Angela Mao (‘Hapkido’, ‘Lady Whirlwind’) plays Lotus, the daughter of a woman imprisoned and forced to give birth behind bars. Lotus’ mother dies in childbirth but not before passing a message on to her cellmates that her daughter must be told of the killing of her father and imprisonment of her mother, and once grown must seek vengeance on those who caused this. Given to an all-female Buddhist monastery to be raised, Lotus is trained in the ways of the martial arts and once told what happened to her parents, rage boils over in her causing Lotus to flee her sanctuary and seek out the four men responsible for her father’s death and mother’s incarceration.

Very solid and entertaining period set actioner from Cheng Chang-Ho (‘King Boxer’, ‘The Skyhawk’), ‘Broken Oath’ saw the first lady of kung fu going out with a bang for Golden Harvest, this being the last film she made for the studio. A loose remake of the renowned Japanese film ‘Lady Snowblood’, ‘Broken Oath’ is a solid, well shot, and often action-packed vehicle for Mao. With choreography by the great Yuen Woo-Ping and Hsu Hsia, ‘Broken Oath’ lets its female star showcase her considerable skill in a multitude of crisply choreographed set-pieces. There’s a good dose of weapon work also to mix up the action with Mao brandishing a staff for a good chunk of the flick and then expertly using twin blades in the epic action finale that sees a myriad of weapons utilized for some satisfyingly action-soaked spectacle.

It’s also great Mao is given such a revenge infused character, rage filled and determined to find and take out the men responsible for the deaths of her family. The overly convoluted political machinations, which were often present in period set kung fu films, are mercifully toned down here (though are still vital to the plot!), giving the film a welcome streamlined propulsive style rather than unnecessary complicated one.

Unfortunately, the flick can’t quite get away from the female-hero-needs-some-men-to-help-her-complete-her-quest attitude of the era, so Bruce Leung (‘My Kung Fu 12 Kicks’) is roped in as a sort of sidekick for Mao, helping her on her quest. They do share good chemistry and thankfully it’s Mao who still gets to take on the bulk of the fight action: including scrapping with Sammo Hung and Han Ying-Chieh, who show up as evil bodyguards (with Han Ying-Chieh even breathing fire!) in the finale. Also look out for early appearances from the likes of Yuen Wah, Corey Yuen, Mars, and Yuen Baio as various background henchmen/bodyguards.

‘Broken Oath’ is just a great martial arts flick from the golden era of old school kung fu action and arguably one of Mao’s best.