His fist is invincible.
The Invincible Fist is a 1969 Shaw Brothers Wuxia film directed by Chang Cheh, starring Lo Lieh and David Chiang, notable for being director Chang Cheh's last collaboration with Lo Lieh, and first with David Chiang - the latter which will form an "Iron Triangle" with Chang and another veteran badass, Ti Lung, starring together in multiple films for the next 8 years.
Lo Lieh and David Chiang are the brothers Tieh Wu-ching and Tieh Er-lang, a pair of swordsmen and imperial investigators hired to track down a legion of bandits who had stolen a cache of treasure belonging to the government, but their quest is delayed when Tieh Wu-ching falls for a blind girl in a tavern who ends up being the bandit leader's daughter.
The Invincible Tropers:
- Back-to-Back Badasses: When both brothers are kicking ass side-by-side.
- Bash Brothers: The Tieh brothers.
- Battle in the Rain: Tieh Wu-ching and Tieh Er-lang gets to fight a legion of bandits in a rain-soaked paddy field, right in the middle of a storm.
- Co-Dragons: Iron Bat Tso Yin-Chung and Golden Abascus Lee Bu-Lok, two elite martial artists directly serving Ma Wai-jia and providing a tougher Boss fight for the Tieh brothers.
- Combat Hand Fan: A folding fan is Golden Abacus Lee's preferred weapon, which he used to launch projectiles from his abacus and then slice up challengers.
- Epic Flail: One of the weapons used by the Co-Dragons, is an edged dart on a wire which can target victims from a great distance away.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Ma Wai-jia, despite being the Big Bad bandit leader, does genuinely love his blind daughter and wanted her to be happy. In the aftermath of his duel where Ma is killed by Tieh Wu-qing, his Last Request is for Tieh to take care of his daughter.
- Evil Parents Want Good Kids: Ma Wai-jia deliberately hides the fact that he's a ruthless murderer and bandit leader to his daughter, wanting her to grow up happy and not end up a villain like him.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The major events of the film takes place in a single day and night, ending on the following dawn.
- Eyedscreen: Multiple shots right before big fights tends to focus on the eyes of named characters. Namely, either the Tieh brothers, the Co-Dragons or the Big Bad.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: The death of Tieh Er-lang, the younger brother of Tieh Wu-ching, is quickly swept aside for the final battle. The movie goes on for more than half an hour after his death and isn't further referenced in any way for the rest of the film.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Tieh Er-lang, the hero's younger brother, spends much of the movie playing second fiddle and barely gets any proper character development, but when it comes to fight scenes he's pretty damn good at it. He probably collected a higher onscreen kill-tally than his elder brother due to having a big fight scene in a tavewrn swarming with bandits where he kills almost everyone single-handedly until he get himself killed by Ma Wai-jia, and by the time Tieh Wu-qing confronts Ma, the bandit leader barely have any mooks left.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: David Chiang's Tieh Er-lang is on the receiving end of this, by the metallic tip of Ma Wai-jia's umbrella.
- Improbable Weapon User: How many movies are there featuring an abacus as a killing weapon? Besides this one?
- Instrument of Murder: Southern Geese Peng Yun-chiang, who uses a pipa as his weapon. The instrument's strings are made of Razor Floss and it contains hidden projectile launchers on it's front.
- Master Swordsman: Tieh Wu-ching and Tieh Er-lang are both expert sword-fighters capable of taking plenty of names in big fight scenes.
- Non-Indicative Title: Despite the title, at no point is there a fist fight or martial arts brawl in the entire film. Every action scene here is a Sword Fight or otherwise invovles weapons.
- Parasol of Pain: Ma Wai-jia the Big Bad uses an umbrella as his preferred weapon. One with a spiked, metallic tip (used to kill off Er-lang) and razor-sharp blades sticking out of its edges.
- Parents as People: Ma Wai-jia may be a dangerous villain and a bandit leader, but the scenes between him and his blind daughter established that this Big Bad is genuinely a good father who wants the best for his only child.
- Parental Obliviousness:
- Inverted with Ma Wai-jia and his blind daughter, the daughter is completely oblivious to the fact that her father is a villainous bandit leader and murderer who is wanted, dead or alive, by the authorities.
- Played straight with Ma Wai-jia not knowing his daughter had fallen in love with his enemy, Tieh Wu-ching, until late in the film.
- Sibling Team: The two heroes, Tieh Wu-ching The Hero and Tieh Er-lang The Lancer, are brothers.
- Spotting the Thread: After the tavern massacre, Ma Wai-jia and his surviving bandits quickly have the bodies disposed and the floors wiped clean to lure the Tieh brothers into a trap. However, Tieh Wu-ching noticed the blood in between the floor tiles, and quickly responds to an ambush.
- Sword Fight: All over the damn place.
- Wuxia
