Synopsis: A Brotherhood Of Heroes follows the exciting adventures of 3 young swordsmen who uncover the corrupted actions of the Imperial superintendents, only to find further perils. (95 Mins)

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Views: Popular Taiwanese director Tsai Yang Ming – also known as Ulysses Au Yeung Jun – who brought us films such as The Prodigal Boxer, 72 Desperate Rebels, Secret Of The Shaolin Poles, Shaolin Drunken Monk, and Gangland Odyssey with Alex Man, delivers another imaginative and busy wuxia adventure that just falls-short of being as memorable as many others that came before it. The film begins with our heroes standing-off against a team of fighters called the Four Ants – who are (believe it or not), four dwarves dressed in different colours that carry a large coffin around on their shoulders for the next person they kill. The English dub makes them sound like adults speaking like children, which is very odd and slightly disturbing, and even though their swords are bigger themselves – they still manage to move pretty well. It doesn't last long, but at least you have an idea of where things are going. Things soon come across a little messy before the film starts getting exciting around the 30 minute mark. At this point, our three heroes have uncovered and helped stopped some corrupt officials, but from here on in, things just don't seem to be in their favour and bring plenty of problems their way!

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The film stars popular Taiwanese actor Ling Yun who made his debut in the late 1950s, before going on to star in films such as Killer Clans, Crazy Bumpkin In Singapore, Clans Of Intrigue, Death Duel, Militant Eagle, A Hero's Tears, The Revenger, and so much more. He is joined by Barry Chan (Wei Tzu Yun), a Hong Kong actor who started in the early 70s and went on to appear in titles like The Fists Of Vengeance, The Blazing Temple, Militant Eagle, Swift Shaolin Boxer, 72 Desperate Rebels, Little Hero, and more. Prolific actor and fan favourite bad guy, Yi Yuan, stars as Golden Dog in one of his 225+ roles over the course of his career that spanned 35 years. Sharing the screen many times with his co-stars over the years, Yuan would be most recognisable for his roles in films like Shaolin Kung Fu, The Shaolin Kids, Prodigal Boxer, Blazing Temple, 18 Bronzemen, Shaolin Invincibles, Shaolin Vs Ninja, and as one of the old prisoners in Jackie Chan's Island Of Fire. Taiwanese actress Hsia Ling Ling also co-stars, along with many popular faces such as Peter Chang Peng, Hwa Ling, Shih Ting Ken, Chang Chung Kui, and Kao Chiang. The wonderful Jacky Chen cameos throughout – an actor and choreographer who made his debut in King Hu's A Touch Of Zen, going on to appear in many great films including Enter The Dragon, The Loot, Tai Chi Shadow Boxing, and the brilliant Of Cook's And Kung Fu – as does the legendary Chen Sing, who had just come off 14 titles in 1979 and was working on a further 9 the same year as this. So you can understand why certain roles around this era were often only cameos or bit parts. Of course, Chen would go on to star in over 140 films from the late 60s to the early 90s – with Caged Beauties giving fans one of his final roles. Chen Sing would pass in 2019 at the age of 82, in Jakarta...

 

As a fan of 70's Taiwanese kung-fu films, I really wanted to love A Brotherhood Of Heroes but it just didn't have enough excitement or fight scenes to win me over (and the English dub didn't help either). That said, there are a few good fights throughout, and more-so after the one-hour-mark, but it really had nothing special to make me want to see it again.

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Overall: Slow and messy at times, A Brotherhood Of Heroes has some fun fights throughout, but that's about it!