Ahh, the Venom Clan, they are my muse when it comes to martial arts cinema. Today we look at one of their most successful gatherings, The Magnificent Ruffians. Featuring all but one member of the troupe, this one does not disappoint!
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The Plot: Mr. Yuan (Lu Feng) is a businessman from a very successful family, but he desperately holds onto his family’s legendary tales of martial prowess. The Golden Sword is a sword made famous by the Yuan family before the Qing dynasty, and it is now in possession of this youngest Yuan heir apparent. With his absurd wealth, he has taken advantage of the tough times that have befallen his province. He regularly contacts any and all local martial artists that enter his province, so that he may challenge them for his own personal amusement. Being the cruel dictator that he is, he of course kills them all. The Guan family owns a Wu Wei Security Service that has unfortunately fallen upon bad times due to the changing world around them. The youngest Guan family member Ah Yun (Lo Meng), who has inherited the firm, is a stubborn young man. When Yuan decides that he wants to buy Ah Yun Guan’s security business, in order to acquire the property because of its fantastic location between two other properties that Yuan already owns, trouble begins to brew. At a local restaurant nearby, Feng Jia ji (Sun Chien) Zeng, and He Fei (Chiang Sheng) rest and relax while eating noodles. They are very poor and unable to pay for their meals, so they leave Feng Jia Ji behind in order to receive a beating by the cooks. Yang Zhua Feng (Phillip Kwok) is another down on his luck martial artist who steps up in order to save Feng Jia Ji. All martial artists refuse to take a free meal, however, and usually accept their beatings if it proves to be reasonable. When He Fei, Feng Jia Ji and Zeng all stumble upon a restaurant that refuses to beat them, they are intrigued. it seems that the restaurant is owned by Yuan, and he uses it as a tool for finding local martial artists. As the film boils to a pitch, it is only a matter of time before the Guan family and these starving martial artists meet up with Yuan in a battle of good vs. evil. |