Legendary Weapons of China (1982)
1982 film by Lau Kar-leung
- Released
- 1982
- Country
- Hong Kong
- Language
- Cantonese
- Genre
- Kung fu film
- Director
- Lau Kar-leung
- Screenplay
- Lau Kar-leung
- Producer
- Mona Fong
- Starring
- Kara Wai, Lau Kar-leung
- Running time
- 109 minutes
- Production company
- Shaw Brothers Studio
- Distributor
- Shaw Brothers Studio, Netflix
- Set in
- Qing dynasty
Legendary Weapons of China (Chinese: 十八般武藝; pinyin: shí bā bān wǔ yì; Jyutping: sap6 baat3 bun1 mou5 ngai6, lit. 'Eighteen Martial Ways'; a.k.a. Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu) is a 1982 martial arts wuxia film or wuxia pian directed by Liu Chia-liang. It takes place during the late Qing Dynasty when Empress Dowager Cixi dispatches her agents to various factions of the Boxer Rebellion in order to find supernatural martial artists that are invulnerable to western bullets. When one of the leaders of these groups disbands his forces, assassins from the remaining factions are sent out to kill him for his apparent treason. As the title of the film suggests, a great variety of fights take place involving the "legendary weapons."
Although Liu Chia-liang is known for showing "real Kung-Fu" in his films, he does take some artistic license by incorporating elements of Taoist Maoshan folk magic with hand-to-hand combat. This is similar to what he did in another of film of his, Heroes of the East (or Challenge of the Ninja).
More films directed by Lau Kar-leung
- Deadly Strike 1973
- Challenge of the Masters 1976
- Executioners from Shaolin 1977
- The 36th Chamber of Shaolin 1978
- Heroes of the East 1978
- Shaolin Mantis 1978
- Dirty Ho 1979
- Mad Monkey Kung Fu 1979
- Return to the 36th Chamber 1980
- Martial Club 1981
- My Young Auntie 1981
- Cat vs. Rat 1982
- The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter 1984
- Martial Arts of Shaolin 1986
- Tiger on Beat 1988
- Aces Go Places 5: The Terracotta Hit 1989
- Drunken Master II 1994
- Drunken Master III 1994
- Drunken Monkey 2003
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q3230308 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.