Kung fu, kung fu, everywhere...
The Magnificent Ruffians is a 1979 Shaw Brothers movie directed by Chang Cheh, starring the Five Venoms Mob.
Yuan Ying-Fei (frequent Venoms villain-extraordinaire, Lu Feng), a deadly, challenge-seeking martial arts master skilled in the Golden Sword technique, is on a killing spree, inviting other kung-fu experts to his mansion before challenging them to fights and then killing them. When a band of homeless, penniless former kung-fu fighters, led by Guan Yun (Lo Meng) and his bestie Yang Zhui-Feng (Philip Kwok) ends up rubbing off Yuan Ying-Fei the wrong way, they're invited to the Yuan Mansion for a showdown.
Magnificent Ruffians contain examples of:
- Affably Evil: Ying-Fei, the Big Bad and most dangerous enemy fighter, is smooth, polite, speaks with an air of affability and addresses his challengers with respect... right before killing them.
- Calling Your Attacks: Several characters have the habit of saying aloud their attack patterns, especially during the film's lengthy final fight. Many which is from the villain, Yuan Ying Fei:Ying Fei: "Golden Wheel Facing the Sun! Clouds out of the Wind! Nine Rotations of the Sun! THE SUN SHINES EVERYWHERE!!!"
- Challenge Seeker: The main villain, Ying Fei, is an expert weapons-user and often invites challengers for him to kill just to keep his skills proficient, as well as for fun.
- Driven to Suicide: Guan Yun's sister and mother hangs themselves after Guan's death, being unable to accept the humiliation from the aftermath of his defeat.
- Dual Wield: In the finale against Ying-Fei and his team of weapon-users, Yang Zhui Feng packs twin-swords against his enemies.
- Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: As expected from a film starring the Venoms Mob.
- Establishing Character Moment: Ying-Fei's first scene have him being challenged by five other kung-fu fighters. He kills all five of them in two minutes, looking bored and unimpressed the whole time, and orders for invitations for a next batch of challengers, firmly establishing the villain as a threat.
- In the Back: Ying-Fei, the main villain, is killed in this manner: having cut He Fei's staff into two and holding off Zhui-Feng, a momentary lapse of carelessness allows He Fei to drive his broken, pointy-ended staff into Ying-Fei's back.
- Martial Arts Staff: He Fei's preferred weapon in most of his fights, and also to counter Ying-Fei's halberd.
- "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: In order to force a confession out of one of Ying-Fei's underlings, Guan Yun and Yang Zhui-Feng disguises themselves as a pair of vengeful (kung-fu fighting) masked ghosts of two victims killed under Ying-Fei's orders. It works, but shortly under the confession the kneeling henchman sees Guan Yun's shoes under the sheets of the ghost...
- Stock Wushu Weapons: Basically most wushu weapons in the catalogue are used in the film itself. The poster already displays the bu, qiang, gun, dao,
