Eagle Shooting Heroes, The (1993) Review

“The Eagle Shooting Heroes” Chinese Theatrical Poster

Director: Jeff Lau
Writer: Wong Kar-wai
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing, Jacky Cheung Hok Yau, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia, Joey Wong Tsu Hsien, Carina Lau Kar Ling, Kenny Bee Chung Chun-to, Sze-Ma Wah-Lung
Running Time: 114 min.

By Paul Bramhall

In case it’s never been said before, Hong Kong cinema owes a debt of thanks to Wong Kar Wai’s 1994 wuxia, Ashes of Time. During its laborious post-production, Kar Wai decided he needed to put some distance between himself and the editing process, and took a break to shoot a quickie slice of life flick that became Chungking Express. Ironically, Chungking Express has been frequently voted the greatest Hong Kong movie ever made. As for the Ashes of Time post-production process, well, let’s just say we got a redux version of it in 2008, and leave it at that. However there was another movie that was born out of the tumultuous Ashes of Time production, and that was the 1993 wuxia The Eagle Shooting Heroes.

Rather than post-production though, Ashes of Time was still very much in the middle of filming when The Eagle Shooting Heroes was announced to be shot. The story is one of Hong Kong cinema folklore, and saw Wong Kar Wai step into the producers chair for what would be a Jeff Lau directed Chinese New Year movie. With the Ashes of Time shooting schedule going both overtime and (more significantly) over budget, The Eagles Shooting Heroes was thrown together for Kar Wai to drum up additional funds that would allow him to carry on shooting, and CNY movies where a sure bet to bring in an audience.

So it was Kar Wai rounded up virtually all of his all-star cast from Ashes of Time, along with action director Sammo Hung, and placed them in the care of Jeff Lau for a brief period, creating what can best be described as the anti-Ashes of Time. Both productions are based on events that take place in the Jin Yong novel Legend of the Condor Heroes, only one casts itself as a self-reflective sombre take on the wuxia genre, and the other a delirious Looney Tunes inspired take on the same material. Sure, it’s difficult to argue that Chungking Express doesn’t deserve its place at the top of peoples Greatest Hong Kong Movie List’s, but I confess to getting just as much enjoyment from both, albeit in very different ways.

Let’s start with the cast. It’s debatable if another Hong Kong movie of the era exists with the amount of talent in front of the camera than there is here. In total 7 of the cast from Ashes of Time appear in The Eagle Shooting Heroes. On the men’s team we have the late Leslie Cheung (in the same year he’d star in the seminal Farewell My Concubine and The Bride with White Hair), Tony Leung Ka-Fai (who was enjoying a year of wuxia’s, also featuring in Flying Dagger and All Men are Brothers – Blood of the Leopard), Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (who also enjoyed a wuxia heavy year, featuring in Magic Crane and Butterfly and Sword), and Jacky Cheung (who featured in Flying Dagger with Leung Ka-Fai).

On the women’s side we have Brigitte Lin (who played the titular The Bride with White Hair alongside Leslie Cheung the same year), Maggie Cheung (who also featured in Flying Dagger and the classic Green Snake during the same year), and Joey Wong (who worked with everyone in 1993 – Maggie Cheung in Green Snake, Brigitte Lin in The East is Red, Tony Leung Ka-Fai in All Men are Brothers – Blood of the Leopard, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai in Butterfly and Sword). Being a CNY movie though, Lau was able to bring in additional big name cast members to make the roll call even more impressive than the movie it was created to fund, with the likes of Carina Lau, Veronica Yip, and Kenny Bee all making appearances as well.

For fans of this era of Hong Kong cinema, based on the cast alone The Eagle Shooting Heroes would have to make an epic misstep to generate any bad will. Which is of course, where director Jeff Lau comes in. Many would describe Lau’s work as love-it or hate-it, encapsulated by the mad-cap, low-brow everything and the kitchen sink approach that many of his movies are defined by. From his early efforts like Thunder Cops 2 through to more recent offerings like Kung Fu League, the one consistent element of his work is the inconsistency that ploughs through even the simplest of narratives. As with any Hong Kong director that worked regularly throughout the 90’s though, he’s also responsible for some well-regarded favorites, with the likes of Saviour of the Soul, Treasure Hunt, and the 2 Chinese Odyssey movies all arriving onscreen thanks to Lau’s direction.

In The Eagle Shooting Heroes, that mad-cap vibe is perhaps more at the forefront than any of his work before or since. There’s a real feeling that both the cast members and action director Sammo Hung are using their involvement as a chance to let off steam, with everything seemingly cranked up to 11, especially the energy levels. Roles have been switched around as well from the casting in Ashes of Time, with Leslie Cheung now playing Tony Leung Ka-Fai’s character, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai taking on Leslie Cheung’s role. Only Jacky Cheung maintains the same role in both productions, all be it played completely differently (there’s no manically sung Canto-pop number in Ashes of Time that has him declaring his love to Joey Wong, undercranked to the point of hilarious absurdity for a start).

While everyone is hamming it up acting wise, the same applies to the action, but in a way which may surprise those who’ve been avoiding The Eagle Shooting Heroes under the assumption it’s another wire-work filled flight of fancy. There is wire-work aplenty, however under Sammo’s choreography a number of the fights are well grounded, and despite the lightweight nature of any CNY flick, are also hard hitting. He’d step into the director’s chair for Blade of Fury the same year, as well as taking on action directing duties for Jet Li’s Kung Fu Cult Master, so both movies give some ideas as to what kind of action to expect here. The heavy doubling of the principle cast allows for some stellar kicking displays (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai’s opening fight against multiple opponents is a joy to watch) from the stunt team, accompanied by some painful looking impacts as bodies are hurled into walls.

The slow motion and billowing reams of silk frequently associated with early 90’s wuxia movies are here nowhere to be seen (in fact the only slow motion moment is acted in real time, as a part of the legendary Flirting Eyes Sword Style technique!), with the wistful tone replaced with a kinetic energy that rarely lets up. Lau’s flair for comedic slapstick gets plenty of opportunities to shine, from a scene involving the floating head of a cross-dressing spirit being used as a football, to a flying boot that feels like it draws far more laughs than it actually deserves.

With that being said, sometimes Lau does allow for gags to outstay their welcome. A duel between Leung Chiu-Wai and Jacky Cheung, in which the comedy hinges on Cheung’s promise not to fight back, is stretched to the point that the initially funny premise gives way to boredom, and likewise for a segment where a group get lost in a cave, and keep on encountering a trio of monsters. If you’re wondering what a trio of monsters (specifically actors dressed up in a gorilla suit, a large sparrow suit, and a dinosaur suit) are doing in a tale based on Legend of the Condor Heroes then you probably haven’t realised you’re watching a Jeff Lau movie yet.

But on a serious note, The Eagle Shooting Heroes real ambition is to be a manic send-up of both the wuxia movies of the time, and the old Shaw Brothers and Cathay wuxia’s of a bygone era, and to that end it does an admirable job. In the same way that more recent movies like Keep Calm and Be a Superstar send-up Jackie Chan, having seen the movies being riffed on definitely adds to the viewing pleasure, but is by no means essential. With a cast who are more than game to make a fool out of themselves, frantically paced action scenes, and a joke never more than a few seconds away, as a Hong Kong cinema fan there’s not a whole lot to complain about. Wong Kar Wai movies rarely stick to schedule, but if the result is that we end up with movies like The Eagle Shooting Heroes as a by-product, then maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10