A new website "THE 14 AMAZONS" is born !

http://amazons.site.voila.fr/

This historico-martial peplum "THE 14 AMAZONS" involves an outstanding budget, an intensive two-year shooting, gathering (almost) all the greatest superstars of the Shaw and thousands of cameo parts (special effects did not exist at that time).
Sir Run Run Shaw invests no less than what is actually worth in terms of money in the production of this historical piece tribute to the valiant warriors from the (governmental) Yang family that protect the Kingdom of China from the invasions of the Mongolian army. All the Chinese people on this planet know and look up to these heroes and heroines, who have risked their lives for the sake of their country.
In 1972, this peplum reached a new record at the box office in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and throughout Southeast Asia. Therefore, the critics gave the movie endless credits and praised the film-maker’s talent ! In 1973, at the Asian Film Festival, "THE 14 AMAZONS" was awarded the first prize for the best screenplay and Lily Ho was honored as the best actress for playing the role of Yang Wen Kuan, the warrior. Some more trophies for this movie are still to be checked…

If you have more pics of this peplum, please contact me.

Image attachée

THE 14 AMAZONS'CASTING

The Emperor’s throne was under the protection of some warriors from the Yang family during the long-lasting war between Ancient China and Mongolia during the Sung Dynasty.

PS : The 14 widowed warriors are called "The 14 Amazons" *
All the Yang warriors died during the war +

Casting : Historical characters..............................................(and actors)

Old general YANG Yeh +
His octogenarian and fighting wife SHE Tai Chun*......................(Lisa Lu*)

The 7 Sons, 7 Daughters-in-law, 2 Daughters Sisters Yang 8th and 9th, Grandson YANG Tchung Pao, Granddaughter MU Kwei Ying, and Great Grandson YANG Wen Kuan are all warriors.

Eldest Son Yang 1st + : Yang Ta Lang
Lady Yang 1st : KEN Chin Hua* .....................................(Chen Yen-yen*)

Yang 2nd + : Yang Er Lang
Lady Yang 2nd* TSOU Lan Ying...............................................(Lin Jing*)

Yang 3rd + : Yang San Lang
Lady Yang 3rd* TUNG Yueh O.........................................(Hsia Ping*)

Yang 4th + : Yang She Lang
Lady Yang 4th* HUANG Chiung Mei...............................(Betty Ting-pei*)

Yang 5th + : Yang Wu Lang
Lady Yang 5th* MA Sai-ying.......................................(Wang Chin-feng*)

YANG 6th + : Yang Liu Lang
Lady YANG 6th* CHAI Chun Chu..................................(Ouyang Shafei*)

The Yangs 6th’s son : YANG Tsung Pao +..............................(Tsung Hua)
Their daughter-in-law, MU Kwei Ying* ................................(Ivy Ling Po*)
Yang Tsung Pao’s son : YANG Wen Kuan....................................(LilyHo),
starring as the only surviving warrior.

Yang Tsung Pao's sisters :
YANG Chiu Chu*...............................................................(Wang Ping*)
YANG Chiu Lan*................................................................(Liu Wu-chi*)

Yang 7th + : Yang Qi Lang
Lady Yang 7th* TU Chin O...............................................(Tina Chin Fei*)

Sister Yang 8th* YANG Pa Mei................................................(Li Ching*)
Sister Yang 9th* YANG Chiu Mei..............................(Karen Yeh Ling-chi*)

The 3 Warriors / Bodyguards of the Yangs*

Lady YANG Pai Feng*........................................................(Shu Pei-pei*)
Chia Ting Kuai...............................................................(Fan Mei-sheng)
Meng Huai Yuan......................................................(Huang Tsung-hsing)

General LEI Chao................................................................(Yueh Hua),
the Hero, joins in the Yangs’army
LEI Chao’s sister Chen Chu................................................(Yang Ai-hua)

General NIU Lung...................................................................(Chu Hou)
General NIU Fu....................................................................(Ho Yun-tai)
Old YANG Hung..............................................................(Ku Wen-tsung)

Chinese Minister KOU Chun..........................................(Yang Chih-ching)
Chinese Betrayor WANG Ching.............................................(Cheng Miu)
Wang Ching’s henchman.................................................(Li Hsiao-tsung)

PS : Lily Ho was honored as the Best Actress at the Asian Film Festival in 1973 for playing the major male role of YANG Wen Kuan, the young warrior in "The 14 Amazons".

http://cine-hk.chez.tiscali.fr/Hkcine/SITE...-SB/lily-ho.htm

*****************************

MONGOLIA

The Mongolian King of West Hsia..............................................(Tin Fung)

The Eldest Prince...............................................................(Wang Hsieh)
Second Prince..............................................................(Nan Kung-hsun)
Third Prince........................................................................(Tien Ching)
Fourth Prince...................................................................(Paul Chin Pei)
Firth Prince..............................................................................(Lo Lieh)
The Great Mongolian Warrior...............................................(Bolo Yeung)

And hundreds of renowned Shaw Bros actors in the movie...

http://amazons.site.voila.fr

Here the answer of a big fan "Kwok Choi" from website Kungfufandom :


Hi Chris !

Thanks for those photos by Mahsingyi he did a great job.The 14 Amazons is the movie that made me a Shaw fan.It is my most eagerly awaited movie because of the vivid memories it left in my mind about 31 odd years ago.As a boy I was really impressed with every thing about this film.Man! you had to see the poster artwork we had in our territory;superb very "gung ho" and would instantly grab your attention.This artwork hasn't resurfaced anywhere so far although a famdom member mentioned that it was the same poster artwork used in Belgium when released.
You see the thing that is eating me is " deciphering" the human bridge scene as I had the misfortune of seeing the movie only once.I do clearly remember the events leading to the damaged bridge which eventually gave way killing many fighters then left our protagonist stranded on both sides.

The strongest fighters formed the base of the bridges on both sides whilst the lighter skilful and acrobatic ones leapt in turn on each other's shoulders formimg high towers on both sides.On a given signal both towers plunged towards the void below(gripping stuff man) and precisely clasped/caught each others hands in mid air making a bridge.The matriach and the other Amazons then crossed to the safe side by walking on the swaying human bodies.When everyone was safely across,another signal was given for the strong fighters forming the base on the side of the pursuing enemy to " fall" in to the void like a swing; which meant the human bridge will be dangling on one side.Once this was done those at the bottom started piggy backing on the others(though some fell off to their doom) till they made it to the surface.Now so far so good.The thing that has always bogged me which I can't remember is how the other people of the bridge whose heads where facing downwards during the hand clasp when making the bridge get to safety.Where they dragged upwards by their comrades afterwards or were camera tricks and special effects employed in this part of the sequence.This for me is the really vague part that I have been dying all these years to decode.

Well Chris I am very glad you made a web site dedicated to this epic.More than a thousand people have already visited.Lets hope celestial are among the visitors and necessitate an early release next year.See you at Kung Fu Fandom.Take care.By the way do you think it necessary to start a thread about the formation,success and aftermath of the human bridge?

Kwok Choi (Kungfufandom)

Here the answer of "Kenichiku" from Kungfufandom :

Man, that's the whole Yang family tree you got there. CHRIS you ROCK!

I knew there were big fans out there for this awesome film especially in Europe but never expected to see an exclusive website on '14 Amazons'! I mean this was a film with a strong Girl Power and female self-determination message outta Free World HK back in 1971! Great site Chris.

You're pretty amazing with your web skills (something I don't have). You'll have the best (and perhaps only) website on this movie worldwide!

Kenichiku (kungfufandom)

http://amazons.site.voila.fr

"The 14 Amazons" TV serial "The Legendary Fighters - Yang Heroines".

Casts : Cheng Pei-pei (She Tai-chun), Carmen Lee (Sister Yang 8th), Teresa Lee (Yang Pai-feng)...etc.

Website "Legendary Fighters - Yang’s Heroines"
http://www.hkatv.com/drama/yangs/index.html

Reviews of the serial "14 Yang Heroines" :
http://ebuzztv.tripod.com/yangheroines/yangheroines_sg.htm

http://allaboutyueling.tripod.com/reviews/yang/yang_rev.htm

Gallery :
http://ebuzztv.tripod.com/yangheroines/yangheroinesss.htm

"THE 14 AMAZONS" will be released on big screens in France (July 2006).



Some new pics have been added in my website :
http://amazons.site.voila.fr

http://www.hkmdb.com/db/movies/reviews.mht...isplay_set=big5

The review of 14 Amazons by MrBooth
Date: 02/27/2006


Summary: 10/10 - classic epic

When the men of the patriotic Yang family are killed by barbarian invaders, the women take up arms and lead the remaining rag-tag troops to defend the country's borders, despite a total lack of support from the king. The women's journey to the fight is long and full of trials, in the true spirit of an epic story.

"Epic" certainly is the right word for The 14 Amazons, a long, lavish story of patriotism, heroism, sacrifice, honour and all that goodness. The film features a huge cast, with many of the Shaw Brothers' most popular actors and actresses appearing. The women of the Yang family are an impressive bunch, easily matching the men for their courage and fighting skills. This is definitely not a "female-centric wu xia" in the 60's style, it's far closer to Chang Cheh's films of Heroic Bloodshed where the shedders happen to be female - not all of them, it must be noted, especially the fact that Lily Ho seems to be playing a male son, despite looking (and dressing) just as feminine as the rest of the ladies, and Yueh Hua and Fan Mei Sheng have significant roles on the Yang side. The Mongol invaders are led by Tien Feng, with Lo Lieh having one of the meatiest parts on their side.

The production must have been one of the most expensive and lengthy of any Shaw Brothers film of the period, with such an epic scale and lavish production values. The film one quite a lot of awards, and justifiably so - it has something of the feel of classic Hollywood epics like Clash Of The Titans, though the special effects are definitely not as good in AMAZONS (they're probably the weakest part of an otherwise extremely well directed, filmed and acted work). Cheng Kang was definitely one of Shaw Brothers most accomplished directors, though not very prolific by the standards of the day - perhaps the two facts are related, since it's hard to keep up a high standard when you're making a dozen films a year!

Cheng Kang's son, the now-famous Ching Siu-Tung, got his first action director credit on this film (shared with the more experienced Leung Siu-Chung). The two produced some really excellent work... helped no doubt by a director who knew how to film that action for maximum effect. Much of the fighting is just mass melee-style carnage as armies fight, but there are other scenes that focus more on individual fighters, and this is generally where the more impressive action occurs. The ladies fight ferociously, especially Lily Ho and Ivy Ling Po. Yueh Hua probably has the best action though.

The body count in the film is enormous, and gallons of blood are shed, spilt and sprayed... Chang Cheh would have been proud, I'm sure All the carnage wouldn't make the film a classic if it wasn't carried by such a great story, script and the fabulous performances of the cast though.

Definitely one of the best Shaw Brothers films of the era, and one of the finest historical epics of all time!

Reviewer Score: 10