This 1976 martial arts actioner was produced by Golden Harvest, not Shaw Brothers, and the difference is noticeable in its meandering, listless plot interrupted by far too little action. It also trumpets a lead performance by the legendary Angela Mao, but her role is so minimal that she’s little more than a supporting actress. Instead, the film revolves around the palace intrigue of bad guy Kao Chu’s (Sing Chen) attempts to parlay his sliver of the empire into total control. He’s opposed by our hero, Hsu Chin Kang (Tao-Liang Tan), a lowly commoner in love with the regal Tseng Ching Lam (Mao).
Buy The HimalayanKao’s evil machinations begin in the opening sequence, where his weak younger brother is betrothed to the virtuous Tseng, instantly granting Kao some influence in the kingdom. When he realizes his brother isn’t up to the task of assisting his power moves, he hires goons to ambush and kill him, replacing him with a doppelganger under his control. He also frames Tseng for adultery, eliminating her ability to interfere and shuffling her off to exile in the country. It’s there that the also-framed Hsu reconnects with Tseng as they team up to learn the ancient secrets of a rare branch of kung fu in the hopes of returning to the palace to topple Kao.
When the action scenes sporadically occur, they’re well staged and choreographed thanks to the involvement of Sammo Hung, who also pops up in a small role. The film is littered with other kung fu luminaries as well, including Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Corey Yuen, but very far in the background in blink-and-you’ll-miss-’em appearances with no lines of dialogue. There’s one particularly scenic fight high up the steps of a mountain temple, and the film benefits from staging most of the other action outside amongst the stunning backdrop of Nepal. Mao finally gets called into action in the final showdown, but only as backup to Hsu as the primary opponent to the muscle-bound Chen. There’s just not enough story or action for its nearly two-hour runtime, making for an average effort overall.
On the upside, the new 2K restoration is fantastic, sourced from the original negative and color corrected to make the Himalayan vistas shine. Colors are rich and vibrant, no noticeable debris is present, with the pristine presentation only briefly marred by an odd faded-out effect on the left side of the picture in two early scenes. Sound is also crisp and clear, and the subtitles are well done. Bonus features are included, in the form of a commentary track by Asian film experts, a recent 10-minute interview with Tan where he reminisces about the shoot, an image gallery, and the original trailer. 88 Films further sweetens the deal with a large double-sided foldout poster included in the case, a slipcase, a reversible sleeve, and their unique smoke-colored case that looks closer to a 4K package than Blu-ray.
