Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain

1983 / DVD

SF elements: Chinese fantasy

[dvd]
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain

I saw this many years ago, and must have enjoyed it then, because I had originally ranked it “2: great stuff”. However, I could remember nothing about it; in fact, the only scene I did remember is not even in the film! I suspect it is from one of the Chinese Ghost Story films instead.

It is a time of civil war in China. A soldier is unable to obey the commands of rival generals, and has to escape to save his life. He finds a cave full of stange spirits, apprentices himself to a master who does not want to be followed, and must team up with another apprentice to find two mystical swords to save the word.

Said like that, it sounds as if the plot makes sense. The plot is actually bonkers. There is a lot of jumping, flying, fighting, arguing, monsters, and running around. Very acrobatic and skillful, but WTF did I just watch?

Rating: 4

[ unmissable | great stuff | worth watching | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]

reviewed 13 March 2021