History Film / The14Amazons

* BodyBridge: Taken to the extreme - the bridge leading to the Tangut fortress has collapsed, and the warriors of the Yang Family need to make their way across. So a few dozen men and women of the Yang clan forms a HumanLadder, before collapsing into a bridge for the rest of the army, at the cost of [[HeroicSacrifice nearly everyone forming the bridge falling into a chasm to their deaths]]. The 2011 remake, ''Legendary Amazons'', does this as well. [[https://youtu.be/HPHDOPR2hfw?si=fQ-lQzkOWfJhr44Z&t=5303 It... needs to be seen to be believed.]]

* BigDamPlot: Partway through the film, the Yang family receives news of a whole platoon of Tangut reinforcements returning to the fortress. They won't stand a chance against an increase in such numbers of enemy soldiers, but luckily the Tanguts would need to cross a narrow gorge with a dam to reach their destination. A big part of the middle act is then dedicated to the Yang army trying to formulate a plan to destroy the damn and wipe out the Tanguts before they can return to the fort.

* LadyOfWar: Mu Guiying, the eldest of the fourteen and matriarch of the family, also a FrontlineGeneral who leads her army into battle.

* WorldOfActionGirls: '''Fourteen''' of them. Led by the first wife and matriarch, Mu Guiying, and several Yang sisters who are hell-bent on avenging their husbands.

After Commander Yang Tsung-Po is brutally executed in a war against invading Tanguts, with none of his soldiers surviving the battle, the Yang family matriarch led by Mu Guiying (Ivy Ling), Yang Tsung-po's wife, is eager to avenge her husband, as was Yang's sisters and the other wives of the Yang family who had lost their spouses in the war as well. But facing rejection from the imperial court due to gender inequalities, the wives and sisters of the Yang family -- '''fourteen''' of them -- ultimately decide to embark on a campaign with their own private army, to take on the Tanguts in an epic final battle.

After Commander Yang Tsung-Po is brutally executed in a war against invading Tanguts, with none of his soldiers surviving the battle, the Yang family matriarch led by Muk Kwei-ying (Ivy Ling), Yang Tsung-po's wife, is eager to avenge her husband, as was Yang's sisters and the other wives of the Yang family who had lost their spouses in the war as well. But facing rejection from the imperial court due to gender inequalities, the wives and sisters of the Yang family -- '''fourteen''' of them -- ultimately decide to embark on a campaign with their own private army, to take on the Tanguts in an epic final battle.

* ActorAllusion: Ivy Ling-po, who plays Muk Kwei-ying, previously plays Mulan in the Shaw Brothers' adaptation of Hua Mulan, yet another ActionGirl-character based on actual Chinese history.

* HumanPincushion: [[spoiler: The Fifth Prince at the end of the final battle, after being skewered by Muk Kwei-ying and her sisters]].

* LadyOfWar: Muk Kwei-ying, the eldest of the fourteen and matriarch of the family, also a FrontlineGeneral who leads her army into battle.

* WorldOfActionGirls: '''Fourteen''' of them. Led by the first wife and matriarch, Muk Kwei-ying, and several Yang sisters who are hell-bent on avenging their husbands.
* WouldHitAGirl: The Tanguts have no qualms killing female soldiers from the Yang army (TruthInTelevision, as ancient Tanguts sees their fellow warriors as equals, regardless of gender). A special mention goes to the Fifth Prince, who shows glee when executing female sergeants captured alive by his men and specifically targets Muk Kwei-ying and her sisters in the final battle.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: The Fifth Prince at the end of the final battle, after being skewered by Muk Kwei-ying and her sisters]].

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, notably the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Generals_of_the_Yang_Family generals of the Yang family]] (楊家將) who defended the Song Dynasty from Khitan invaders at the cost of their lives, after the Yang family generals died in the war, they are taken over by their wives and sisters, a whole legion of Amazonian warriors dedicated to avenge their husbands and brothers.

After Commander Yang Tsung-Po is brutally executed in a war against invading Khitans, with none of his soldiers surviving the battle, the Yang family matriarch led by Muk Kwei-ying (Ivy Ling), Yang Tsung-po's wife, is eager to avenge her husband, as was Yang's sisters and the other wives of the Yang family who had lost their spouses in the war as well. But facing rejection from the imperial court due to gender inequalities, the wives and sisters of the Yang family -- '''fourteen''' of them -- ultimately decide to embark on a campaign with their own private army, to take on the Khitans in an epic final battle.

* BigBadassBattleSequence: The movie climaxes with one of these, as the Yang family finally made it to the Khitans' fortress, and takes on the Khitan warlords in a massive large-scale battle with plenty of extras being killed en masse.

* BigDamPlot: Partway through the film, the Yang family receives news of a whole platoon of Khitan reinforcements returning to the fortress. They won't stand a chance against an increase in such numbers of enemy soldiers, but luckily the Khitans would need to cross a narrow gorge with a dam to reach their destination. A big part of the middle act is then dedicated to the Yang army trying to formulate a plan to destroy the damn and wipe out the Khitans before they can return to the fort.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Audiences knows who to cheer for in the final battle. The Khitan invaders all wears red, while the Yang family's soldiers wears brighter colours - white for the men, yellow for the women.
* DownerBeginning: The film opens with the Song Imperial army being defeated by the Mongols and the patriarch of the Yang family, General Yang Tsung-po, being captured alive and pleading with the Khitan warlords to spare his men. The Khitans were led by the sadistic Fifth Prince, who orders his soldiers to have captured Imperial soldiers to be slowly flogged to their deaths, before having General Yang killed ''right before the opening credits''.

* GiantWallOfWateryDoom: [[spoiler: That wipes out an entire platoon of 200-odd Mongol reinforcements]].

** General Chiao and a handful of soldiers loyal to him [[spoiler: deliberately stays behind to destroy a dam to wipe out a platoon of Mongol reinforcements, drowning themselves in the process]]. [[spoiler: Chiao]] in particular said he's more than willing to give up his life if [[TakingYouWithMe it means he's taking over two hundred Mongols' with him to the death]].
** Over a hundred men and women of the Yang family uses themselves as a makeshift human bridge to allow the majority of the army to cross a chasm. [[spoiler: The hundred-odd volunteers all end up falling to their deaths, causing the Yang army to suffer massive casualties]], but at the least most of their soldiers made it to the Mongol fortress.

* HumanLadder: Halfway through the film, a long rope bridge over a chasm meant to be used by the Yang family army to reach the Mongols' fortress gets burnt down, leaving the Yang army stranded. So over a hundred members of the Yang army, men and women alike, starts stacking themselves into a makeshift human bridge to allow most of the army to cross.

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: General Chiao managed to infiltrate the Mongol's ranks via DressingAsTheEnemy, but he gets spotted because he forgot to put on the pointy-toed boots as worn by all the Mongol soldiers.

* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Completely averted; the Yang family armies' ranks consists of both men and women in equal numbers, and plenty of women soldiers dies during the battle against the Mongols.
* OffWithHisHead: Before the final battle, there is an execution scene in the Mongols' fortress where three female sergeants from the Yang family captured alive by the Mongols are sentenced to death via decapitation. The Fifth Prince in particular carries out the execution himself, gloating away as he send the women's heads flying with his {{BFS}}.
* SixthRanger: Lu-chao doesn't show up until late in the first act, being a prisoner who escaped from the Mongols who joined the Yang family army.
* TagalongKid: The Yang's grandson, Yang Wen-kuan, who insists on tagging along for the adventure despite being a prepubescent kid. He ends up contributing quite a bit when it comes to spying on the Mongols, since he can sneak in and out through crevasses and holes where the adult characters couldn't.
* UndyingLoyalty: The women of the Yang family, towards the Imperial Court and the honor of their family name. There's also the chubby General Chiao, who would [[spoiler: sacrifice himself to stop the Mongol reinforcements from hindering the Yang family]].

* WouldHitAGirl: The Mongols have no qualms killing female soldiers from the Yang army (TruthInTelevision, ancient Mongols sees their fellow warriors as equals, regardless of gender). A special mention goes to the Fifth Prince, who shows glee when executing female sergeants captured alive by his men and specifically targets Muk Kwei-ying and her sisters in the final battle.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, notably the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Generals_of_the_Yang_Family generals of the Yang family]] (楊家將) who defended the Song Dynasty from Mongol invaders at the cost of their lives, after the Yang family generals died in the war, they are taken over by their wives and sisters, a whole legion of Amazonian warriors dedicated to avenge their husbands and brothers.

After Commander Yang Tsung-Po is brutally executed in a war against invading Mongols, with none of his soldiers surviving the battle, the Yang family matriarch led by Muk Kwei-ying (Ivy Ling), Yang Tsung-po's wife, is eager to avenge her husband, as was Yang's sisters and the other wives of the Yang family who had lost their spouses in the war as well. But facing rejection from the imperial court due to gender inequalities, the wives and sisters of the Yang family -- '''fourteen''' of them -- ultimately decide to embark on a campaign with their own private army, to take on the Mongols in an epic final battle.

* BigBadassBattleSequence: The movie climaxes with one of these, as the Yang family finally made it to the Mongols' fortress, and takes on the Mongol Warlords in a massive large-scale battle with plenty of extras being killed en masse.

* BigDamPlot: Partway through the film, the Yang family receives news of a whole platoon of Mongol reinforcements returning to the fortress. They won't stand a chance against an increase in such numbers of enemy soldiers, but luckily the Mongols would need to cross a narrow gorge with a dam to reach their destination. A big part of the middle act is then dedicated to the Yang army trying to formulate a plan to destroy the damn and wipe out the Mongols before they can return to the fort.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Audiences knows who to cheer for in the final battle. The Mongol invaders all wears red, while the Yang family's soldiers wears brighter colours - white for the men, yellow for the women.
* DownerBeginning: The film opens with the Song Imperial army being defeated by the Mongols and the patriach of the Yang family, General Yang Tsung-po, being captured alive and pleading with the Mongol warlords to spare his men. The Mongols, led by the sadistic Fifth Prince, only orders his soldiers to have captured Imperial soldiers to be slowly flogged to their deaths, before having General Yang killed ''right before the opening credits''.

Fourteen Amazons is a 1972 historical war epic produced by Creator/ShawBrothers, starring Creator/IvyLingPo, Li Ching, Creator/YuehHua, Creator/LoLieh and Creator/FanMeiSheng.

VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, notably the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Generals_of_the_Yang_Family generals of the Yang family]] (楊家將) who defended the Song Dynasty from Mongol invaders at the cost of their lives, after the Yang family generals died in the war, they are taken over by their wives and sisters, a whole legion of Amazonian warriors dedicated to avenge their husbands and brothers.

After Commander Yang Tsung-Po is brutally executed in a war against invading Mongols, with none of his soldiers surviving the battle, the Yang family matriarch led by Muk Kwei-ying (Ivy Ling), Yang Tsung-po's wife, is eager to avenge her husband, as was Yang's sisters and the other wives of the Yang family who had lost their spouses in the war as well. But facing rejection from the imperial court due to gender inequalities, the wives and sisters of the Yang family - '''14''' of them - ultimately decides to embark on a campaign with their own private army, to take on the Mongols in an epic final battle.

!! Fourteen Amazons contains the following examples:

* WouldHitAGirl: The Mongols have no qualms killing female soldiers from the Yang army (TruthInTelevision, ancient Mongols sees their fellow warriors as equals, regardless of gender). A special mention goes to the Fifth Prince, who shows glee when executing female sergeants captured alive by his men and specifically targets Muk Kwei-ying and her sisters in the final battle.