The early 1980's ushered in the waning years of Shaw Brothers being the dominant studio in the realm of Hong Kong film-making. Many in the local audience began to think their releases were stuck in a rut, which, frankly, is a fairly correct assessment. But the Shaw Brothers still produced some gems during this period, such as 1980's Heroes Shed No Tears, where veteran director Chor Yuen leads an all-star cast in a picture that may disappoint those looking for wall-to-wall old-school kung fu action, but will greatly please those viewers out there that like a thoughtful story to go along with their martial arts antics.

Heroes Shed No Tears' story -- based on Gu Long's novel A Hero Without Tears -- is a bit too complex to delve into inside the confines of a short review, and, at any rate, giving a full synopsis would take the surprise out of the picture's twists and turns, which are some of the highlights to be had here. In a nutshell, though, the plot revolves around a young martial artist (Alexander Fu Sheng) who in possession of the legendary Sword of Tears being stuck in the middle of a conflict between warring clans. 

If there is fault to be found with A Hero Without Tears, it would have to lie at the feet of its' star, Alexander Fu Sheng. The poor costuming choices (which includes a wig more suited for a drag queen Cher impersonator) aside, Fu Sheng comes off like he's not very interested in what's going on or creating a compelling performance. He just pops in, says his lines, fights a couple of guys, and it's on to the next scene. Fortunately, Fu Sheng is surrounded by a group of actors who do seem committed to their roles, in particular Derek Yee and Yueh Wah, who create wonderfully three-dimensional characters that make the exposition aspects actually fun to watch, instead of the chore far too many non-fighting scenes end up coming off as in these sorts of releases.

As this is an old-school Shaw Brothers kung fu movie, some note should also be made of the action sequences. There's not a ton of them, especially for a film that clocks in at around 105 minutes, and there's nothing particularly inventive contained therein, with the possible exception being a box that can produce the best weapon for any fight. But what is displayed here is of high quality and is punctuated with ample spurts of the lovely Heinz-tinted blood Shaw Brothers fans have come to know and love. Overall, while it isn't a perfect kung fu movie by any stretch of the imagination, A Hero Without Tears still offers up more than enough classic Shaw Brothers goodness to warrant a hearty recommendation.

RATING: 7