Don’t let those colored backgrounds fool you one bit. The cast - or half of it - might stand stoically as the credits roll in the beginning of Life Gamble, but this wuxia feels a bit odd after that. This film’s action is slow to boil, saving the best bits - which involve a parade of flags flying high against the brilliant blue of the sky before a spray of blood stains them forever - for the excellent finale. This one, which is indeed a film about gathering a whole lot of people in one place, is for die-hards of the genre and it should probably be avoided until a deeper understanding of martial arts films is acquired.
That’s not to say the film is bad; it is anything but that. The production values are there. The cast is incredible, and they all give great performances. The problem is that this film - full of really crooked backstabbers all trying to get their hands on a stolen jade nugget - is so dense in its development that it partly comes across as pure chaos . . . until the dust settles and we finally have a familiar plot that we can follow.
Written and directed by the one and only Chang Cheh, Life Gamble is yet another martial arts film with high production values, but it truly doesn’t come into its own until it busts outside of the Movietown soundstages of the Shaw Brothers and incorporates some outside hill battles in its finale. The rest is just one long doublecross after doublecross as members of the venom mob (Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Philip Kwok, Sun Chien, Lo Mang, and Wai Pak), along with Kara Hui, Lin Chen-Chi, Kuo Chui and Alexander Fu Sheng, all trade words and wounds while trying to grab hold of that marvelous piece of jade worth a mighty amount of silver taels.
The complexity of the narrative arrives with all of the characters, who just can’t be trusted, arriving outside of a blacksmith’s shoppe. This journey is packed with liars, cheats, ex-lovers, and thieves and none of them are reliable, literally stabbing each other in the back while cutting off the hands of their friends. While the actual story is straightforward - which is why you should stay with it - the backstories, as all these old rivalries meet and open new wounds, could fill a dozen novels.
Thankfully, the wonderful action scenes - choreographed by Leung Ting, Lu Feng, and Robert Tai Chi-Hsien - are pretty unique as each character has their own unique style and weapon of choice with which to bring the ruckus. This element helps to bring together all the performances - which are quite good in spite of the dense plot - and help audiences develop a bit of emotion as the tension mounts.
Adapted from a novel by Taiwanese author Zhu Yu, Life Gamble is now on blu-ray thanks to Shout Factory’s release of the Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol 3, a box set comprising of 11 classic martial arts films from the famous Shaw Brothers' library, featuring some of their greatest stars – Alexander Fu Sheng (The Brave Archer), Lo Lieh (King Boxer), Ti Lung (A Better Tomorrow), David Chiang (The Boxer Of Shantung) and The Deadly Venoms! Many of these films are debuting for the first time on Blu-ray.
While it feels lost and confusing in the beginning, Life Gamble has a big pay off which makes it worth sticking with.
Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - October 24, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; 11-discset
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
Legendary director Chang Cheh teamed his latest big star, Alexander Fu Sheng, with future Venoms Lo Meng and Kuo Chue to create another winner in his vaunted filmography. Joining them were top supporting actors Ku Feng and Wang Lung-wei and actresses Lin Chen-chi, Shirley Yu, and Hui Ying-hung. Together, they weave an entertaining, exciting tale of a kung fu blacksmith taking on four famous robbers while a villainous gambling boss plots to destroy them.
Video
Life Gamble is beautifully presented from Shout Factory. In fact, the film looks more glorious than ever. Interiors are strong. Colors pop throughout, but it is the blood effects - burning bright in the transfer - which seal the deal on this one. It has a solid atmosphere thanks to the quick-footed script and looks visually eye-popping due to the handling of the digital camera. Black levels are strong throughout, bringing out nice details in both the loud and quiet moments of this epic adventure. Even the costumes are noted stitch by stitch.
Audio
Both a Mandarin Mono and English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio track is included. These tracks are accompanied with new subtitle translations in English.
Supplements:
Complete with brand-new artwork from R. P. Kung Fu Bob O’Briwn, 88 Films provides fans some solid supplemental entertainment which highlights the efforts of the filmmakers.
Commentary:
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See Special Features for the complete breakdown.
Special Features:
James Mudge tries to clear up the muddy first hour with his solid commentary. Other than that, there are only one trailer
- NEW Audio Commentary With James Mudge, Veteran Hong Kong Film Critic At easternKicks
- Celestial Trailer
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Composite Blu-ray Grade
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MPAA Rating: PG-13.
Runtime: 96 mins
Director: Cheh Chang
Writer: Cheh Chang; Kuang Ni
Cast: Sheng Fu; Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok; Meng Lo
Genre: Action | Drama
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Shaw Brothers
Official Site:
Release Date: February 22, 1979 (Hong Kong)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: October 24, 2023
Synopsis: LIFE GAMBLE is the tale of a simple blacksmith (Kuo Chue) with extraordinary martial-arts skills who is entangled in a life-and-death struggle among swordsmen, thieves, con artists, a smooth dagger-slinger (Fu Sheng), a beautiful seductress (Lin Chen-chi) who can kill with her smile, a servant with a deadly whip, an assassin with a golden hairpin, an iron-fisted villain on a murderous rampage, a ruthless gambler with seemingly unlimited funds, and so many more.
