FYI, the Mandarin title translates directly as A Million Arrows Through the Heart.
- "Cruel death may befall the one to violate the oath!"
Oath of Death is a 1971 Shaw Brothers action-war drama, starring Lo Lieh, Tien Feng and Wang Wai as a trio of sworn brothers who bands together during the Tartar invasion of the Ming Dynasty, rising in powers and authority, until greed and lust for power ultimately contributes to their eventual downfall.
In the late Ming Dynasty, three swordsmen - Jin Liang, Ma Qing Ting and Xiang Du Bu, after working together and defeating a platoon of Mongol raiders, decides to join the Imperial Army and battle the upcoming Mongol invasion. Rising through the ranks of the army, inevitably their position of power results in betrayal and death.
This movie was noted for having several similarities to the similar, but much better-known Chang Cheh classic, Blood Brothers (1973), released two years later.
Oath of Death contains examples of:
- Action Prologue: The Big Badass Battle Sequence that opens the film, where Jin Liang, Ma Qing Ting, Xiang Du Bu defends a caravan from a Mongolian army assault, where they worked together and kills every last Mongol enemy. It was in this very scene where they decide to become sworn brothers and join the imperial army, opposing the Mongol invasion.
- Ambition Is Evil: What ultimately drives Ma Qing Ting into his eventual Face–Heel Turn.
- An Arm and a Leg: Jin Liang lose his leg during his final battle against Ma Qing Ting. He spends much of the finale hopping around, but somehow he still emerged the winner in their duel. Although he succumbs shortly afterwards.
- Blood-Splattered Warrior: Jin Liang in the finale, after killing loads and loads of Tartar soldiers.
- Dual Wielding: Ma Qing Ting often uses a whip as a side-arm in addition to his sword, notably in his final battle against Jin Liang.
- Everybody's Dead, Dave: Not a single named character survive the movie. Their deaths are all really graphic, too.
- Eye-Obscuring Hat: Jin Liang wears a straw hat that covers his eyes, and most of his face, after deliberately disfiguring himself.
- Facial Horror: A self-inflicted example with Jin Liang, who puts his sword - retrieved from a furnace - on the left side of his face. He's doing this to avoid being recognized by guards after becoming a fugitive.
- Fingore: Another self-inflicted example; besides disfiguring himself, Jin Liang also mangles his fingers by repeatedly punching against a tree, in order to kill all his nerves and make himself Feel No Pain in the final battle.
- Foreshadowing: The camera tends to use the Traitor Shot angle on Ma Qing Ting, even early in the film when he's supposedly part of three brothers, for some reason...
- Heroic Vow: The page quote.
- High-Pressure Blood: Tons and tons of it, from plenty of extras getting sliced up onscreen. The finale especially delivers blood splashes in spades. Heck, the film's opening credits are plastered on what appears to be red splotches on the screen!
- In a Single Bound: Natch, definitely.
- One-Man Army: Jin Liang against Ma Qing Ting's entire army in the finale. He defeats the entire platoon, with his own former brother Ma as his final kill, but unfortunately he succumbs to his injuries when a second platoon of reinforcement catches up.
- The Paragon Always Rebels: Ma Qing Ting, the best fighter of the three brothers, unsurprisingly.
- Sword Fight: Of course, with plenty of blood being spilled for good measure.
- Sworn Brothers: The titular oath between Jin Liang, Ma Qing Ting and Xiang Du Bu, where they made a vow to treat each other as brothers, despite being born from different families. It works for a while, but Ma Qing Ting allows his ambitions to get the better of him.
- "Wanted!" Poster: Jin Liang finds himself the subject of arrest when he sees posters of himself plastered all over the city, by his former sworn brethen Ma Qing Ting. This necessitates him to go through self-disfigurement at the end of the film.
- Wuxia: A really depressing one.
