony sound effects that I cannot tell are part of the original film or the expectedly awful dub.
At least the choreography with Yen is pleasant to watch. I had fun observing her somehow defeat men much older and bulkier than she. The ludicrousness of her victories goes on for nearly 20 minutes. The experience comes off more like watching someone dance than someone fight. The later sequences with her and the Qing after the three groups merge is more satisfying. Martial artists should feel the punches and kicks or we should think they do. Lo's work here is consistently unremarkable until the final sequence.
The film has a big pacing issue with its comedy. Yen and her grandfather chase Lo through several venues. Some of these feature painfully unfunny characters who add nothing to the story. The brother own comes to mind. I feel like the film would have been better to have an actual story rather than loosely connected segments. The ending fight with the Qing baddie has no real context. Grandpa saves the viewer from confusion with an exposition dump.
I feel like I must address the image quality of the disc I watched. The film has not been restored at all and is crammed on a disc with many other movies. I think at least Mill Creek didn't just copy a VHS onto a DVD. The youtube version of this film looks equally as bad. I suggest watching on a CRT if you still have one for best experience.
The film is a series of chase sequences between Yen and her grandfather chasing the mercenaries who are also chasing the Qing. This a a comedic martial arts film and it often times feels like an unconnected series of events sewn together to make a feature. There are cartoony sound effects that I cannot tell are part of the original film or the expectedly awful dub.
At least the choreography with Yen is pleasant to watch. I had fun observing her somehow defeat men much older and bulkier than she. The ludicrousness of her victories goes on for nearly 20 minutes. The experience comes off more like watching someone dance than someone fight. The later sequences with her and the Qing after the three groups merge is more satisfying. Martial artists should feel the punches and kicks or we should think they do. Lo's work here is consistently unremarkable until the final sequence.
The film has a big pacing issue with its comedy. Yen and her grandfather chase Lo through several venues. Some of these feature painfully unfunny characters who add nothing to the story. The brother own comes to mind. I feel like the film would have been better to have an actual story rather than loosely connected segments. The ending fight with the Qing baddie has no real context. Grandpa saves the viewer from confusion with an exposition dump.
I feel like I must address the image quality of the disc I watched. The film has not been restored at all and is crammed on a disc with many other movies. I think at least Mill Creek didn't just copy a VHS onto a DVD. The youtube version of this film looks equally as bad. I suggest watching on a CRT if you still have one for best experience.