The One-Armed Swordsman
The One-Armed Swordsman is a 1967 film from Hong Kong, directed by Chang Cheh, running 115 minutes. reelscum files it under martial arts.
- Year
- 1967 · 1960s films
- Country
- Hong Kong
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Director
- Chang Cheh
- Updated
- 29 Oct 2026
- Obscurity
- cult (35/100)
- Also known as
- The One-Armed Swordsman
Defined in the glossary: Martial arts
The film that made Shaw Brothers switch to male leads and stay there.
The film that made Shaw Brothers switch to male leads and stay there for a decade. A swordsman loses his arm to his master's spoiled daughter, retreats into obscurity, and must return to defend the school that maimed him, fighting with a broken blade and one hand.
Chang Cheh's tale of wounded masculinity and loyalty was a huge hit and set the template for the studio's heroic-bloodshed cinema. Jimmy Wang Yu became a star. The one-armed hero became an archetype copied for years.
Foundational wuxia, and the start of an era.
Trailer
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