Dragon Swamp is a 1969 Shaw Brothers martial arts film directed by Lo Wei, starring Cheng Pei-Pei, Yueh Hua, Lo Lieh and also featuring Cheng Pei-Pei (yes).
A powerful glowing green sword known as the Jade Dragon, forged several dynasties ago and stored in the Lingshan Chunyang Monastery, is the object of desire for many clans in the martial world. When the daughter of the Monastery's Clan Leader, Fan Ying (Cheng Pei-pei) gets seduced and the sword is stolen, Fan Ying is sentenced to exile in the dreaded Dragon Swamp.
17 years later, Fan Ying's daughter, Qing-erh (Cheng Pei-pei) is seeking the Jade Dragon, when she learned about her mother's fate and the Dragon Swamp. Teaming up with a chivalrous hero Xi Zheng Yuan (Yueh Hua) and an opposing clan leader Yu Jiang (Lo Lieh), Qing-erh travels to the swamp to uncover the truth.
Dragon Swamp includes examples of:
- Action Girl: Qing Erh, classic action heroine played by Cheng Pei-pei.
- Cool Sword: The much-coveted Jade Dragon Sword, a treasured weapon from the Shangzhou Dynasty centuries ago and a proud heirloom of the Taoist Lingshan Chunyang Monastery.
- The Drifter: Xi Zheng Yuan the wandering knight, who tags along with Qing-erh for her quest of the Sword just because.
- Empowering Lake Lady: Fan Ying in a way can be considered this, as she lives a solitary life near a lake in a monster-filled swamp and has to be seeked for guidance by travellers.
- The Exile: Fan Ying, for being seduced by the thief Tang Dachuan leading to the theft of the Jade Dragon Sword decades ago, ends up being exiled to the titular Dragon Swamp as her punishment. At the end of the movie, Yu Jiang is subjected to this fate as well.
- Gene Hunting: When Qing-erh tries to seek her mother Fan Ying, having being told she was an orphan as a child.
- Long Lost Sibling: Yu Jiang is actually Qing-Erh's estranged older brother.
- The Place: The Dragon Swamp.
- Mysterious Mist: A foggy mist constantly covers Dragon Swamp, which give Qing Erh and Xi Zheng Yuan some difficulty locating the cave there Fan Ying was exiled to 17 years earlier.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The dragons of the swamp are more monitor lizard-like than most modern perceptions of a dragon, Chinese or otherwise.
- Power Glows: The weapons in this movie glows with the qi of their wielders. The Jade Dragon Sword emits a green glow while Master Fan's glows orange.
- The Reveal: Fan Ying had a long-lost son as well, that is Yu Jiang.
- Swamp Monster: The dragons of dragon swamp. One of them nearly capsizes the boat Qing-Erh and Xi Zheng Yuan is on, but they make it to the shore before the monster catches them.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Fan Ying and Qing-erh looks absolutely identical, being mother and daughter... both played by Cheng Pei-pei. She did use plenty of white makeup in her hair to play the former.
- Time Skip: After Fan Ying's exile, there's a skip 17 years later where the story continues from the viewpoint of Fan Ying's daughter, Qing-erh.
- Tomato Surprise: When Yu Jiang the opposing clan leader who spends the entire movie antagonizing Qing-Erh and Xi Zheng Yuan, finds out he's Fan Ying's older son, and therefore Qing-Erh's brother.
- Wuxia
