Sword Stained with Royal Blood is a 1982 Hong Kong film produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio

Shaw Brothers Studio

The Shaw Brothers Studio , owned by Shaw Brothers Ltd., was the foremost and the largest movie production company of Hong Kong movies.From their distribution base in Singapore where they founded parent company Shaw Organization in 1924, and as a strategic development of their movie distribution...

, directed by Chang Cheh

Chang Cheh

Chang Cheh was Shaw Brothers Studio's best known and most prolific film director, with such films as the Five Venoms, the Brave Archer , the The One-Armed Swordsman, and other classics of wuxia and kung fu film.-Career:Referred to as "The Godfather of Hong Kong cinema", Chang Cheh directed over 100...

 and starring the Venom Mob

Venom Mob

The Venom Mob is a group of actors from the Shaw Brothers Studio, popular creators of martial arts films in the 1970s and 1980s. Most were friends since childhood and attended the Peking Opera School in Taiwan before meeting director Chang Cheh and moving on to the Shaw Brothers studio in Hong...

. The film was based on the novel of the same name

Sword Stained with Royal Blood

Sword Stained with Royal Blood is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong. It was first serialized in the Hong Kong Commercial Daily between January 1, 1956 and December 31, 1956...

 by Louis Cha. The film is one of the rarest Venom martial arts film available, and has been digitally remastered and released by Celestial Pictures

Celestial Pictures

Celestial Pictures is a diversified entertainment company focusing on Asian-language film and television content including production, aggregation, distribution and the operation of TV channels....

.

Plot

The story begins with the exile of a young boy who grows up to meet his destiny as a great warrior. After his father, a Han loyalist and hero, is betrayed by the Emperor and sentenced to death, Yuan Chengzhi is spirited away to the reclusive master of the Lung Yau school of martial arts. Having grown into a righteous young man of considerable martial skill, Yuan sets out on his own. He discovers the hideout of a long-dead martial arts master known as Golden Snake Xia Xueyi and lays claim to his buried martial arts manual, sword, and collection of darts. He also discovers the whereabouts of a lost treasure and instructions to deliver a portion of it to a certain woman. Cheng-chih sets out to find her in order to honor the dead man's wishes and ends up meeting a spoiled and not-so-cleverly disguised young woman posing as a man named Wen Qingqing. It's enough to fool the naive Yuan Chengzhi, who befriends Wen after she takes a liking to him. She brings him into her household, which is home to a wealthy clan of martial artists known for their mastery of the Five Element Array. Yuan's stay grows unsettling, first when jealous quarreling sparked by his presence erupts between Wen and her cousin. Things get a lot more complicated when a trio of angry martial artists storm the household and accuse Wen of theft. It turns out that they are members of Yuan's school and just as the situation threatens to turn into a full-scale battle, he intercedes in order to find a peaceful solution. As a result of his intervention, Yuan's skills draw the attention of the master of the house, who recognizes the kung fu techniques of his arch-enemy. As hidden truths about the Wen clan and their dark part are revealed through flashbacks, Yuan finds himself forced to fight their infamous Five Element Array in order to complete his quest and escape in one piece.

Cast

• Philip Kwok
  Philip Kwok
  -Filmography:*The Eye 2 - Monk*The Sunshine Cops *Tomorrow Never Dies - General Chang non speaking appearance*The Phantom Lover *American Shaolin - Cab Driver*Hard Boiled - Mad Dog...
  
   as Yuan Chengzhi
• Wen Hsueh-erh as Wen Qingqing
• Lung Tien-hsiang as Xia Xueyi
• Ching Li as Wen Yi
• Chiang Sheng
  Chiang Sheng
  Chiang Sheng was a martial art actor, one of the Venom Mob, renowned for their acrobatic and martial arts skills. He joined the Chang Cheh's Cohorts as an actor, and also worked with Chang Cheh as an assistant director and choreographer. Along with Alexander Fu Sheng, Chiang Sheng was one of the...
  
  as Wen Zheng
• Wang Li as Wen Fangshan
• Lu Feng as Wen Nanyang
• Yu Tai-ping as Wen Beiyang
• Chu Ke as Wen Fang
• Chao Kuo as Cui Ximin
• Siao Yuk as Mei Jianhe
• Zhang Chiung-yu as Sun Zhongjun
• Chu Tit-wo as Huang Zhen
• Kwan Fung as Wen Fangda
• Jim Sum as Rong Cai
• Wang Hua as Mute
• Li Shouqi as Mu Renqing
• Wang Ching-ho as Taoist Musang
• Ng Hong-sang as Wen Fangshi
• Keung Hon as Wen Fangwu
• Lui Hong as Wen Yi's mother

External links