The Shanghai 13 (1984)

Shanghai 13 (1984)
Aka: All the Professionals
Chinese Title: 上海灘十三太保
Translation: Shanghai Beach 13 Save

 

Starring: Chiang Ming, Jimmy Wang Yu, Ti Lung, Chiang Sheng, Chen Kuan-Tai, Danny Lee Sau-Yin, David Chiang Da-Wei, Chi Kuan-Chun, Wang Chung, Chan Sing, Lu Feng, Ricky Cheng Tien-Chi, Leung Kar-Yan, Andy Lau Tak-Wah, Wong Ching, Sonny Yue
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Directors: Ricky Cheng, Huang Kuo-Chu, Lu  Feng, Chiang Sheng

 

If Chang Cheh had ended his directing career with Shanghai 13, it would have been an appropriate send-off. The film is a synthesis of sorts of all Chang’s previous “cycles” up to that point, at least in terms of the cast. After a few false starts, Chang Cheh really kicked things off when he started making movies with Jimmy Wang Yu, a partnership that lasted about five years. The two parted ways in 1969, at which point Chan started his “Iron Triangle” phase, the other two legs being actors David Chiang and Ti Lung. That segued into his Shaolin Cycle in 1974, which defined the bulk of his output until the end of 1976, with the release of Shaolin Temple. I should point out that both Chiang and Lung played the same roles in the first and final entries in the Shaolin Cycle: Five Shaolin Masters (1974) and The Shaolin Temple (1976), even if they weren’t involved in the other films.

Nineteen Seventy-seven was something of a transition year, but in 1978, he entered his Venom Mob cycle, which started with the fan favorite The Five Deadly Venoms. With the Venoms—Philip Kwok, Lu Feng, Chiang Shen, Lu Feng, Lo Meng, Sun Chien and (occasionally) Wei Pai—Chang was able to make at least three or four movies per year. They kept up this pace until 1982. He left the Shaw Brothers in 1983 after the failure of The Weird Man. His final films for the studio (and next couple of Taiwanese movies) starred Taiwanese acrobatic actor Ricky Cheng, a contemporary (and classmate?) of the Venoms. And that’s where this film begins…

The movie begins with a notorious thief named Black Hat (Jimmy Wang Yu, of The Magnificent Trio and Trail of the Broken Blade) and a low-level official named Mr. Gau (Chiang Ming, of Swordsman with an Umbrella and Golden-Headed Eagle) breaking into a government office in Nanjing and stealing a letter from a safe. When Mr. Gau informs Black Hat that’s of the utmost importance for national security—we later learn that the letter reveals the plans of certain members of the Nanjing government to set up a puppet regime under the Japanese empire--the thief foregoes his usual fees and sends Mr. Gau on his way. The official flees Nanjing and heads for Shanghai, where he plans on taking a ship to Hong Kong.

Once in Shanghai, Mr. Gau goes to the house of a rich crime boss named Shin (Chen Kuan-Tai, of The Crippled Avengers and Boxer from Shantung). Shin promises to help get Gau to Hong Kong, although their initial plans to leave his estate are hampered by the arrival of a sniper (Danny Lee, of Bruce Lee & I and Super Infra Man). The sniper is a member of the “13 Rascals of Shanghai,” a group of hitmen, mob enforcers, fighters, etc. who are usually in the employ of Mr. Shin. However, the head traitor in the Nanjing government (Chang Feng, of The Beautiful Swordswoman and The Bride from Hell), has arrived in Shanghai and purchased the services of some of the 13 Rascals, although nobody knows which.

With the help of another member of the 13, Ping An (Chiang Sheng, of The Five Deadly Venoms and The Magnificent Ruffians), Mr. Gau is able to escape to a hotel. There, he’ll be transported to the house of “Millionaire” (Leung Kar-Yan, of Shaolin Martial Arts and Shaolin Avengers), another rascal who has enough money and clout to get Mr. Gau across town. However, the traitor and his killers are on Gau’s tail every step of the way. Once a fight breaks out at the hotel between Ping An and the killers, led by Cheung Tai-Lun (The Naval Commandos and Death Ring), the film basically goes into non-stop action mode as one rascal after another tries to protect Mr. Gau from an army of killers, including the other rascals.

This is less of an exploration of Chang Cheh’s usual themes of brotherhood, honor, Patriotism and more of a celebration of his career and the concept of heroic bloodshed in general. The opening scene sets up the conflict and there are a few scenes—at Shin’s estate, at the hotel, and at the table of a casino run by David Chiang (The New One-Armed Swordsman and Vengeance!)—that are meant to build up suspense, but the movie on the whole is just one big fight fest. This is also a celebration of the work of some of the best fight choreographers to come out of Taiwan, at least three of whom—Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng and Ricky Cheng—had been collaborators with Chang Cheh. Only Huang Kuo-Chu hadn’t previously worked with Chang, although he had a solid pedigree: Five Pretty Young Ladies; Moonlight Sword and Jade Lion; and Lung Wei Village.

The action kicks off with a fight between Chiang Sheng and a bunch of killers, which gives the former a chance to show off some of his legendary acrobatics and some decent kicks. The first showstopper, however, comes when one of the rascals, Tiger (Lu Feng, of Shaolin Rescuers and Invincible Shaolin), storms Millionaire’s mansion with an army of machete-wielding goons. The following fight between Leung Kar-Yan and the Tiger’s men is simply phenomenal, with Leung’s natural athleticism getting its best work out (arguably) since 1980’s The Victim. It’s just a great sequence all around. It’s immediately followed by a second slaughter at the mansion, this time involving the beau of Millionaire’s sister, played by a young Andy Lau. Lau’s martial arts experience was limited to studio training at that point, so you can tell he’s a little stiff. But like Keanu Reeves in the chateau fight of The Matrix Reloaded, he feels a lot more at home once he whips out a pair of sai-like weapons (probably a nunte) to counter Tiger’s “super” butterfly swords.

After a tense sequence at a casino, a huge fight breaks out involving three killers—Chi Kuan-Chun (of Men from the Monastery and Disciples of Shaolin), Wong Ching (All Men are Brothers and Heroes Two), and Taiwanese actor Chia Kai (Kung Fu of Seven Steps and Of Cooks and Kung Fu)—and two more “good” rascals, played by the aforementioned David Chiang and Lee Chung-Yat (of Attack of the Joyful Goddess). David Chiang shows that he wasn’t the best martial artist when compared to his contemporaries, but at least busts out some interesting “scarf-fu.” Chi Kuan-Chun, who usually played the hero in these movies, gets to play the bad guy named Panther. True to his name, he uses the actual Panther (or Leopard) style, complete with a fake claw of his hand for extra scratchin’.

The finale is a bonkers, 15-minute fest of fisticuffs set inside a warehouse at the pier. On the villains’ side is a returning Cheung Tai-Lun and a bulking karate bruiser played by Chan Sing (the sniper in Vengeance!). On the heroes’ side is the head of the docks, played by Ti Lung (Have Sword, Will Travel and Duel of Fists) and several dockworkers, including Taiwanese newcomer Sonny Yue (Raiders of the Shaolin Temple­—the one with the mechanical horses). Ti Lung gives probably the best wing chun display of his career, while Sonny Yue proves to be a good kicker. Chan Sing doesn’t do much more than look buff and throw people around, judo style, but at least gets involved in a complex three-way duel involving Cheung Tai-Lung and a pole-wielding Ti Lung. The wildcard of the fight is Ricky Cheng, an acrobatic fellow who’s a monster with the dagger, of which he has a few dozen stashed in his coat. There’s just so much martial excellence in this sequence that’s the perfect way to finish out a film that’s been one sequence of martial superiority after another.