Poor Ti Lung! Will he ever make it through the films of the 1970s without getting stabbed in the belly, then having to fight on? It doesn't seem likely.

Anonymous Heroes is one of those Shaw Brothers releases that very few people have seen since its initial theatrical release, which has proven to be a real shame. The "Iron Triangle" of Ti Lung, David Chiang, and director Chang Cheh are in prime form here in a film that may not be a classic but sure is a heck of a lot of fun. You know, if people dying by the dozens constitutes your idea of fun.

David Chiang plays an impish con man, which of course he did in about a thousand other movies as well. Ti Lung is his friend, a guy you can't really call a hothead since he always seems to be having such a good time when he starts fights. Along with their female sidekick Pepper, the trio of rascals are recruited to help a revolutionary steal a giant cache of weapons from the local warlord, who like all warlords during this period in Chinese history, has a handlebar moustache. Given the prominence of a train in the film, I was waiting for him to twirl the 'stache and tie Pepper to the tracks. Which might not have been entirely out of place since Anonymous Heroes possesses a very "Western" feel to it, and I mean "Western" as in cowboys and The Wild Bunch. Or Amitabh Bachchan and Sholay.

In fact, comparisons to The Wild Bunch seem especially apt. Both films plant their anti-heroes in a pivotal time when lawlessness is giving way to petty warlords, which are in turn struggling to maintain their power against the rising national tides that would eventually bind the country together. Both have high body counts. Both feature the protagonists outwitting a bunch of soldiers for most of the film. The main difference, besides the clothes of course, is that Anonymous Heroes lacks the emotional punch and bleakness of Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent western. Chaing and Ti Lung are simply too playful for most of the movie for there to be any real emotional impact. Plus, this being a Chang Cheh film written by I Kuang, you have a 99% chance of guessing the eventual fate of the heroes anyway. Our hindsight into this probably saps it of some power as well.

But that doesn't stop it from being tremendously enjoyable. Ti Lung and David Chiang shine with charisma, and even during some of the more contrived scenes (it sure is easy to steal 3000 guns from the army), their charm will win you over. The action consists mainly of our two heroes fighting a hundred people at once while Pepper stands in the corner and shoots the occasional officer (which is more than most women in a Chang Cheh film get to do). As is often the case with these films, the set-up makes it easy to suspend your disbelief and just go with the flow. It doesn't matter that "this would never happen in real life." You want to watch a movie full of things that could happen in real life? A movie full of people making Hot Pockets and filling out tax forms? Be my guest. I'm much happier watching David Chiang and Ti Lung fend of entire regiments while armed with nothing more than a pistol, fists, and some hats they can continuously flip on and off their heads to look cool.