Despite its star power, Return of the Deadly Blade (1980) has been a fairly obscure title, most likely because it was made by an independent studio and not part of the Shaw and Golden Harvest film cannon that flooded US and European shores with kung fu. To my knowledge, in the US it has only had one or two small, very lackluster vhs releases, and maybe some showing in kung fu grindhouses back in the early 80's. Apart from its well known cast, David Chiang (Bloody Tattoo, Shaolin Mantis, Magnificent Wanderers) Yasuaki Kurata (Challenge of the Ninja, Prodigal Boxer, Ninja in a Deadly Trap), and fighting cameo roles for Lo Leih (Five Fingers of Death, Fist of the White Lotus, Executioners of Death), Tsui Siu Kueng (Duel to the Death), and David Chiang, the film is most notable for its action director, a first timer named Ching Siu Tung, who of course would go on to revolutionize HK fantasy and action with the Chinese Ghost Story trilogy, Duel to the Death, and Swordsman 2.

Plot and Characters- The story centers on a reclusive swordmaster named Lee Wai, who was legendary in the martial world, killing many, creating a lot of enemies, and then disappearing. One of Master Wai's victims was David Chiang's father, and David Chiang (aka. Disciple of the Sword) trained and now seeks to draw the reclusive Master Wai out by impersonating him. Far away in the Lunar World, the Moon Goddess mourns the loss of her lover, Invincible Golden Rings, whom Master Wai also killed. Moon Goddess (Flora Cheung) watches the impersonation from afar, hoping, likewise, that Master Wai will be drawn out. On the other end of the spectrum, there is the carefree, playboy, undefeated swordsman, The Lonely Winner (Yasuaki Kurata), who has problems of his own with a local lord, who wants him dead for 'raping' his wife.... At this point, it should be as obvious as a heart attack that the film is heavy in fantasy, like Zu Warriors or Swordsman 2, with everyone having some interesting moniker and skill....The curious fact is, that despite always hearing this was a David Chiang film and his seeming to be the title character, actually, Yasuaki Kurata's Lonely Winner gets equal to more screen time, plot, and fights. The Lonely Winner struggles with boredom at being undefeated and has "love them and leave them" dalliances with the ladies. Disciple of the Blade struggles with his revenge being more important than settling down with his true love. And, the plot eventually steers the two toward each other as they make their way to the Tomb of the Heroes, fighting multiple villains along the way, the secretive Moon Goddess and Master Wai both watching it unravel from afar.

Convoluted? Yes. Dizzyingly Paced? Yes. Outlandish? Yes. Basically this is a great film, belonging in the short attention span theater swordplay/fantasy films like East is Red, Dragon Inn, The Sword, and the like. There are many, many fights, but they are very brief and don't really stand out very much- but as a whole, combined with the frantic speed at which the film is paced, it actually is to their benefit that they are so short. Whereas something like Duel to the Death (which Ching Siu Tung would make his debut as a solo director a year later) has great fight scenes interspersed with some slow moments, every scene in Return of the Deadly Blade, whether it be plot, comedy, or fight, is so fast you hardly get a chance to blink. It is an interesting precursor to the new wave of fantasy films Ching Siu Tung would help create in the late 80's, early 90's- it's fast paced, inventive, and rife with characters like, Disciple of the Blade, Lonely Winner, Moon Goddess, the brothers Invincible Hat and Shield of Ultimate Glory, Genius from the North, God of Fire, Invincible Golden Rings, and The Ninja Iga from Edo, and razor hats, fireballs, bending blades, spinning wheelchairs, poison darts, ninjas skimming across water, steel umbrellas, chains, whips, darts, and more.

As for the DVD quality- The picture is fullscreen, obviously mastered from vhs because there are some scattered millisecond second gray flashes of vhs tracking lines present, but not often or of any real hindrance. The picture is a little soft; good black levels because the night scenes are clear, and a handful of shots are washed out, while the rest are in good shape for an older film. Especially of interest, the color has been tweaked so it is gorgeously vibrant, so much so I had to turn the color down a little on my tv. The sound is okay, no real pops, hisses, or echo, with a decent balance between the dialogue, fx, and music. Dub only, no subs. Being a Hidden Chambers DVD, it has plentiful extras. Its got the obligatory Wu Tang back patting stuff like videos and such, but then there are the real extras...Under brief bios for the film stars, David Chiang, (king of the big kickers)Wong Jang Lee, Bruce Liang, Tsui Siu Kueng, Yatsuaki Kurata, and Lo Leih there are 4-5 fight scenes for each man, lasting between 3-5 mins. Varying in quality, some grainy, some clear, some dubbed, some in Cantonese or Mandarin with subs cut off at the bottom of the screen, but nonetheless Awesome! (My only complaint is that the don't list the films the fights are from) Then there are the 18 Fatal Previews for SHAOLIN DRUNK MONKEY, SNAKE STRIKES BACK, TIGER OVER A WALL, STRIKE OF THE MANTIS FIST, ONE FOOT CRANE, EAGLE FIST, SHAOLIN VS LAMA, SHAOLIN VS NINJA, 18 BRONZE GIRLS, BEST OF SHAOLIN KUNG FU, 5 VENOMS VS WU TANG, 9 DEMONS, FIGHT AMOUNG THE SUPERS, GOOSE BOXER, MYSTERIOUS FOOTWORK, CHESS BOXING VS BUDDHIST FIST, SHAOLIN CHASTITY KUNG FU, and ENTER THE INVINCIBLE HERO. Now, they aren't exactly proper previews, but kung fu video fans should recognize them. They are basically one minute worth of fighting from the films preceded by a title card, which is cheap and like sex without foreplay, but I appreciate the sheer number and having them on a less than $10 DVD is a godsend to the kung fu fan.