5 Star

Pure Talent, Pure Brilliance.

What a way to start a new company, Odd Couple was the first film by Gar Bo Motion Picture Company (aka. Gar-Bo Film Company). Started by Kung-Fu stars Sammo Hung (The Millionaires Express, Encounter of the Spooky Kind), Lau Kar-wing (Five Shaolin Masters, Shaolin Warrior), and Karl Maka (Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon, Mad Mission 1-5). This film shows off the stars’ weapon skills, as Odd Couple is entirely a sword (dao) and spear (qiang) showcase. Set in the mid 1600s, it pits two masters (Hung and Lau) each the king in their field of expertise. Every year they battle, and every year it ends in a draw. How can they resolve their dilemma? Here’s how.

Right from the start of the film, you can see what it is all about, as a narrator tells us all about long and short weapons and who wields them. The Swords are wielded by The King of Sabres (Sammo Hung), and the staffs by the King of Spears (Lau Kar-wing).

They have been doing this for fifteen years, and they are getting a bit long in the tooth to keep coming back year-on-year, to come to the same conclusion. They decide that to truly discover which discipline is best, they will both take a student and spend ten years in isolation training them. So when they first fight, they will not know each other or the styles they use.

The Odd Couple search for their new students (Where the students are also Lau and Hung), not always using fair methods to persuade them to become their wards.

Once they have both agreed to become students, they go their separate ways to train for the future contest. But old harpoon’s (Lau) retainer ‘Potato head’ (Mars, Police Story, Project A Part II) knows where the sword master is camped, he keeps his master informed on the progress of his rival, until they are released to find each other and find out the true winner.

Things do not always go to plan, and this is no different. Throw in weird lords, and an old rival to the masters, and we are in for a stunning finale. The skills that these players have, are just phenomenal, ‘Odd Couple’ is a tour-de-force as spear and sword dance an amazing dance. A must own for any martial arts fan, this is a classic.