Thanks for bringing the film’s remake status to my attention, Paul. I’ll try to track down a copy of ‘Secret Service of the Imperial Court.’ It sounds like I’d probably enjoy it more than I did Daniel Lee’s film.

And I gotta say I feel embarrassed for failing to recognize Chen Kuan Tai. After rewatching the scene I can see that it’s clearly him, but it never clicked on first viewing.

Thanks for the film recommendations! I’ve added the ‘Secret Service of the Imperial Court’ and ‘The Magic Blade’ to my ever-growing watch list.

I’m actually a pretty big fan of ‘Black Mask’ (though in the interest of full disclosure, it’s been years since I last watched it), but everything else I’ve seen from Daniel Lee has been abysmal. It kind of amazes me that he continues to get work. What little reputation he has is built solely off the strength of ‘Black Mask’ but nothing he’s done since has lived up to it.

I’m still curious to check out ’14 Blades’ because of Donnie Yen but Lee’s period pieces tend to be interchangeable (‘White Vengeance’ in particular was pretty snooze-worthy).

Good stuff, and forgive me for not mentioning that it was a good review, now knowing that you haven’t seen the movie on which it’s based, it’s interesting to hear the opinion of someone watching it as a stand-alone piece.

‘Secret Service of the Imperial Court’ is one of my favorite Shaw Brothers movies, and for me ’14 Blades’ did the right thing by making the central theme of the story the same, but the circumstances and era surrounding it different. These factors definitely contributed to my enjoyment, and thinking on I think Chen Kuan Tai’s character might possibly be a nod to a similar character who lives in a coffin from the Ti Lung Shaw Brothers movie, ‘The Magic Blade’.

Kyle, if you haven’t seen either of these, they come as highly recommended viewing!

Nice catch Paul. I didn’t know it was a remake either. Kyle had updated his review with some revisions, credited to you.

You haven’t touched on a couple of really interesting points about the movie though. It is in fact a remake of the Shaw Brothers movie ‘Secret Service of the Imperial Court’, which has Leung Kar Yan playing the role that Yen steps into the boots of for the remake. It would have been nice to see some comparisons between the two. & that ‘random assassin who jumps out of a coffin’ is kung fu cinema legend Chen Kuan Tai, the original Boxer from Shantung!