AllMovie

The New One-Armed Swordsman is a continuation of the One-Armed Swordsman series started by Shaw Brothers Studios director Chang Cheh. It is not strictly a sequel as it just features another one-armed swordsman, not any of the characters from the previous film. The film opens with a standoff between young Lei Li (David Chiang) and warlord Lung (Ku Feng), in which Lei agrees to have his arm cut off if he loses. Lei loses and the action picks up a few years later when the depressed and degraded cripple works as a put-upon waiter, shyly flirting with the restaurant owner's daughter (Ching Li). Since he has renounced swordplay, Lei must suffer the taunts of the patrons who mock his handicap. One night, he and the daughter are defended from a couple of Lung's drunken thugs by fighter Fang (Ti Lung). Fang and Lei develop a friendship that revolves around swordplay and complaining about Lung's corrupt and violent leadership. Fang is tricked into traveling to a mountaintop fortress to confront Lung and is gruesomely killed by the fighters. Lei picks up his sword once more to take on Lung and his henchmen. The film features a number of fight sequences, skillfully photographed by Kung Mu-to and choreographed by Lau Kar-leung and Tong Gaai, most notably the wire work in the climatic battle on a bridge and in the incorporation of Lung's three-section staff.