King Hu's first martial arts film, and his first great success (it broke box-office records in Asia), this Ming Dynasty thriller drew on Japanese samurai epics and Chinese Opera traditions to create a new kind of action movie in which battle is a form of mythic ballet. The scenario and characters are delineated in quick, deft strokes: a band of comically menacing kidnappers faces off against larger-than-life heroine Golden Swallow (the great Zheng Peipei), whose mesmerizing stare cuts almost as deep as her sword, and her mysterious ally, a drunken minstrel with a shadowy past and unexpected powers. The fight scenes, choreographed by opera veteran Han Yingjie, are masterpieces of pacing, moments of silent tension exploding into a flurry of flashing blades and furious percussion. Hu's inventive editing and camera movements and his idiosyncratic narrative style-veering from swordplay to song, comedy to revelation-create an intoxicating sensation of unpredictable motion.