He only breaks his sword when he's about to kill someone.
The Deadly Breaking Sword is a 1979 Shaw Brothers wuxia movie directed by Sun Chung, starring Ti Lung and Alexander Fu Sheng, being the trio's next collaboration after the previous year's The Avenging Eagle, although the film itself is comparatively more light-hearted and comical.
The warrior and assassin, Duan Chang-qing (Ti Lung), is known in the martial world as "The Deadly Breaking Sword", because with every challenger he kills, he leaves a fragment broken from his sword in their corpses. So when Duan meets brothel ourtesan Liu Yinxi (Shih Szu) who convince Duan to perform an assassination for her to avenge her fiancée, Duan agrees. But a run-in with local gambler and frequent casino-hanger, the spunky young fighter Xiao Dao, had Xiao tagging along Duan's mission — whether he likes it or not.
The Deadly Troping Site
- Action Prologue: The film opens with the duel between Duan Chang-qing "The Deadly Breaking Sword" and Lian San "The Throat Piercing Halberd", before the opening credits.
- Badass Cape: Duan Chang-qing and Lian San, the two best fighters in the film, both wears capes, respectively in purple and white, which they display glamourously while fighting each other during their Action Prologue.
- Chairman of the Brawl: During his first fight scene in the casino, Xiao Dao, attacked by armed thugs while bare-handed, picks up stools as Improvised Weapons. Either as shields, or as clubs. He ends up destroying three chairs as well as numerous tables in the process.
- Challenge Seeker: Tuan Chang-qing is often the target of assassins and rival swordfighters, and he accepts all their invitation to duels, leaving behgind plenty of dead bodies with broken pieces of metal lodged in them as a reminder to future challengers on why he's a force to be reckoned with.
- Deadly Dodging: During the fight between the Sword Spirits Duo, Duan managed to trap the Red Spirit in a corner, just as the Blue Spirit comes charging at him. With a quick move, Duan tricks the Blue Spirit into stabbing his comrade, before finishing off the Blue Spirit effortlessly.
- Dual Boss: The Sword Spirits Duo, among the several challengers Duan defeats, are the only two who attacks the hero two-against-one.
- Dual Wielding: Xiao-Dao wields twin knives in his fights.
- Ear Ache: The prison breakout culminates with Xiao-Dao cutting off the lead thug's left ear, with the camera zooming in on the bloodied ear.
- The Gadfly: Xiao Dao trolls everyone that he comes across, toying with his opponents repeatedly before beating them to a pulp, and forces himself on tagging behind Duan whether the hero likes it or not.
- The Gambler: Xiao Dao, a chronic gambling addict who never goes anywhere without his gambling tiles.
- Illegal Gambling Den: Xiao Dao's first scene is in one of these, where he scams a group of punks in a domino game, leading to a fight breaking out.
- Knows the Ropes: Xiao-Dao gets assaulted by a trio of punks armed with a thick rope, intending to capture him alive. Instead, Xiao cause them to entangle each other instead until all three thugs are tied up in a comical fasion.
- Meaningful Name: Duan Chang-qing, the killer who breaks his sword in his victims as his Calling Card. Fitting, since "Duan" means "break" in Mandarin...
- Red Baron: No wuxia heroes would be complete without a catchy nickname, would it? There's the hero Duan Chang-qing "The Deadly Breaking Sword", his rival Lian San "The Throat Piercing Halberd", and the two Sword Spirits (No Name Given).
- Title Drop: More than once, from the hero Duan, who constantly makes this Badass Boast before each of his fights."You will fear the power of The Deadly Breaking Sword, which you shall witness before your death!"
- Wrecked Weapon: Invoked on purpose. Duan Chang-qing uses a long jian with a breakable blade, with every challenger he kills, he then breaks an inch of his sword in their corpses as an indicator of his victim. In the opening duel, Tuan draws his sword to fight Lian, and its tip is noticeably chipped.
- Wuxia
