The Invincible Armour

The Invincible Armor
The Invincible Armor
Directed by	See-Yuen Ng
Written by	Lu Tung
Countries	Hong Kong; Taiwan
Language	Mandarin

Invincible Armor is a 1977 Hong Kong-Taiwanese kung fu film starring Hwang Jang-lee, John Liu, and Tino Wong.

Plot

The film opens with a demonstration of the

Iron Armor and Eagle Claw

kung fu techniques. The narration explains that the former makes the user almost invulnerable, while the latter is the deadliest of all techniques.

On patrol through town,

Ming

General Chow (Liu) observes a fighter, Hu Lung, fending off bandits. Impressed, General Chow arranges for Hu Lung to meet Minister Liu, who is in charge of Royal Security, as a potential candidate for joining the Ming forces. While sparring with Liu in the courtyard as a test of his skills, Hu Lung suddenly produces a knife and assassinates the Minister before escaping over the courtyard wall. As General Chow rushes to Liu's aid, the guards arrive and immediately arrest Chow for the murder. En route to the court, a group of soldiers arrives with orders to kill Chow. Highly skilled in kung fu himself, Chow defeats his captors and escapes.

Ming Minister of State Cheng (Lee), an authoritarian leader and master of the Eagle Claw and Iron Armor techniques, summons his most skilled enforcer, Shen Yu (Wong), to hunt down Chow and arrest him. Chow hunts for Hu Lung, but must avoid the authorities along the way who are attempting to kill him. He eventually tracks down Hu Lung, but is thwarted by Shen Yu as Hu runs away. Chow tells Shen Yu that he has been wrongly accused and that Hu Lung is the actual murderer, but Shen is not convinced and he fights with Chow. The fight is interrupted by an old man claiming to be after General Chow as well, who then fights with Shen Yu over who will get to bring him in. Chow uses this opportunity to escape and continues his pursuit of Hu Lung.

The old man is later revealed to be Hu Lung's old teacher, who previously expelled Hu from their clan. Hu confesses to his old teacher that he was paid by Minister Cheng, a former classmate of the old man, to carry out the assassination. The old man confronts the Minister over his actions and sets a trap to kill him by using Hu (the only witness to Cheng's involvement) as bait. The trap fails, however, and the old man is killed by Cheng in their ensuing fight, while Hu again escapes.

Meanwhile, Chow learns the Iron Finger technique from the old man's grandson and granddaughter; a technique able to defeat Cheng's Iron Armor. But his training is cut short when Shen Yu and a second enforcer sent by the Minister arrive to arrest him again. After the enforcer attempts to kill Chow over Shen's objections, Shen begins to doubt Chow's guilt and gives him three days to locate Hu Lung and clear his name. Before he can catch up with Hu Lung, Hu is killed by Cheng, but Shen discovers evidence on Hu's body that the minister is involved. That night, when staying at an inn nearby, multiple assassins attack Shen Yu, but he is saved by an unknown individual who also delivers him a strange letter. The next morning, he confronts Cheng, and is forced to defeat several of his henchman.

With Minister Cheng's plot exposed, he offers Shen Yu to join him, which Shen Yu outright refuses. With no other choice left, he attacks Shen Yu, who is soon assisted by Chow and the old man's two grandchildren. During the fight, Chow discovers that Cheng's weak spot is his testicles and that Cheng is able to retract them into his body for protection. Through the group's combined efforts, Chow is able to use his Iron Finger technique to cause Cheng to drop his testicles so Chow can crush them, killing Cheng.

Cast

Hwang Jang-lee – Minister Cheng
John Liu – Chow Lung Fu
Lee Hoi-sang – Hu Lung
Tino Wong – Shen Yu
Phillip Ko – Hu's teacher
Yuen Biao
Corey Yuen

Reception

Review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 82% based on 321 user reviews.

Notes

The main theme for Tonino Valerii's Spaghetti Western film Day of Anger, scored by Riz Ortolani is used multiple time throughout the film.

External links

The Invincible Armour at

IMDb

v t e Works by Ng See-yuen
Films directed	The Bloody Fists (1972) Secret Rivals (1976) Million Dollars Snatch (1976) Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth (1976) Secret Rivals 2 (1977) The Invincible Armour (1977) Game of Death II (1981) The Unwritten Law (1985) Evening of Roses (2009)
Films written	Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978) Drunken Master (1978) Dance of the Drunk Mantis (1979) Legend of a Fighter (1982) Ninja in the Dragon's Den (1982)
Films produced only	The Butterfly Murders (1979) We're Going to Eat You (1980) No Retreat, No Surrender (1986) Walk on Fire (1988) Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) Once Upon a Time in China III (1993) Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993) Once Upon a Time in China V (1994) The Soong Sisters (1997)