This review post is dedicated to another Shaw Brothers flick, one that dips into Chinese mythology, "Na Cha The Great" with treasured Hong Kong idol Alexander Fu Sheng in the title role. This is one of the vehicles that saw Fu Sheng rise in stardom and earn a big share of Shaw's profits in the mid 1970's.
The basic story is a re-telling of how the ancient Chinese deity
Na Cha came into existence. Na Cha(Fu Sheng) is the mischievous,
irreverent son of a major warlord in the heavens who likes to
sneak out of his Taoist lessons and roam the earth among the
humans. At first, he's unaware of the people's suffering under
corrupt rule and the heinous deeds of other gods, mainly two
nephews of Lord Ao-Guang, king of the seas. When Na Cha finally
has had enough of the injustice, he takes action and kills the
two evil gods. Unfortunately, Ao-Guang is outraged and threatens
to destroy the village and townspeople Na Cha has befriended
unless Na Cha takes his own life as penance. Na Cha does so
and is revered as a real hero. He also becomes reborn as a god
of justice, complete with the Fire Wheel to fight not only
Ao-Guang, but his own father.
"Na Cha The Great" overall is a decent flick, not a particularly
standout one. For a noble god in the making, Na cha seems to
be a straight up stumblebum. Some of the special effects can
be a bit cheesy, like the fight beneath the ocean. You can
tell they shot that in front of some gigantic lobster tank
somewhere. The plot is uneven, and the storytelling is sparse.
Chang Cheh was concerned about the action, and that is part of
the movie's saving grace. Fu Sheng's fight scenes are crisp,
and the final fights he has are epic. The special effects as
far as his Fire Spade and Flying wheels will get you hyped.
'Na Cha The Great' isn't really a must see, but one you should
check if you're an Alexander Fu Sheng fan.
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