Heroes Shed No Tears

1980 [CHINESE]

Action / Drama

3
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 10%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 10%
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 251 251

martial arts swordplay

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Plot summary

Kao is given a mission by his elderly master to take a cursed sword and solve petty squabbles between skilled martial masters.

Director

Yuen Chor Photo
Yuen Chor

Top cast

Jason Pai Piao Photo
Jason Pai Piao as Szema Chao-Chun
Wah Yuen Photo
Wah Yuen as
Chok Chow Cheung Photo
Chok Chow Cheung as
Bun Yuen Photo
Bun Yuen as
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
1022.52 MB
1280*544
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  de  
24 fps
1 hr 51 min
Seeds ...
1.85 GB
1920*816
Chinese 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  de  
24 fps
1 hr 51 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by BrianDanaCamp

HEROES SHED NO TEARS - strong cast in complex swordplay drama

Not to be confused with the 1986 film directed by John Woo, HEROES SHED NO TEARS (1980) is yet another in the long series of Shaw Bros. swordplay adventures directed by Chor Yuen from the novels of Ku Lung. This one's more serious and less playful than earlier entries in the series (e.g. THE MAGIC BLADE) and is far more complicated. It features five strong Shaw Bros. male stars (led by Alexander Fu Sheng) in the roles of five men of more or less equal status and martial arts expertise who come into conflict when one of them seeks to take over the martial arts world and undermine or kill the others. While the production values are, as always, beautiful to behold and the action plentiful, the real draw of this film is in watching the way the men interact, form alliances, turn against each other and gradually piece together the truth of the situation. The five stars--Fu Sheng, Ku Feng, Derek Yee, Yueh Hua, Jason Pai Piao--work well together and make up an exemplary ensemble cast. Son of a famous martial arts master, the charismatic Zhuo Donglai (Derek Yee) is crafty and ruthless and always confident he'll prevail. Using deceit, betrayal, bribery and manipulation, he sets out to destroy the status and livelihoods of two rivals, Zhumeng (Ku Feng), of the Hall of Braveheart, and Sima Chaoqun (Jason Pai Piao), known as "the Unbeatable," and head of a prominent security organization. Two other champions intervene at various points: Xiao Leixue (Yueh Hua), known as "the man with the wooden box," because of the box of 13 special weapons he carries with him at all times, and Gao Jianfei (Fu Sheng), a young swordsman who carries the special "Sword of Tears," which is engraved with a dire prediction that seems to refer to one of the other characters. Gao and Zhumeng become fast friends early on when they fight off Zhuo's men in a major confrontation at the border. But their friendship suffers later when they both realize they're in love with the same mysterious girl, "Graceful" (Chiu Ya-Chi), who once danced for three days and nights with Zhumeng. It all culminates in a series of fights at a mountain villa involving all the principal characters. Given the emphasis on the male relationships, it's no surprise that Chor Yuen found little room for the large numbers of beautiful actresses with which he usually populates his films. "Graceful" is the only major female role and she's played by Chiu Ya-Chi, an actress making her Shaw Bros. debut with this film. She is seen dancing in a couple of scenes. She's beautiful, petite and makes a good impression in a supporting role, but she doesn't have the striking presence and aggressive stance of such other Chor Yuen leading ladies as Lily Li, Ching Li, Betty Pei Ti, Nora Miao, and Candy Wen Hsueh-erh, to name only a few. The fight scenes, staged by Tang Chia, are frequent and involve mostly spear and sword, but are all fairly short, if nicely staged. There is much leaping around as characters vault up and over rooftops to either flee the scene or continue the fight in another set. The actors are all quite competent in cinematic combat, although one wishes Fu Sheng had been given opportunities to show off the hand-to-hand kung fu skills he displayed so masterfully in his films for director Chang Cheh. But he is just one of an ensemble cast here. The big finale is somewhat anti-climactic and should have been a little more extensive, given the presence of all five lead players. Still, it's a beautiful, grand entertainment, but one that requires close concentration to keep track of all the shifting relationships. It's also got a great Chinese music score, including opening and closing songs, with translated lyrics. The closing song includes the lines, "Heroes do not shed tears that lightly" and "Heroic tears are not easily shed," sentiments that somewhat contradict the film's title.
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Reviewed by CobraMist 5 / 10

A wuxia drama that is bogged bown by its overly serious tone

Note: this review is for the English dubbed version

Hears Shed No Tears is a Shaw Bros wuxia flick that is much heavier on the talking then it is on the action. Alliances are formed, broken, and reformed as a set of top martial artists scheme against each other. The principle characters each have their own shtick that helps to make them feel unique and each get a decent amount of character development. Being a Shaw Bro.'s production the sets and costumes are gorgeous.

Sadly it is not very enthralling due to several issues. The stakes are not clearly defined as they are seeking to be the best martial artist but nothing is ever said of why this is important. The voice actors who did the dub offer little in the way of excitement or energy and they all deliver very forgettable performances.

Another point against the film is the writing. The dialog is often repetitive with characters restating their intent multiple times in a single scene. Many of the twists come off as lazy with writers choosing to no build up to the twist, opting instead to have the twist come out of nowhere. Much of the dialog revolves around angst of the characters and how they sad they feel, which does not feel terribly heartfelt given some of the above stated issues.

Some of the fight scenes are fun as the choreography is decent and there are a few instances of weird weaponry being used. The fights are not terribly violent as the movie only uses very mild blood effects (e.g. Someone is stabbed/slashed and their clothes will now be bloody). None of the fights are terribly psychotronic with this going for being more of a serious, historical drama then something zanier. The film does break from this tone in one scene when a dancer does cut off her own leg to get back at her partner (!) and then proceeds to indigently hop away (!!).

If you like the idea of Shaw Bro.'s putting on what is essentially a some kind of serious, stage play but with sword fights then you might like this. Otherwise my suggestion would be to skip it.

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