Verdict
Summary
A mystical quest type of adventure film with some solid fisticuffs and martial arts thrown around to keep things lively, The Angry River works well as an early vehicle for star Mao, whose character is mostly powerless and without skills until the last few minutes of the film. Sammo Hung (with bleached blonde hair or a wig) shows up as a villain and also choreographed the fights. With some wild creatures (a dragon man shows up in the underworld), special effects at opportune moments, and a pretty fleet pace keep this one spry.
Plot:
A woman seeks out an antidote to cure her poisoned father.
Review:
Lan Feng (Angela Mao) has no hope of curing her father, who has been poisoned, along with all of the other male members of her family, except to seek out a mystical antidote, procured in a land far away, lorded over by a mystic who keeps his sacred cure for only the most worthy to receive it. When she arrives after a long journey, she must prove to the mystic that she is more worthy than others who’ve come with the same mission, and when he finally does grant her the antidote (which is encased in a small vial), she must venture to the underworld and cross “an angry river” to escape an assassin who has travelled on her trail to kill her and steal the cure. So valuable is the cure that it not only heals all wounds, but it also grants unlimited martial arts power in a rush through the bloodstream and consciousness, making he (or she) who consumed it invincible. Escaping the underworld and dodging the assassin, Lan Feng ends up in a village where she befriends a “young hero” (as he’s billed) who joins her cause to protect her and her priceless cure so that she can travel back home to cure her father. By the time she returns home, her father has already died, and so with vengeance and righteous rage in her heart, she takes the antidote … and becomes an invincible avenger.
A mystical quest type of adventure film with some solid fisticuffs and martial arts thrown around to keep things lively, The Angry River works well as an early vehicle for star Mao, whose character is mostly powerless and without skills until the last few minutes of the film. Sammo Hung (with bleached blonde hair or a wig) shows up as a villain and also choreographed the fights. With some wild creatures (a dragon man shows up in the underworld), special effects at opportune moments, and a pretty fleet pace keep this one spry. From director Huang Feng.
88 Films brings The Angry River to Blu-ray for the first time, and it looks pretty fantastic in a new 2K restoration. Special features are aplenty, with a slipcover (limited edition only), an audio commentary, an image gallery, and more.