None But the Brave

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AKA: Kung Fu Girl, The Heroine, Attack of the Kung Fu Girls

Year of release: 1973

Genre: martial arts

Director: Lo Wei

Action director: Han Ying-Chieh

Producer: Raymond Chow

Writer: Lo Wei

Cinematography: Chan Ching-Kui

Editor: Peter Cheung

Music: Joseph Koo

Stars: Cheng Pei-Pei, Au Wai, James Tien, Lo Wei, Shishido Jo, Han Ying-Chieh, Tin Mat, Ching Fuk-Kam, Suen Lam, Meng Yuen-Man, Jackie Chan

Rated OAT I for mild violence

DVD available for purchase at www.sensasian.com

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None But the Brave  None But the Brave

None But the Brave  None But the Brave

None But the Brave features some great star power in the form of Cheng Pei-Pei, who lights up the screen every time she's in the picture. But as good as Cheng is, her performance (both in the acting and martial arts departments) still can't get past writer/director Lo Wei's dull and pedestrian approach to film-making. Running far too long and featuring far too many boring exposition scenes, this release manages to shoot itself in the foot, ending up simply being a good kung fu movie instead of a great one.

Taking a well-traveled road, None But the Brave's story has Cheng playing Siu Ying, a revolutionary who poses as the sister of Captain Lui (Au Wai), who is building allegiances with the encroaching Japanese, who are led by Sano (essayed by the popular Japanese star Shishido Jo). Siu's ruse works at first, and she gains valuable intelligence, which she passes on to the leader of the resistance, Yang Kang (James Tien). But after her true identity is discovered, Ying must battle a growing number of both Chinese and Japanese foes in order to help the rebellion and save herself.

There is some fun to be had here, especially for well-heeled old-school vets. Despite the low budget of the production, a virtual "who's who" of talent that would become linchpins in the kung fu explosion of the mid-1970's are featured here (albeit in small doses for the most part) including a young Jackie Chan in one of his first speaking roles. And besides Cheng, the other main actors put in some solid work, especially Au Wai, who manages to create a very three-dimensional character -- someone that you might feel conflicted about rooting against until he reveals how truly dirty his motives are. Unfortunately, Lo Wei taints the acting side of things by placing himself in the movie with a fairly meaty role as a local commander.

As hammy as Lo's acting is, at least there is some passion behind it, which sadly cannot be said for his directorial style. If one was going to look up how to film a kung fu movie by the playbook, this is a crystal clear example of Hong Kong's "factory system" style in motion. Perhaps Lo was under monetary constraints, but the better directors will find a way to make even the cheapest of budgets work, and honestly, Lo Wei is in no way one of Hong Kong's better directors. But despite its' problems, None But the Brave still ends up playing out as a fairly entertaining old-school picture that fans of girl-fu might enjoy if they're not too picky.

RATING: 6