Action Member: Liu Chia-Liang

While it hasn’t aged well in comparison to ‘Come Drink With Me’ and even some of Chang Cheh’s early work, it still proves to be a mildly diverting Shaw Brothers’ swordplay film.

A four-star movie that, due to its heavy-handed closing shots, loses half a star; the same idea was used with much more sophistication at the end of ‘Anonymous Heroes’.

‘The Water Margin’ is the kind of grandiose masterwork that is enthralling and, despite the presence of three accomplished directors, has a remarkable consistency to it.

Though there is talent behind the lens and in front of it, this is a run-of-the-mill swordplay film with a wasted gimmick.

Perhaps the greatest flaw found within this well-made, yet uninspiring swordplay film is its reliance on theatrical melodrama rather than tension or real emotion.