The Spirit of the Sword is a 1982 wuxia film produced by Shaw Brothers, starring Tony Liu, Yueh Hua and Lo Lieh.
In the early days of martial arts, five clans rules the Ming Dynasty, modelled after the five elements: wood, fire, water, earth and gold. Every five years, the clan's leaders - the Gold River Queen (Go Lai-Ga) of the Gold Clan, Master Yunmeng (Wong Yung) of the Wood Clan, the Purple Robe Duke (Yueh Hua) of the Water Clan, the Fire Demon God (Lo Lieh) of the Fire Clan and the Black Earth Old Man (Yeung Chi-Hing) earth clan - will hold a tournament to decide the leaders. But, the overly ambitious Fire Demon God of the Fire Clan intends to get rid of all his rivals and permanently dominate the world of martial arts.
After an unsuccessful attempt on his life led to the benevolent Purple Robe Duke being poisoned, with a remaining limit of two months in his lifespan, the Duke decide to summon his headstrong younger brother, just a novice fighter, Bao Bao-yu (Lau Wing), to join the upcoming tournament on his behalf and investigate a conspiracy that can overturn the jiang hu. Thus begins a colourful and action-packed fantasy epic from Shaw Brothers.
Spirit of the Sword contains examples of:
- Badass Cape: Worn by every clan leader as well as the protagonist, Bao-yu.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: Unfortunately, this doesn't do Bao-yu any favours due to his ice-related chi powers being weakened by the heat...
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: Towards the end of the movie, everything turns into an all-out war for the five clans, their leaders and members, with tons and tons of extra hacking each other apart with weapons.
- The Casanova: Bao-yu, who gets plenty of girls surrounding him in every scene when he enters taverns or palaces. He acts like he's reluctant, but he's clearly enjoying the company of women.
- Cloth Fu: The Gold River Queen fights with a pair of golden silk robes, which can expertly ensnare her enemies.
- Evil Is Burning Hot: There are five sects in the martial world, but the Spirited Fire Clan is the sole villainous faction led by the evil Fire Demon God.
- Fire-Breathing Weapon: The Fire Demon God's preferred weapon is a snake-headed staff that breathes fire.
- Gratuitous Ninja: Several faceless mooks in this movie are inexplicably dressed as ninjas, for reasons unexplained other than Rule of Cool.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Towards the end of the film, the Fire Demon God attempts to kill the heroes with his flaming staff, only for the Princess to use her chi to force the staff back, impaling Fire Demon God and setting him on fire with his own weapon.
- Hot Blade: Bao-yu's sword will glow with a red aura when infused with his chi, allowing him to kick loads and loads of ass with ease.
- An Ice Person: Bao-yu, whose chi can produce freezing-cold touches during his fight scenes. During the penultimate battle, he demonstrates the full extent of his powers by releasing an ice blast that freezes 3 ninja mooks instantly.
- Irony: The Fire Demon God is killed by being set on fire by his own weapon.
- King of the Homeless: The Black Earth Old Man is the king of the beggar sect.
- Man on Fire: The Fire Demon God frequently sets his victims on fire while alive with his fire-breathing snake-headed staff. Eventually, the Fire Demon God suffers this fate as part of his Karmic Death.
- Matchstick Weapon: The Fire Demon God's snake-shaped staff can shoot fire from its mouth.
- Martial Arts Headband: Bao-yu is never seen without his white headband.
- Purple Is Powerful: Played straight with the Purple Robe Duke, master of the water clan, who is the best fighter among the five, and known to be a benevolent, righteous man respected by all.
- Red Baron: Practically every leader of the five sects have a cool nickname which they're referred to throughout the movie: there is the Gold River Queen, the Purple Robe Duke, and the Fire Demon God and the Black Earth Old Man.
- Ring of Fire: During the big fight in the villa, Bao-yu is taken down when enemy mooks traps him in a burning circle, which impedes his chi abilities greatly.
- Stock Footage: The film opens with a recap of past battles in the jiang hu, using clips from earlier Shaw Brothers production, including Death Duel, Murder Plot, The Proud Twins and The Sentimental Swordsman films.
- Stock Wushu Weapons: Every sort of wushu weapons are featured, being used by the clan seniors during multiple big fight scenes.
- Wuxia
