Product: The Flying Daggers [VHS] (1995)
Rating: 4.0
Undoubtedly the funniest kung-fu film I've ever seen!
I would not hesitate to recommend this film to anyone who can overlook ridiculous plotting and laughable situations to concentrate on the main strength of this film, the incredible amount of FUN involved.I've watched this film so many times and every time it just makes me crack up. I mean, where else would you get a film that has shades of "Evil Dead II" with its dismembered hand running about attacking people and a decapitated invincible kung-fu master walking around bumping into things after losing his head, next to scenes of laughable comedy such as the character "Nine Tails Fox" who, armed with a long fluffy tail connected to his backside, can defeat enemies with his special move known as the "Fox Farts". You can guess the rest and believe me silly does not even begin to cover it.The plot follows the exploits of two brothers who are bounty hunters on the trail of a master criminal for a substantial reward. The only problem is that they are not the only ones after the reward. Two female witches make the inept bounty hunters lives a misery before they realise that the only way to catch the villain is to work together. Various bizarre and surreal sub plots twist their way around the main storyline, making the film a little hard to follow in places, with people turning up out of the blue only serving to complicate matters even further. But overall you cannot criticise the scriptwriters for coming up with something totally original and unpredictable.The name "Flying Dagger" is appropriate as the over the top wirework has the characters spend more time in the air than they do on the ground. These fight scenes are very well done if you like your fighting hyper kinetic with super speed editing and characters literally flying all over the place with amazing speed. It all makes for a wonderful spectacle. Blood flows freely in a totally over the top comic book fashion so it is hard to take it seriously. The film couldn't be classed as gory as it always seems to be well balanced with the comedy scenes so the film never gets too dark. Serious martial arts film purists may be put off by the light hearted tone of the picture, but if you're after a film that is fast, fun, hugely entertaining and completely surreal, you can't really go wrong with "Flying Dagger".