That's one big-ass blade...
The Iron Bodyguard is a 1973 Shaw Brothers Martial Arts Movie directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li, starring Chen Kuan-tai, Danny Lee (both actors has appeared in Blood Brothers (1973) the same year, although they aren't allies in that other film) and Yueh Hua.
Set during the Hundred Day's Reform
era of the Manchurian Dynasty, a corrupt warlord named General Chang has taken over the population of an entire village in the city outskirts. A group of resistance fighters plots to overthrow General Chong, but their best man for the job, a local hooligan and former warrior named Wang-wu, the Big Blade, isn't willing to participate.
The Iron Bodyguard includes examples of:
- BFS: The default weapon for Wang-wu. His giant blade is larger than any other characters' and throughout the movie he uses this weapon to take at least 50 names.
- Big Bad: General Chong, a corrupt warlord and his subordinate-cum-dragon, Yen-feng the "Iron Fist".
- Boisterous Bruiser: Wang-wu may be a huge, burly, muscular brute of a man, who wields a sword as big as he is, but he also has a jolly personality and friendly demeanor in his scenes interacting with Hu-qi and other resistance members.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The movie literally ends with a freeze-frame of Wang-wu getting shot by riflemen.
- Died Standing Up: Wang-wu in his final scene. After getting shot by dozens of riflemen, he stood himself upright on the roof of General Chong's mansion and raises his BFS as high as he can as he expires.
- Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Wang-wu at the end of the movie, having infiltrated General Chong's mansion, with the entire resistance unit, including all his friends, dead, and himself facing Yen-feng who's responsible for the ambush, the penultimate battle between Wang-wu and Yen-feng has Wang-wu easily defeating the latter, and then smashing Yen-feng through walls, paper doors, furniture, generally beating the snot out of Yen-feng before finally breaking Yen-feng's skull by cramming it between a pair of wooden balustrades.
- Firearms Are Revolutionary: The movie deals with the waning days of kung fu and Manchurian dictators getting their hands on Westernized weapons, namely guns. During a big battle between heroes and the main villain, General Chong's soldiers quickly turns sour when Chong unveils his rifle legion, who quickly makes short work of the good guys. Incidentally, General Chong ends up being Hoist by His Own Petard — the film ends with him being accidentally gunned down by his own riflemen in an attempt to shoot the hero.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: General Chong commissioned to establish a unit of riflemen among his soldiers, which he then uses to terrorize the local population and kill or execute anyone who attempts to oppose him. At his Karmic Death, General Chong was eventually shot by his own rifle legion, who thought they're shooting at Wang-wu.
- La Résistance: The resistance fighters opposing General Chong.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The resistance members in the big battle scene in the town, when General Chong decides to unveil his riflemen battalion.
- Never Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight: The resistance members are well-trained in martial arts and puts up a solid fight against General Chong's Imperial army, even taking down numerous Imperial soldiers despite being outnumbered. But the moment General Chong's riflemen battalion arrives, they're royally screwed.
- Non-Indicative Title: Despite what the title claims, at no point in the film is Wang-wu body-guarding anyone.
- Of Corpse He's Alive: The four guards in General Chong's courtyard at the end of the film. General Chong orders them keep an eye out for suspicious activity, but they didn't respond. That's because they're all dead and propped vertically in the corners of the courtyard, having their temples crushed by Wang-wu who had snuck in stealthily intending to avenge his fallen resistance comrades.
- Redshirt Army: The La Résistance fighters during the street battle against the Manchurian army that climaxes the second act an hour into the film, with Wang-wu and Hu-qi personally leading the assault. Literally ALL of them, including Hu-qi, dies by the end of the day, with Wang-wu being the Sole Survivor due to sheer luck.
- Sacrificial Lion: The only other member of the resistance with significant development is Hu-qi, played by Danny Lee, who is the closest the movie has to a lancer. He dies alongside all the resistance members in the disastrous ambush at the second act.
- Self-Applied Nickname: Big Blade Wang-wu.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: By the end of the film, Wang-wu, the best and only surviving fighter of the resistance, ends up being cornered by General Chong's riflemen battalion. Despite both General Chong and Yen-feng being dead at that point, it's unlikely the riflemen are just going to let Wang-wu leave after killing their boss just like that, so...
- Stab the Sky: Wang-wu's last actions, before his death.
