The flying guillotine is simultaneously the coolest and most
absurd weapon in movie history. It is
essentially a bladed hat attached to a length of chain. Its wielder throws it at the intended
target. As It then lands on the targets
head, the bottom half telescopes down around the neck. The blades that line the lip of the bottom
half then close around the neck like a bladed iris diaphragm. One yank of the chain by the operator, and
the target is cleanly decapitated. As grisly
as that may sound, the visual is absolutely hilarious when accompanied by unbelievable
FX. Did I mention that when it is flying
through the air, the flying guillotine sounds like a bullet ricocheting of a
rock in an old western? Little touches like that made Jimmy Wang Yu’s
chop-socky gem Master of the Flying
Guillotine a joy to be behold.
A remake of Master of
the Flying Guillotine is indeed an intriguing prospect, though it will
surely be weighed down with excessive CGI (Especially when considering how low
tech the weapon in question is). Producer
Peter Chan certainly thinks so, which is why he has weathered one setback after
another to bring The Guillotines to
the screen. What started out as a mere
remake has morphed into something considerably bigger.
The Guillotines
focuses on the fabled Guillotines. They
are an elite group of warriors, each highly proficient with the weapon their
squad is named after. Under the rule of Emperor
Yong Zheng, they tirelessly served the Manchurian-ruled Qing Dynasty as
assassins. However, Emperor Qian Long means to usher in a
new age, as he is quite taken with the weapons and technology of the western
world. Still, he continues using the
Guillotines as something of death squad, ensuring that his reign goes
unchallenged.
The Guillotines are charged with apprehending the infamous
Wolf and his Shepherd Gang. Their
mission ends in failure, resulting in the capture of their leader. Seizing the opportunity, Emperor Qian dispatches
Agent Du to dispose of both the Wolf and the Guillotine Squad. The demise of the Guillotines will allow firearms
to proliferate under the rule of Emperor Qian.
The premise of the film makes it sound like a
deconstructionist chop-socky. Shaw
Brothers by way of Sam Peckinpah’s The
Wild Bunch. Amidst a changing
landscape and evolving technology, a group of warriors find themselves without
use or purpose in the new regime. Forced
to either adapt or die, they face the onslaught head on. In the right hands that could be one hell of
a movie.
Good stuff, Scott! Although I think this is more a remake of the Shaw's THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (1975) which Wang Yu ripped off for his poverty row version. It seemed ever since Shaw sued him in the early 70s, he was content with ripping off their hits like BOXER FROM SHANTUNG and CC's Shaolin series as well as Cheh's own OAS films. Did you see Shaw's own rip off of FLYING GUILLOTINE called DRAGON MISSILE (1976)? What was even funnier about that one was that Ho Meng Hua directed it so it was like he was ripping himself off, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I never saw DRAGON MISSLE, mostly because I always found FLYING GUILLOTINE (1975) to be very boring. I may have tocheck it out now, per your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI reviewed both FLYING GUILLOTINE 1 and 2 as well as DRAGON MISSILE (1976) and the trashy FG semi sequel THE VENGEFUL BEAUTY (1978) if you're interested in getting a gander at what they look like. There's also some photos from old magazines and lobby sets accompanying the write ups.
ReplyDeleteThe first two official FG movies are coming out here next month I think from Dragon Dynasty. There was a cool poster for the new movie some time back that showed a long line of people with their heads removed. I think I made a note of it in the Assorted Bits and Pieces section last year, maybe?