All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard (1993)

July 24, 2018

All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard is a 90’s wuxia movie that somehow flew right under my radar until this year.  90’s wuxia is what cemented my love of the genre and with such a cast I’m amazed I’ve not heard of it before now.  Tony Leung Ka-fai (a.k.a. Big Tony so as not to be confused with Tony Leung Chiu-wai of Hero fame), Joey Wong, and Elvis Tsui are some of the most iconic 90’s wuxia stars and I’m a bit upset that it has taken me this long to see the film.  It wasn’t easy to get a hold of and I ended up having to order it from over seas.

All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard  is everything you would expect out of a 90’s ‘New Wave’ wuxia films.  I definitely rate this right up with New Dragon Inn for story and action with just a splash of comedy. Plenty of explosions, flying, and some odd weaponry. Along with that you have some great actors and guest stars  (Legendary Wu Ma). King Lee King-Chu is the Action Director who choreographed Legendary Weapons of China, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, and Disciples of the 36th Chamber.  The director, Billy Chan Wui-Ngai, is no novice either, having played extras in many classic Shaw Brother films and Action Director for quite a few Sammo Hung movies. This is the only film I’ve seen of his that he has directed but I am suitably impressed.

All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard is based off of ‘The Water Margin’ also known as ‘Outlaws of the Marsh’. I would call it loosely based off the novel. So if you are a purist fan of the books you may not like what you see. If you don’t care then you are in for a real treat as All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard  will keep you entertained for all 97 minutes! I really enjoyed the film.

I bought my DVD as it was advertised as a Tai Seng release, which it was not.  The one I purchased is the Mei Ah release that had a Tai Seng sticker on the case.  The Mei Ah release is grainy picture quality and embedded Chinese & English Subtitles that are pure white which are impossible to read when the scene is a bright blue sky or anything of a light colour really. It is letterbox and sometime the English Subtitles were partially cut off as well. I’ve not seen the Tai Seng release but if you have the option I’d go with Tai Seng as they normally border their subtitles with black so they can always be read.

Mei Ah release uses the title All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard,  Tai Seng can be found with that same title or Water Margin : The True Colors of Heroes

Tony Leung Ka-fai (Dragon Inn, Flying Dagger, Bodyguards and Assassins, Ashes of Time) as Lam Chung (Lin Chung)
Joey Wong (A Chinese Ghost Story 1-3, Painted Skin, Green Snake, The East Is Red) as Lam Chung’s wife (Lin Chung’s wife)
Elvis Tsui (Shaolin and Wu Tang, Return of the Bastard Swordsman, Dragon Inn, Deadful Melody, The Duel) as Lo Chi-sam (Ru Chi-Shen)
Sean Lau (The Smiling, Proud Wanderer (1984 tv series), Call of Heroes) as Sau Ng (Tso Wu) Lam Chung’s second sworn brother
Lam Wai (Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, The Brave Archer Part III, The Monks From Shaolin) as Luk Him (Lu Chien)
Lau Shun (A Chinese Ghost Story II, Once Upon a Time in China, The Legend of Zu) as Ko Chau (Kao the elder)
Pal Sinn (The Iceman Cometh, City Hunter) as Ko Nga-noi (Kao the younger)
Austin Wai (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Full Moon Scimitar, The Blade) as Flying Tiger (cameo)
Wu Ma (Kung-Fu of Eight Drunkards, All Men Are Brothers, A Chinese Ghost Story, Painted Skin) as Prime Minister
Tai Po (Enter the Dragon, Taoism Drunkard, The Sword Stained with Royal Blood) as Ko Nga-noi’s henchmen

Love HK Film review

TV adaptions of Water Margin

• The Water Margin (1973) 26 episodes
• Outlaws of the Marsh (1983) 40 episodes
•  The Water Margin (1998) 43 episodes
• All Men are Brothers (2011) 86 episodes

Films based on Water Margin

• The Water Margin (1972)
• Delightful Forest (1972)
• Pursuit (1972)
• All Men Are Brothers (1975)
• Tiger Killer (1982)
• All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard  (a.k.a. Water Margin: True Colours of Heroes (1993))
• Troublesome Night 16 (2002) spoof
• Just Another Margin (2014) spoof