The Twelve Gold Medallions is a 1970 Shaw Brothers Wuxia film starring Yueh Hua and Chin Ping.
In the late Sung Dynasty, the lawful Minister, Yueh Fei, has been framed by his enemies, who had collaborated with the invading Mongols in an attempt to get Minister Yueh out of the picture and facilitate an invasion. Twelve golden plaques... er, medallions, bearing the emperor's seal, to be delivered to the Imperial Court, will result in Minister Yueh being sentenced to death, but it can be prevented if a hero can retrieve all twelve medallions from the villainous martial artists and swordsmen who had the medallions in their possession.
Wavering Sword Miao Lung (Yueh Hua), a lawful warrior, is up to the task, where he needs to race against time to defeat the villains holding those medallions and prevent the Minister's execution at all costs.
Twelve Gold Tropers:
- Action Prologue: The film opens with Miao Lung fighting and defeating several rival swordsmen carrying the titular medaillions, retrieving three of the twelve he needs to prevent the assassination of Governor Yueh.
- Amazon Brigade: The Jin family has a legion of female warriors who sadly all gets killed as soon as they appeared, in their sole fight scene.
- Bittersweet Ending: Miao Lung retrieves the last of the medallions and kills the final enemy who possesses them, preventing the execution of Minister Yueh, but at the cost of his own life.
- Chiaroscuro: A nighttime meeting between Miao Lung and the Jin patriarch is framed in this manner.
- Combat Hand Fan: Golden Fan Ma Shan Ting's preferred weapon is a fan that can cut through wood and flesh.
- Feel No Pain: Miao Lung in one of his first scenes dips his bare hands into a saucepan of boiling oil to retrieve a piece of fried dough cake. It has something to do with his concentration of chi allowing him to have an insanely high pain tolerance.
- Free-Sample Plot Coupon: Right at the start of the film, Miao Lung already had at least two of the twelve medallions he needs to collect.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Miao Lung's quest involves him collecting all twelve of the titular medallions and killing every enemy that gets in his way.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Chin—Kuei, the corrupt Minister who ordered for General Yueh's arrest and forged the twelve titular medallions (just like real-life history) remains unseen for the rest of the film.
- Horseback Heroism: Miao Lung the protagonist is a skilled horse-rider and spends much of the film on horseback.
- In a Single Bound: Most named characters can leap several meters vertically on their own, including Miao Lung (onto the roof of a building) and Jin Suo (to the top of a tree).
- MacGuffin Title: The Twelve Gold Medallions are the MacGuffin items Miao Lung must collect throughout the film to prevent the execution of the lawful Minister, Lord Yueh. Unfortunately, he needs to deal with mercenaries and rival swordsmen also seeking said medallions.
- Non-Indicative Name: Due to a case of "Blind Idiot" Translation note , the medallions in this movie does not resemble the traditional necklace-like medallions at all, but are instead handheld golden plaques with the Imperial Order inscribed on it's surface. Admittedly, "Twelve Golden Plaques" isn't as catchy as a title.
- Now That's Using Your Teeth!: During their one-on-one duel, Jin Yan Tang briefly grabs Miao Lung's sword using his teeth.
- Sword Fight: Many of the film's action scenes are sword battles, with Miao Lung being one hell of a Master Swordsman.
- Those Two Guys: The two rival brothers who opposes Miao Lung, named Golden Fan Ma Shan Ting and Golden Whip Lei Ting. Their names reflects their respective weapons.
- Together in Death: Miao Lung and Jin Huan at the conclusion of the final battle.
- Tree Buchet: In the final battle, Miao Lung uses a bamboo tree to launch himself through the air to kill his final opponent, Master Jin.
- Weaponized Headgear: Miao Lung kills a mook by throwing his straw hat. Whose edges are razor-sharp and cuts through flesh.
- Weapon Specialization: Golden Whip Lei Ting primarily uses a whip in combat.
