Reviewed by: Gaijin84 Date: 06/07/2022 Summary: Total recast of all characters starts it off on the wrong foot... The Brave Archer and His Mate is the (unofficially the fourth part of the Chang Cheh directed series based on the Louis Cha epic "Legend of the Condor Heroes" and "Return of the Condor Heroes." Having survived the battle with the Iron Palm clan, Kuo Tsing (now played by Phillip Kwok) and Huang Yung (portrayed by Gigi Wong) return to Peach Island and find that almost all of Kuo's original teachers, the Weird Seven, are dead. Only his fourth teacher is alive, and he has evidently lost his mind. It turns out that Western Poison (Wong Lik) and Prince Yang Kang (Lung Tien-Hsiang) had hatched the plan to frame Easter Devil (Huang’s father) and have Kuo kill him, thus obtaining the Jiao Yin manual. Huang figures out the plot and Yang Kang goes crazy, killing his wife Mu and his supporters, but leaving his son alive. The plot then jumps ahead 18 or so years, and Yang's son, Yang Guo (now played by Fu Sheng) is being raised by Kuo and Huang along with an adopted sister. Guo is constantly bullied by his cousins and he decides to learn kung fu from Western Poison, who he finds hiding in a nearby temple. Ouyang Fung (Western Poison) has lost his mind after trying to learn from an intentionally modified version of the Jiao Yin manual but is still able to teach Guo a powerful style that allows him to nearly kill one of his cousins. Eventually, Kuo and his extended family head to meet with the Tsuen Jen clan as a group of fighters has gathered to gain the secret of Miss Loong, a warrior who is destined to wake and divulge her martial arts style. A giant fight erupts and Kuo ends up secretly killing one of his cousins during the battle. It is clear that he has inherited the evil that characterized his father but no one has realized it yet. The first issue with Brave Archer and His Mate is the change in all the main actors. If you watched the first three parts relatively recently in comparison to the fourth, it would probably not be a big deal. However, if some time had passed between viewings, the characters would cause incredible confusion, especially with Fu Sheng suddenly playing the adopted son of the character he played in the first three parts. There is not much difference in the way the two characters act, adding to the disorder. There is also not a good deal of quality martial arts in this film, leaving the plot to hold the movie up, which it really isn't able to do. Add to this an ending so abrupt that it doesn't act as a cliffhanger and more of an annoyance, things do not end up well. A fifth unofficial part, Little Dragon Maiden, was released a year later, but neither Chang Cheh nor any of the actors from his four films were involved. It seems clear that Cheh was planning on more parts, but the untimely death of Fu Sheng prevented any fulfillment of those projects. Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 07/24/2005 Summary: i am confused!! IS it me or did the ending come all of a sudden, was there budget cuts or something? Because there is no other movies in the "brave archer" series!! I think the characters have been mixed around and Alexander Fu is playing a completely new character!! I just found this boring, it was like watching a tv series and then it ends. Just avoid this movie,it will only confuse and irritate you 3/10

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 12/07/2003 the worst in the Brave Archer series. the kung fu is laughable, the story worse than imaginable -- perhaps those are slight overstatements. The ending really sucked is NOT an overstatement. [5/10]