Leofwine_draca THE INVINCIBLE ARMOUR is a solid piece of period fu that doesn't disappoint when it comes to hard-hitting fight action. The storyline is some needlessly convoluted thing that draws in various sub-plots, the most prominent of which involves a man who is framed for murder and must fight to clear his name while the authorities pursue him. As is usual for this period of kung fu, the heroes are all Ming patriots fighting for their country's dynasty.The complexities of the narrative pale in comparison to the martial arts involved, which is rather complex. There are no less than three styles studied in-depth here: the titular 'iron armour', which renders the human body impervious to strikes; the 'iron finger' strike, which has the power to combat the 'iron armour' technique, and the 'eagle claw' strike, which is just all-round deadly.The producers in Hong Kong headed to Taiwan to shoot this on the cheap, but cheap production values mean that they could afford to put a whole host of Hong Kong talent up on the screen. Not least of these is the immortal Hwang Jang Lee as the villain; hidden behind his long white hair and beard, Lee remains as deadly as ever and never disappoints in the fighting stakes. I love the sinister music that accompanies his character wherever he goes (elsewhere, the soundtrack of the spaghetti western DAY OF ANGER is ripped off extensively). John Liu is acceptable as the upstanding young hero out for justice, but the supporting cast is even better. We get Phillip Ko as another long-haired master, while Corey Yuen and Yuen Biao team up for cameos as an assassin pair.The fight action is hugely entertaining and the strikes are all hard-hitting and convincingly staged. As is usual for these films, the action gets better and better as the running time progresses, finishing with a furious final bout. Yuen Woo-ping worked on the choreography, and it shows. Hard-working director/producer Ng See-Yuen has also handled GAME OF DEATH 2 and THE SECRET RIVALS during his lengthy and illustrious career.

poe426 In the prologue to THE INVINCIBLE ARMOR, we're told that "Iron Armor is the most mysterious of all kung fu techniques." The only flaw: there's ALWAYS one vulnerable point- "the breath gate." The Eagle Claw is another deadly technique. General Chow (John Liu) sees Hu Loong (Hoi) fight off several attackers and is impressed enough to introduce Loong to Mr. Lu, who's "looking for suitable warriors" to aid him in his political aims. During a friendly sparring match, Loong kills Lu and leaves Chow to be caught literally red-handed over the body. Chow escapes the authorities, being careful not to injure his pursuers. Shen Yu is summoned to capture Chow; Chow, meanwhile, uses his superior skills to fend off pretty much everyone he runs into (Liu is an excellent kicker, and some of the fight scenes are great because of this). He catches up to Hu, but Shen and Minister Cheng interfere and Hu escapes. Chow befriends a boy and his sister, the beautiful Shi Lan, and the boy teaches Chow the Iron Armor technique- and the Iron Finger technique, to overcome it. When Shen talks Chow into surrendering, Che Yuan shows up. He wants to behead Chow because "his head is easier to carry." (Makes sense to me...) When we finally see the robotic, stiff-legged advance of Minister Cheng (employing the Iron Armor technique), it's a genuinely scary moment: he actually LOOKS invincible. INVINCIBLE ARMOR is most definitely worth a look.

InjunNose Those elaborate, Shaw Brothers-style period costumes just don't work against a Poverty Row background like the one we see in "Invincible Armor", but hell...why quibble? Hwang Jang Lee and John Liu, two of the top three kickers in the business (the third being Delon Tam, Liu's instructor), tear up the screen in this film and that's what counts. My only complaint about the fight scenes is that there were too many distracting, split-second shots of shattered eggs every time someone attacked what they thought was Hwang's vulnerable point (his testicles, naturally). Just concentrate on the action, guys, please! Otherwise, this is a fun, straightforward flick that you'll enjoy if Hong Kong kung fu cinema is your thing.

Hussain Abdullah (thelostdragon) This is my favourite 70's Kung Fu-movie. Hwang Jang Lee might not get to kick around as he could have, but who cares? The fights are so well choreographed, that you are going to love it. The soundtrack is wonderful. As a sidenote, I should mention, that it has been borrowed (or rather said stolen) from an Italo Western called "I Giorni dell´Ira" starring Lee Van Cleef and Giuliano Gemma. Every self-respecting Ng See Yuen-fan should have watched that movie.