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Cast:
Carter
Wong
Jack
Long
Mark
Long
Lo
Lieh
Action:
Yuen
Woo Ping
Producer:
Joseph
Kuo
Director:
Joseph
Kuo
Score:
 
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BORN
INVINCIBLE
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1978 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
When
a local kung-fu school come to the rescue of an elderly
stranger and his daughter, little do they realise the series
of events that will be put into motion. The school's master
sees off the challenges of the two weapon-wielding killers
that have been sent to kill the old man, but they limp off to
their own clan to gain assistance from their deadly teachers.
Unfortunately for the righteous heroes, these teachers are two
of the most feared warriors in the land; one is a slippery
fighter with a deadly tonfa and the other is a fearsome master
of Chi Kung which makes him practically unbeatable. These two
adversaries wreak havoc and makes sure that they not only get
their original target, but also finish off the defending
master. Left with their school disbanded and the threat of
being discovered looming over them, the remaining students
train constantly in an attempt to take revenge against their
foes. The Chi Kung master has only one weak spot though and to
find out where it is will certainly not be easy.
'Born
Invincible' contains what many consider to be Carter Wong's
strongest performance; playing the crazed Chi Kung master,
Wong enjoys every minute of his scenery chewing role. Yet
again, Joseph Kuo shows how a little imagination in the
department of antagonists always adds a fresh appeal to
independent features. Kuo adds to this larger-than-life
character by giving the viewer plenty of fight action to
savour and making it original to boot. Legendary choreographer
Yuen Woo Ping makes sure that this particular quality is
emphasised throughout the course of the film. 'Born
Invincible' is far from flawless though and there are reasons
why it doesn't quite reach its potential. Foremost among these
is the pace - the story moves along too quickly! This is not a
common criticism of kung-fu genre, but in this instance the
viewer is barraged by a series of events that happen with
little exposition. A familiar pattern soon emerges: hero
mentions training; hero is seen to train for a minute or so;
hero immediately meets up with intended foe. By the time the
hour mark is passed and variations of this formula occur, the
viewer is left with barely enough time to take these events
in. It's also fair to say that Kuo shoots himself in the foot
by creating such an impressive villain and then trying to find
an effective way to defeat him, something which isn't well
achieved. Nonetheless this is still worth catching and, due to
its short running time, it doesn't have the chance to outstay
its welcome.
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