The first Hong Kong film to make HK$1 million at the box office, this movie make a star of Jimmy Wang, who plays Fang Kang. He’s a poor boy who has been trained by Qi Ru Feng (Tien Feng) after his father, the servant Fang Chang (Ku Feng) gave his life to save the master. To get past the guilt that he feels, Qi Ru Feng has been teaching the boy. However, he can’t escape the other students, who abuse him because he’s an orphan with no money. It gets so bad that he leaves the school and when his master’s daughter Pei Er (Angela Pan) tries to stop him, they have a sword battle that causes her to cut off his right arm. He falls off a bridge to what should be his death, but he is saved by Xiao Man (Lisa Chiao Chiao).

As she brings him back to health, they fall in love. He remains depressed, however, that he can no longer fight. She finds a martial arts manual that teaches him a new style that no one can defend against, using his one arm.

Back in the martial world, the master is celebrating his birthday and has invited all of his students, as he plans to choose a successor. However, Long-Armed Devil (Yeung Chi-hing ) and the Smiling Tiger Cheng Tian Shou (Tang Ti) have turned this into an opportunity to murder everyone.

Despite the promise to Xio Man, our hero re-enters the martial world to save his master. Nearly every student is already dead and the master is wounded, but with just one arm, Fang Kang is triumphant. Yet instead of taking back the school, he returns back to his small farm.

Chang Cheh went on to great fame, as did Shaw Brothers, after this film. As for Jimmy Wang, he would play several other one-armed characters in films such as Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman, Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, One-Armed Boxer, that film’s sequel Master of the Flying Guillotine, One-Armed Swordsman Against Nine Killers and One Armed Swordsmen, which he co-directed and co-starred in with David Chiang, both playing one-armed killers. Yes, Jimmy Wang could beat you up with one arm literally tied behind his back.

To announce the new era of wuxia, Chang Cheh and Jimmy Wang made a hero so resilient that even losing the appendage that enabled him to be so dangerous can’t stop him. Everyone else had to catch up.

The Arrow Video Shaw Scope Volume Three box set has a brand new 4K restoration of The One-Armed Swordsman as well as commentary by David West, author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film; a newly filmed appreciation of the One-Armed Swordsman series by film critic and historian Tony Rayns; interviews with Wang Yu, Chiao Chiao and Ku Feng as well as Daniel Lee, who directed the remake; an appreciation of director Chang Cheh’s work by film historian Sam Ho; One-Armed Side Hustles, a brand new video essay by Brandon Bentley on Wang Yu’s career playing amputee protagonists; theatrical trailers and trailers for other films by Chang Cheh films.

You can get this set from MVD.