Having just watched Jimmy Yu Wang in One-Armed Boxer, and enjoying it, I figured this would be just as good. Boy, was I wrong. Jimmy Yu Wang is wooden in his depiction of Silver Roc Xiao Pang/Hsiao Peng. He doesn't have the charisma here that he exuded in One-Armed Boxer. He seems more like a man in serious need of Lamictal.

His obsession with Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-Pei),is so intense he frames her for murders by leaving her Darts at every scene. He wants to draw her out. Setting her up for them murders of many villains was his only option? A letter would have done a better job. And, she wouldn't be dealing with nutjobs coming out of the woodwork to exact revenge for things Silver Roc did.

I felt so bad for Golden Whip Han Tao (Lieh Lo). He saved Golden Swallow from from certain death. He nursed her back to life. He even sparred with her to keep her Kung Fu levels above par. And, she spends 3 years (Yup, Han Tao spent 3 years at her side) pining over the unrequited love of Silver Roc. Han Tao puts up with it because he too is in love with her.

Silver Roc, when not setting Golden Swallow up, spends most of his time at a brothel with Mei Niang (Chiu Sam-Yin). He uses her as, a substitute for Golden Swallow. You know the saying, if you cant be with the one you love, love the one you're with - however, Silver Roc makes it quite clear he has no feelings for Mei. He'd rather wax nostalgic over Golden Swallow, kill any baddie that crosses his path and of course, set Golden Swallow up for his crimes. Yeah, talk about toxic love.

Han Tao follows Golden Swallow in her search for Silver Roc. She needs to decide which one she loves more. It's quite clear from the moment she realizes Silver Roc is her old school chum, that her heart belongs to him. She constantly reminds Han Tao he's been friend-zoned.

The men finally meet and prepare to duel. Silver Roc's attempts to act all cool and nonchalant come off more annoying than impressive. His attitude is not believable, in my honest opinion. He spends most of the time looking like he'll collapse from a lack of sleep.

The best parts of this film are the brief, and a I do mean brief, appearances of other well known Shaw Brothers Actors. Lau Kar Leung and brother Wing are baddies who are bumped off by Silver Fox. Ku Feng is a father who's son is accused of stealing a goose because the accuser wants Ku Feng's house to add to his property. Sadly, the boy kills himself to prove his innocence and Ku Feng is murdered by the accusers cronies.

If you blink, you'll miss Wang Kuang-Yu as Lin Qian and Cliff Lok as Fang Ying, who are both killed off by Golden Swallow in a fight at a restaurant. The best moment is seeing David Chiang Da Wei as an eavesdropping brothel clerk. Now, there's someone who could have breathed the missing life into Silver Roc. David Chiang Da Wei would have given Silver Roc his signature over confident smirk and it would have made this movie pop.

Silver Roc and Han Tao's duel is merely a precursor to more unrequited love confessions between Silver Roc and Golden Swallow. Han Tao misinterprets Silver Roc's leap toward him and stabs Silver Roc mid-air. Silver Roc was actually aiming for Poison Dragon Wang Xiong (Yeung Chi-Hing). Xiong was sneaking up on Golden Swallow and Silver Roc wanted to protect her.

The dying Silver Roc demands Han Tao take Golden Swallow home, so she can't watch Silver Roc die. But, it's okay for Mei to hang around for the final curtain. Silver Roc hangs on to kill off a few more baddies before doing his version of James Cagney's "Made it Ma. Top of the World" from White Heat.

Golden Swallow and Mei bury Silver Roc between Golden Swallow's and Han Tao's homes. Yeah, that wouldn't be an issue for any man. Han Tao packs up and announces he's leaving - a good choice. He assures Golden Swallow they'll never meet again - also a good choice.

This is not a good Jimmy Yu Wang movie. It is, a great fight film. If you like checking out Shaw Brothers' actor in their younger days, this is one to watch. Otherwise, skip it.

Chang Cheh takes over the reins from King Hu in this COME DRINK WITH ME follow-up. As usual with Cheh, Cheng Pei Pei is severely underutilised and the main thrust of the plot seems to be in the rivalry between arrogant killer Jimmy Wang Yu and the more sensitive chilvarous knight Lo Lieh. This film is spoilt by the slow love triangle scenes, which feel largely mannered and staged, but it's better elsewhere and Cheh seems to be pushing the boundaries with viciousness here - there's an incredible scene with Mars and Ku Feng and a torture chamber interlude that takes it to the max. The action is fun, with inventive camera angles throughout, but not a patch on what Cheh would achieve in the years to come.

Touted as the sequel to King Hu's Come Drink With Me starring Cheng Pei Pei, this movie is anything but. Except for the return of Pei Pei's Golden Swallow role, Chang Cheh's movie doesn't share any similarities with King Hu's original, clearly stamping his own take on his movie utilizing the lead character from Come Drink With Me, and relegating her to supporting role status.

As a fan of the original, this is downright disappointing, as I had expected to see Pei Pei kick some serious rear again as the fabled swordswoman. Instead, what we get is a story involving a love triangle of sorts, with costars Lo Lieh as Golden Whip Han Tao, a man who saved Golden Swallow from bandits and nursed her back to health, and Wang Yu as a beau from long time ago, who now calls himself The Silver Roc. The Drunken Cat, with whom Golden Swallow rode into the sunset with, is clearly forgotten and totally written out.

In actuality, this movie can be renamed The Silver Roc. The story centers on this figure, an orphan bearing a scar on the forehead similar to Harry Potter's, and is one of the fellow disciples to Golden Swallow's teachers. Disappearing one night to seek revenge on his family's murderers, he resurfaces to look for Golden Swallow, and does so by killing villains in her name, in an attempt to lure her out of seclusion. Being the self-proclaimed number one swordsman with an attitude helps too, and not before long, our trio will meet, with Golden Swallow being indecisive about both alpha males, that they have to duke it out to settle scores.

In Chang Cheh's signature ketchup blood style, this movie doesn't lack in the gore department, with really bloody scenarios, dismembered bodies, slashes to face and an inspiration to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, albeit done in a more straightforward manner. But some of the kung fu moves seemed recycled from One Armed Swordsman, especially Wang Yu's Silver Roc, who holds his sword akimbo similar to his One Armed days. And his much revered "Coup De Grace" killer move was never seen until the finale, and that too was too weakly executed and laughable. I wondered too about numerous scenes where characters liked to leap out of windows, clearly to a mat at the bottom, out of the screen. But one thing's a bonus, and that's having plenty of outdoor shots versus indoor studio ones, which boosts production values a little.

Still, it's a decent martial arts flick, but one which could have been miles better. With Wang Yu hogging too much of the limelight with his character in this movie, it suffers by neglecting the other leading characters by Lo Lieh, and especially Cheng Pei Pei, because the movie, after all, is named after her Golden Swallow, or in the original English title, it's the Girl with the Thunderbolt Kick (apparently it's a misnomer, she doesn't have that skill, nor executed any recognizable kicking moves).

If anything, watch out for a young Wu Ma as Hu Zhen, a supporting character and friend of Golden Swallow and Han Tao. Nothing memorable, but just a getting a kick out of recognizing a star (to me at least) in his earlier youthful looking days.