"Heroes from Ancient Times", released in 1983, seems to be the childhood memories of the post-70s collective, and I still remember the tense plot in the film, the intense and realistic martial arts scenes, and the familiar nostalgia brought by old movies is really indescribable.
This film tells the story of a series of thrilling stories that happened along the way in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, when a group of heroic orphans of the "Heaven and Earth Society" were hunted down by the minions of the imperial court. Different from previous kung fu films, this film stars a group of teenage children, bringing a different viewing experience to the audience.
In addition, most of the actors participating in this film are professional martial arts athletes, all of them are extraordinary, steady and sophisticated, such as Ren Gang, Li Dianfang, Lu Li, Cao Kerun, Hu Yilin, all of whom are from the Sichuan martial arts team, and they are all neat.
In addition to the foreshadowing in the first few minutes, the fight scenes continued in the next dozens of minutes, the key is that the fight is particularly exciting, snake fist to tiger fist, dagger double knife to wooden stick, chain gun to flower knife, hammer to long sword, the interpretation is colorful, and the people who watch it are dazzled and addicted.
There are no big stars in this movie, and there are no outstanding special effects, but as soon as the film was released, it had a strong response, and it made Jiuzhaigou, the filming location, famous all over the world. Now more than 40 years have passed since the premiere of the movie, and most of the actors who participated in this film have disappeared from the screen, so let's learn about their stories today!
Little daughter-in-law (Zhang Xiaoyan)
The little daughter-in-law played by Zhang Xiaoyan has strong martial arts, but her temper is hot, and she laughs a lot when she teaches the "big husband". The most impressive thing is her heroic posture with a snake fist to vent her husband's anger, her combination of rigidity and softness, softness, soft and rigid snake fist movements, people who look at it can't bear to look away.
As a martial arts athlete, Zhang Xiaoyan's snake fist style is unique and full of performing artistry.
When the production company selected actors for the Zhejiang Provincial Martial Arts Team through the National Sports Commission, Zhang Xiaoyan had won the national championship for many years in a row.
After retiring from the wushu team, Zhang Xiaoyan chose to go to France, and served as the head coach of the national wushu team in France for 12 consecutive years, training thousands of foreign disciples.
After that, she resigned as the head coach and established the Sino-French Traditional Martial Arts Association in France with her younger brother.
Jiang Child (Xu Meiling)
At the beginning of the film, the big boat tied to the rope could not get out of the river, and several people died in succession but failed to cut the rope of the dock. Jiang Yu rushed to the dock, jumped nimbly, and finally cut this deadly rope, but then she was kicked into the river and her life was uncertain, which led to the main story line of the subsequent escape.
The heroic Jiang child between the eyebrows, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, delicate and handsome facial features, her skills are crisp and neat, which makes people unforgettable, Jiang child is the object of secret admiration of countless friends when they were children. Xu Meiling, who plays Jiang Hao, is from the Zhejiang Wushu team, and she has won the national youth wushu women's championship many times at that time.
After Xu Meiling finished filming this drama, she did not continue to stay in the entertainment industry, she became a martial arts coach, mainly teaching knife techniques and qigong, and also worked as a teacher at Zhejiang Communication University. Now that she is close to the age of sixties, she still looks elegant due to proper maintenance.
Big husband (Hao Yong)
The eldest husband was a stubborn young man from a rich family, because he did not obey discipline, the family married him a daughter-in-law in her twenties, this daughter-in-law was strong in martial arts, and disciplined him very strictly, under the constraints of the daughter-in-law, the husband who lost his freedom ran away from home, which led to the tragic experience of being chased and killed along the road after he joined the Heaven and Earth Society.
This film has a very funny plot, that is, the friends of the Tiandihui who are with the eldest husband have been wanted with a bounty, but the eldest husband is fine, it should be a good thing to be fine, but the eldest husband is very dissatisfied with this matter, and at the same time, he shouted angrily, he is also from the Tiandihui, and it is also worth five thousand taels.
Hao Yong, who plays the eldest husband, is not a martial arts athlete, he is an actor in an acrobatic troupe in Sichuan, and his performance in the film is very attentive, and he is the soul of the whole play.
Don't look at his young age, but Hao Yong's acting skills are smooth and natural, his emotions are free, and he has contracted many laughs in the whole drama by himself, and this role has also brought him quite high popularity.
After becoming famous, he and his little daughter-in-law's actor Zhang Xiaoyan were invited to appear on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala in 1985. Since then, Hao Yong has not been heard from. In 2008, when the leading actors in the film were invited by a program group to reunite, there was no news of him, and it was rumored that he moved to the United States with his family after becoming popular and never came back.
There is also a saying circulating on the Internet that the actor of the eldest husband was found temporarily, he did not go abroad, he was a soldier for a few years as an adult, did not act again, and set up a German animal husbandry farm in Jinan, Shandong, and lived a very good life.
And the originally scheduled big husband actor is called Hao Yong, and it was the person who failed to play the role who went to the United States before the filming of the movie. But everyone knows that the public information that can be found shows that the actor who plays the eldest husband is called Hao Yong, if he was replaced before filming, then why doesn't the name of the latecomer be used in the cast and crew? It seems that the statement of going abroad is more credible.
In response to both claims, since no response has been received from me, the veracity of which needs to be verified. If you have friends who know the truth, please help you make a supplementary explanation in the comment area.
Big Leopard (Xue Jian)
Xue Jian from the Beijing Wushu team played the big leopard, he was only 14 years old when he starred in this film, when it comes to his master Wu Bin, I believe many people know who his fellow brothers are, as everyone thinks, Xue Jian and Wu Jing, Jet Li, Zhao Changjun and others are out of the same school.
After this movie, Xue Jian also acted in a "Shaolin Dream", he did not stay in the film and television industry to develop, when he grew up, he served as the chairman of Beijing Zhongshi Tengfei Film and Television Training School, and lived a very comfortable life, but rarely appeared in public.
Wang Ermao (Daniel Zhang)
As the only son of the chief helmsman of the Heaven and Earth Society, Wang Ermao is smart and witty, able to bend and stretch, he and his eldest husband began to quarrel as soon as they disagreed, bringing a lot of jokes to the audience, and the beginning of the story was started by him.
The riverside wharf of a small city is bustling with fish and dragons, Wang Ermao, as the orphan of the chief helmsman, is being wanted by the government, and notices with his portrait are posted everywhere.
After acting in this play, Daniel Zhang completely faded out of public view. Years later, Daniel Zhang was invited by the movie channel to participate in a talk show, and he appeared in a police uniform that day.
It turned out that he was a police officer serving the people in a patrol special police brigade in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, and many viewers who had not watched this show did not know, thinking that he had not had any news so far.
Little Leopard (Shi Weidong)
Shi Weidong, who plays the little leopard, is from the Sichuan martial arts team, although he is young, his kung fu moves are clear-eyed, and his kung fu foundation is particularly solid. After Shi Weidong finished this play, he returned to the martial arts team. It is rumored that when he grew up, he went abroad, and no more exact news broke about him.
The person who plays the father of the little leopard in the film is actually Shi Weidong's real-life head coach Deng Changli, but there are not many shots of him.
Granny Jiang (Ye Daoqing)
Granny Jiang is strong in martial arts, and led this group of heroic teenagers to beat the five masters of the Great Interior, so that they all went to see the king of Hades one after another. Although the martial arts scenes in the film are constant, they are not bloody at all.
When Granny Jiang was unfortunately killed and washed away by the torrent, the children lay on the river and cried "Mother-in-law, Mother-in-law", which became the most tearful scene in the whole film.
Ye Daoqing, who plays Granny Jiang, a teacher in the martial arts department of Chengdu Sports School, only made a cameo appearance in the film, and after the play, she returned to the school to continue her teaching work. Now she has long since retired and is living a quiet and comfortable life.
Fan Long (Ren Gang)
Fan Long, played by Ren Gang, is one of the five masters of the Qing court, and is good at using Tongbei Fist. Ren Gang from the Sichuan Wushu Team, who has won the national wushu competition Tongbeiquan championship for five consecutive years, is also the captain of the first wushu team, is one of the first batch of martial arts athletes in the mainland, and has performed abroad many times.
Ren Gang returned to the wushu team after acting, served as an assistant coach of the wushu team for several years, and became the head coach of the wushu team in 1988.
In 1995, Ren Gang was named a senior coach, and after that, he served as the head coach of the national team twice in 1996 and 2001, leading the team to win three gold medals and one silver medal in the women's southern boxing, men's long boxing all-around and women's long boxing all-around at the 14th Asian Games.
Today, Ren Gang is already the chairman of the Sichuan Wushu Association, and he is still continuing to cultivate rising stars for the Sichuan martial arts community, and making his own efforts to promote the spirit and culture of Chinese martial arts.
Sima Li (Li Dianfang)
Li Dianfang, who plays Sima Li, is also a famous martial arts master, and his status in the Sichuan martial arts team is equivalent to Zhao Changjun of the Shaanxi team.
Li Dianfang, who plays the flying grass in "Emei Flying Thief" (a man dressed as a woman)
Li Dianfang later entered the Emei Factory as an actor, playing the role of the minister of the Qin Cha in "The Secret History of Blood Drops", playing the grass flying in "Emei Flying Thief", playing Gelbao in "Tongtian Elder", and playing the role of Yi teenager Ergu in "The Legend of Daliang Mountain".
After being an actor for a period of time, Li Dianfang entered the Sichuan Provincial Art Vocational College and began his teaching career.
Gao Ming (Hu Yilin)
Gao Ming is the villain in this movie, and the tiger punches he played in the film are still daunting. The actor of the role, Hu Yilin, is from Chengdu, Sichuan, he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and joined the Sichuan Provincial Wushu team at the age of 7. At the 4th National Games, he and Jet Li both scored high in the sparring events.
This is Hu Yilin's first screen work, and after that, he also participated in many works such as "Desperate Life", "Southern Boxing King", "Bagua Lotus Palm", "The Number One Killer in the East", and most of them played villain roles.
In the end, Hu Yilin chose the field of martial arts teaching, and successively served as the chief coach of the Chinese Fighting Martial Arts School, the chief instructor of the Leshan Giant Buddha Martial Arts School, and the chief martial arts instructor of the Sichuan Youth Federation, and cultivated a large number of outstanding martial arts athletes.
Tie Biao (Xiong Changgui)
Tie Biao stands out with his unique outfit, wearing a red sweat towel and a leopard print skirt in the film, and often appears at the same time as his little daughter-in-law. At first, his identity was deeply questioned by the members of the Heaven and Earth Society, and everyone agreed that he was a spy of the Qing court, but later he was gradually recognized by everyone after more contact.
Xiong Changgui, who plays Tie Biao, the master of the Heaven and Earth Hall, is handsome, and both civil and military, his stick skills are superb, with calm judgment and extraordinary kung fu, he protected those teenagers, and has become one of the most popular characters in the play except for a few young actors.
After starring in this play, Xiong Changgui has successively participated in films such as "Master of the Sea Lantern", "New Shaolin Temple", "Divine Kitchen", etc., all of which have good performances. In terms of career development, Xiong Changgui also hesitated, and finally he chose to return to the martial arts field he was good at and started coaching in the Sichuan martial arts team.
His choice is correct, Xiong Changgui, who has the honorary title of "Emei Monkey King", knows that only in the field he is familiar with will he give full play to his strengths and get the best development in his career.
Later, he went abroad to Singapore, where he served as the head coach of the national martial arts team, established a high prestige in the industry, and cultivated many famous martial arts stars in the film and television industry, engaged in martial arts, martial arts guidance, action guidance and other work.
It is worth mentioning that in 2005, Xiong Changgui served as a martial arts instructor in "Life Escape" starring Mo Shaocong.
There is another point that you may not know well, that is, there are many "martial arts masters" hidden among the actors in this movie.
Li Qingshan, a famous boxer from Zhejiang, was 74 years old when he participated in the filming of the film, but he looked at ease when he picked up a heavy knife. There is also the one who plays the squire, who is actually Xi Yuntai, a professor at Sichuan Institute of Physical Education, and then Deng Changli, the actor of the aforementioned little leopard's father, who is also the mentor of Li Dianfang, Xiong Changgui and others.
Do you have anything to say about these actors who have participated in "Heroes from Ancient Times"? Feel free to leave a message in the comment area!