Ti Lung plays Zhao Wuji, the young son of the leader of a righteous martial arts clan. On the day of his wedding representatives from the outcast Tang Clan, despised for their use of poisons and hidden weapons, gatecrash the ceremony and offer a gift of 10,000 yuan in exchange for his father's head. They are kicked out of the venue, but later that night the father is found without his head.

Zhao swears vengeance and sets off to the Tang's home territory, but is ambushed and poisoned. He is rescued and restored to health, and after killing his ambushers he is convinced to go undercover and infiltrate the Tangs to take revenge from within.

As another Chor Yuen adapation of a Ku Long story it's no surprise that JADE TIGER has a labyrinthine plot, full of twists and betrayals, with characters driven by obtuse motivations and personality quirks. Chor Yuen again depicts the jiang hu as this otherworldly realm, dream-like in its logic and beauty. It's an all-star cast with many big names of the era along with the usual assortment of Shaw Brothers character actors.

It's quite a dark tale, with some epic tragedies - a relentlessly down-beat vision of a world fuelled by violence and revenge... although at least Lo Lieh's character seems to be enjoying it (most of the time).

Performances are good all round, with Shih Szu particularly impressing with her dramatic performance - perhaps more so because with her it's not necessarily a given, unlike Fan Mei-Sheng, Ku Feng or Yueh Hua.

Action is choreographed by the duo of Tang Chia and Huang Pei-Chih, always a good bet for fantastical wuxia action. Chor Yuen wasn't the most inspired director of martial arts - action never seems to have been a big focus for him - but he or somebody made sure the camera did justice to the choreography here.

JADE TIGER is quite a lavish production, with the kind of budget afforded by Shaw Brothers to one of their most bankable directors in their peak years. Although it doesn't have the unique character of Clans Of Intrigue or Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, it is one of the more accomplished films in the Chor Yuen Ku-Lungiverse, when he was clearly still motivated to put the effort in and had the resources for that effort to pay off.