Mission Impossible (1971)

"It seems you've chosen death"

Shaw Brothers’ Mission Impossible was written and directed by the prolific Joseph Kuo. In many ways it was a typical SB film shot in Taiwan but this story had a nice twist thrown into it.

The 10,000-year-old Golden Dragon Sword has been stolen from the Imperial Palace. Chaos is sure to reign without its magical light. Soldiers, martial artists, bandits, the good, the bad, and the ugly are all desperately searching for a sword so sharp it can wound a person from five steps away. The legendary swordsman Huo Yun Shan wrested the sword from thieves and now has to entrust it to his daughter Huo Xiao Fen. Her mission is to deliver the Golden Dragon to the Prime Minister, protecting it from all evildoers, but especially the Jade Child Xia Zhao. The Jade Child is 130 years old and impervious to most weapons and poisons, he is not someone Huo should tangle with.

Ching Li is one of my favorite female leads in these old martial arts films. Not a martial artist, but could look properly fierce and also vulnerable when the occasion called for it. Chen Hung Lieh had an unbeatable resting bitch face and was nearly always cast as the villain. This role gave him a chance to expand past his trademark snively laugh and sinister smirks. There were plenty of minions with colorful makeup, weapons, and costumes for Huo to cross swords with, played by familiar Taiwanese actors such as Yi Yuan and Tsai Hung.

The swordfight choreography was fairly typical for 1971. Ching Li wore a veil for a few of the more rigorous and acrobatic battles to hide the stuntman underneath. That or she had very masculine hands. There was a lot of light body wire work and trampoline work. Due to Shaw Brothers producing the film, the sets and costumes were higher end and more polished than the usual Taiwanese martial arts fare. The fight scenes weren’t shot in dark forests or at night either. There was even an underwater scene including special effects fish!

Mission Impossible followed a fairly standard format about a lost sword and the desperate need to return it before it caused societal upheaval. And then it wasn’t. The final “fight” was pretty entertaining. As usual, I grade these old kung fu films on a generous scale and in comparison to other similar films.

5 July 2026

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