Twelve Deadly Coins is a 1969 Shaw Brothers action adventure wuxia directed by Cheng Hung Hsu.
Twenty years ago, a feud between two sworn brothers, Yu Jian Ping and his adopted sibling, Yuan Cheng Lieh, led to the latter fleeing home after a duel for leadership. Years later, Yu is now the leader of the Yu clan, an Imperial Escort Bureau team, but during an important assignment their gold cargo is ambushed.
Yu Jian Ping's daughter, Yu Rung-Er, sets out to find the gold, while being helped by a noble swordsman, Chiao Mao.
The movie stars Lo Lieh, Li Ching, Feng Tien, Wen Ching Chang, and Chang Yi.
This film contains examples of:
- Action Prologue: The Yu clan, led by Chief Yu Jian Ping, defeating a rival band of marauders despite being outnumbered and having their allies in single digits. And when several of the marauders tried fleeing, Chief Yu's daughter, Yu Rung-er, arrives and finishes the rest with flung coins.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Yuan's death, which Chief Yu mourned over.
- Battle in the Rain: The movie climaxes with a lengthy sword-battle in heavy rain between Chief Yu Jian Ping and his former sworn brother, Yuan Cheng Lieh.
- Eye Scream: The film's Big Bad, Yuan Cheng Lieh, has a really, really hideous-looking gash over his right eye
, obtained after the two ex-brothers dueled each other years ago. - Face Death with Dignity: Yuan Cheng Lieh, from being killed by his ex-mentor Yu Jian Ping, having accepted his defeat like a Graceful Loser.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: The Yu clan's best leaders can fling coins like darts with extreme accuracy, notably Chief Yu and his daughter Rung-er. The Chief demonstrates his ability shortly after the opening by launching coin projectiles and hitting a straight row of coins hanging on strings in a single file.
- In a Single Bound: Like every good wuxia, this one has characters leaping across valleys by jumping.
- Master Swordsman: Basically every named character, with tons of sword-duels peppered throughout the film.
- Money Mauling: Yu Rung-er, who throws coins as projectiles, and it's as deadly as the title states.
- Old Master: Yu Rung-er's father, Chief Yu Jian Ping who leads the Yu family clan, is one hell of a capable fighter, easily taking down bandit mooks and assorted villains as well as mentoring his daughter and underlings to be great warriors.
- One-Man Army: Most of the heroes can take down entire legions of marauders, but the biggest one-man action setpiece definitely goes to Chiao Mao (being classic Lo Lieh) who infiltrates the marauder's hideout and single-handedly kills the entire camp in a few minutes.
- Purple Is Powerful: Rungh-erh, the daughter of a powerful martial arts clan, who spends the whole film wearing purple robes and a velvet cape. She is also the best fighter of the entire film, taking plenty of names single-handedly.
- Rising Water, Rising Tension: Two heroes, Chiao Mao and his Love Interest Lung-erh being chained to an underground dungeon slowly filling with water as part of its climax. It was this same scene where he made an Anguished Declaration of Love for her, right before they broke out of their cell.
- Sword Fight: Yep.
- We Used to Be Friends: Chief Yu Jian Ping and Yuan Cheng Lieh used to be sworn brothers, until the latter's betrayal early in the film which is set several years in the past.
- Worthy Opponent: Towards the end of the film, Chief Yu Jian Ping and Yuan Cheng Lieh considers each other to be this, even as they had their inevitable Duel to the Death which serves as the film's final action setpiece concluding with Yuan Cheng Lieh's defeat, where Yuan expresses his satisfaction at dying by his former mentor's sword.
- Wuxia
