The film debut of Jimmy Wang Yu.
Temple of the Red Lotus is a 1965 Martial Arts Movie from Shaw Brothers, known among fans of old-timey kung-fu films as Jimmy Wang's first movie. A loose remake / Spiritual Adaptation of The Burning of Red Lotus Temple, the then 22-year-old Jimmy plays Gui-wu, a young martial arts practitioner seeking his old, childhood friend, Jin-lian, whom he promised he will marry as a kid. Upon his arrival, Gui-wu finds himself unwelcomed, and Jin-lian's family is deep in a feud with the Temple of the Red Lotus, a monastery hiding a dark secret.
The sequel, The Twin Swords, is released merely months (in fact, in the same year) after Temple of the Red Lotus. Having survived their ordeal in the previous movie, Gui-wu and Jin-lian has decided to elope and run away, but when the lovers run afoul of the evil Red Lotus Cult, leading to Jin-lian's capture, Gui-wu must make amends with Jin-lians' family - still bitter over her betrayal - and mount a daring rescue mission.
The third and last installment of the series, The Sword and the Lute, has Gui-wu and Jin-lian finally together, where Gui-wu has been since accepted in the Jin family. But when a new, powerful villain appears, the couple are sent on their first mission together.
All three movies has the same director, Hsu Tseng-Hung, and stars Jimmy Wang-yu, Chin Ping, Lo Lieh and Ivy Ling-po in key roles. Lo Lieh notably plays a different character in the third film.
This trilogy contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Jin-lian and the Scarlet Maid, as well as Mei-erh the Dark Action Girl and daughter of the Big Bad Chief Wei.
- All Monks Know Kung-Fu: The monks in the Red Lotus Temple are fighters, as is an Elite Mook monk warrior serving Chief Wei in the third film.
- Badass in Distress: Early on in The Twin Swords, Jin-lian ends up getting captured alive by the Red Lotus Temple, and Gui-wu need to find a way to save her. She only gets rescued after over an hour into the film.
- Backup Twin: Du-zhuang, the Hypercompetent Sidekick played by Lo Lieh, dies from one of the many booby traps in the Red Lotus Temple in The Twin Swords. In the final movie, The Sword and The Lute, he's subsequently replaced by his never-before mentioned twin brother, Du-ying.
- Badass Cape: Worn by most of the characters throughout the trilogy, notably Gui-wu and Jin-lian.
- Badass Crew: By the end of The Sword and the Lute, Gui-wu and Jin-lian already had a team of allies, including the Scarlet Maid, Du-ying, and elders from the Jin family, where the entire gang teams up to battle Big Bad Chief Wei and his mooks in the finale.
- Battle Couple: Gui-wu and Jin-lian, as their relationship progresses throughout the films, often find themselves fighting multiple mooks side-by-side.
- Big Good: The Scarlet Maid, a swordswoman and warrior whose reputation is so powerful that villains and bandits alike fear her. She's also secretly supporting Gui-wu and Jin-lian throughout their missions in all three films.
- Booby Trap: The Elaborate Underground Base underneath the Red Lotus Temple is filled with these, including pitfalls and spiked traps. Du-zhuang, the character played by Lo Lieh, ends up dying from one of these.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Only referenced, but it turns out Gui-wu and Jin-lian knew each other since childhood. The first movie, Temple Of The Red Lotus revolves around Gui-wu's efforts to relocate his childhood friend.
- Cute Bruiser: Hsiao-ling, the little niece of Jin-lian, but only for the third movie. She went through martial arts training between The Twin Swords and The Sword and the Lute, and can hold her own and cut down random mooks in fights.
- Designated Girl Fight: Invoked in the climax of The Sword and the Lute, Gui-wu and Jin-lian faces off against Dark Action Girl Mei-erh, who taunts the Battle Couple on "cheating by going two against one". Jin-lian obliged, telling Gui-wu to back off, and the fight resumes between both women one-on-one. Jin-lian wins by impaling Mei-erh's dagger through her own gut.
- Dutch Angle: Used in the Scarlet Maid's first scene, after she's done killing several bandits.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The Scarlet Maid, played by Ivy Ling-po. Guess what is the colour of her robes throughout her entire screentime?
- Horseback Heroism: The main characters are warriors and heroes, and also skilled riders.
- Human Pincushion: The fate of Du-zhuang in The Twin Swords.
- Instrument of Murder: The titular Lute from the third movie counts, being an enchanted weapon that can fire poisoned needles from it's front upon being played. Gui-wu in an early scene notably uses this lute to kill ten mooks who tries robbing him in seconds.
- Knife Outline: Happens to Gui-wu in Temple of the Red Lotus, when the monks from the titular temple throws darts at him and forms a complete human-shaped outline on the wooden door he's backed against.
- Lady in Red: The Scarlet Maid from the second and third movie, a femme fatale played by veteran Shaw actress Ivy Ling-po, who is a legendary swordswoman even before Gui-wu achieved fame himself.
- Spin to Deflect Stuff: The Scarlet Maid can parry poisoned needles shot by the Lute by spinning her sword.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Gui-wu and Jin-lian for most of the first and second movie, but by the third they're together at long last.
- Sword Fight: Happens in every movie, either between named characters or extras.
- Tagalong Kid: Hsiao-ling, the kid niece of Jin-lian, who gets to follow the protagonists through a booby-trapped underground lair and hang around in the background during fight scenes. She's played by the then 8-year-old Petrina Fung. By the third movie though she Took a Level in Badass and turns to a Cute Bruiser.
- Wrecked Weapon: By the climax of The Sword and the Lute, the titular lute gets destroyed by being hacked into half by the Scarlet Maid after falling into wrong hands.
- Wire Fu: Named characters can leap and fly great distances thanks to their chi. Gui-wu and Jin-lian uses their leaping skills to navigate the booby-trapped undergound lair in the second film, The Twin Swords.
- Wuxia
