Gun Brothers is a 1968 Shaw Brothers military-action film starring Ling Yun.
During the First Sino-Japanese War, the invading Japanese military oppressed a small town in the Chinese border, using it as their private munitions-producing plant to prepare for their invasions into the big city. But a mysterious hero and an icon of the resistance, the "Gun Brother" (Ling) repeatedly attacks and destroys Japanese outposts while evading capture, making himself a thorn in the side for the invaders. After repeatedly failing to capture the Gun Brother, the Imperial Japanese Commander had a recently-promoted police Superintendent, Inspector Ma of the Shanghai Military Police but is actually a servant to the Japanese in secret, tasked with uncovering the Gun Brother's true identity and arresting the Gun Brother.
The first of many films starring Ling Yun set in the 1940s, during the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war, where Ling plays a heroic icon of rebellion to inspire the locals into fighting for their rights against the Japanese imperialists. See also The Deadly Knives and Heroes of the Underground for similar movies.
Gun Brothers contains examples of:
- Action Prologue: The night infiltration where Chi Yiu-Tung infiltrates a Japanese bunker, kills the guards, engaged the Japanese in a shootout before blowing up their munitions pile.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Plenty of Yiu-Tung's scenes, including during fights, have him clad in a stylish black tuxedo. And he emerged from every one of his fights looking as suave as ever,
- Carved Mark: At the end of the direct confrontation scene, Inspector Ma managed to whip out a concealed blade and slash Chi Yiu-Tung across the right cheek as he flees. The leftover scar ends up becoming the otherwise elusive disguise expert's Distinguishing Mark — in the aftermath, Inspector Ma immediately orders for a citywide manhunt, for his soldiers to arrest every man with a scar on their right cheek in order to flush out Yiu-Tung.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: How Chi Yiu-Nam, the brother of Chi Yiu-Tung, kills the villain Inspector Ma, shooting the villain before he can shoot Yiu-Tung.
- Dressing as the Enemy: After the opening infiltration, Chi Yiu-Tung escapes from the Japanese by donning an outfit stolen from a Japanese sergeant.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Japanese Imperial Commander that Inspector Ma serves. While Ma is the primary threat after the hero Chi Yiu-Tung, he's a henchman who defected from the Chinese to serve the Japanese invaders in exchange for wealth.
- Guns Akimbo: Chi Yiu-Tung use dual pistols in more than one shootout, notably the opening one-man raid on the Japanese vault.
- Just Like Robin Hood: Chi Yiu-Tung is the Gun Brother, a crusader who fights the Japanese and is eager to save the local population from being oppresed by the Japanese invaders.
- La Résistance: Chi Yiu-Tung serves the civilain resistance opposing the Japanese in secret.
- Master of Disguise: Chi Yiu-Tung can change his outfit and appearance in a moment's notice, having multiple disguises packed in his clothing. In a few seconds he went from a Japanese colonel's outfit to a simple farmer and back to his regular clothes, sneaking right before the noses of border military with ridiculous ease.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Master Chau really doesn't take it kindly to his sister, Chau-koo, having a relationship with the shifty, mysterious spy Chi Yiu-Tung (who is posing as a businessman). He even threatening to beat up Yiu-Tung for meeting his sister in private after catching him in the act. He does eventually agreed... after he realized Yiu-Tung to be the Gun Brother and a saviour of the people, right before he gets shot himself.
- Not My Driver: Chi Yiu-Tung's first successful capture of Inspector Ma plays out like this, with Yiu-Tung's partner disguised as Ma's driver.
- The Quisling: Inspector Ma, the Big Bad, is an informant for the Japanese, and leads a platoon of Les Collaborateurs into hunting down Chi Yiu-Tung in exchange for being promoted by the Japanese invaders.
- R-Rated Opening: The film opens with the unnamed Japanese commander ordering an execution on prisoners after suspecting them to be working for the Gun Brother, with the commander personally hacking down a woman and her young daughter with a katana (accompanied by some High-Pressure Blood). That scene is quickly followed by the Gun Brother infiltrating the Japanese munitions bunker for the Action Prologue.
- Secret Identity: The Gun Brother is Chi Yiu-Tung, a playboy, gambler and ladies man by day, who masquerades as a businessman while investigating the Japanese.
- Shovel Strike: During the confrontation scene in the graveyard, Inspector Ma managed to escape from Chi Yiu-Tung by sneakily grabbing a gravedigger's shovel and swatting the heroes with it. He managed to knock out Yiu-Tung's partner before Yiu-Tung snatched the shovel from him, but the distraction is enough for Inspector Ma to grab a concealed knife.
