CAST

BACKGROUND

"The Black Sabre", is based on the novel written by famous author Ku Long. Like most of Ku Long's novels the main character Yip Hao, played by Eddie Cheung is an intelligent and handsome man looking to find his true identity. He is the student of Lee Chun Foon, the character from another one of Ku Long's novels, "The Romantic Swordsman". The other main character, Fu Hung Sit, played by Hugo Ng, is an emotionless top swordsman out to avenge his farther's death. This is a typical trait of Ku Long's novels that the top swordsman is usually an icy cold character. But in this story Fu Hung Sit is a man with a lot of emotions, but he attempts too bottle them up inside. Meanwhile Tsang Wah Sin plays Ding Ling Lam from the Ding family. I think she is the grand daugther of the infamous swordsman, Ding Pang, from Ku Long's other novel, "Against the Blade of Honour". Fiona Leung plays the daugther of a rich merchant, Ma Fong Ming. Jie Ling plays Tu Hong a local prostitute. Michael To Tai Yu played a minor role in this series and Au Siu Wai makes a cameo apperance to round out the cast.

THE PLOT

Twenty years ago a charming swordsman, Bak Tin Yee and his family attended a dinner held by rich merchant Ma Hong Kwan. Whilst they were eating they were ambushed and murdered by 15 masked assasins. Ma Hong Kwan was the mastermind behind the ambush. when they Twenty years later a lover of Bak Tin Yee sent her son, Fu Hung Sit, out to avenge his death. Fu Hung Sit, was instructed to use the same Black Sabre, which Bak Tin Yee used to bring justice to those murderers. Meanwhile another young swordsman, Yip Hao, attempted to find out the truth behind his identity. He visited his master, Lee Chun Foon, who presented him with some clues. Yip Hao was told that his late farther was a top swordsman, from a town called Bin Sing, who was famous for using a Black Sabre. With that in mind Yip Hao headed to Bin Sing to find out more about his late farther. His girlfriend Ding Ling Lam, was upset because Yip Hao had left without telling her. She would sneak out and follow Yip Hao to Bing Sing as well.

Yip Hao reached Bin Sing and took accomendation at the local hotel. After wandering around town, Yip Hao met two beautiful ladies, Tu Hung the local prostitute and Ma Fong Ming the agressive daugther of local rich merchant Ma Hong Kwan. Yip Hao became friends with Tu Hung. When Ding Ling Lam arrived she thought Yip Hao had been unfaithfull to her and decided to leave. Yip Hao did not chase after her because he did not want Ding Ling Lam around him because he knew it was dangerous in Bin Sing. Meanwhile Ma Fong Ming had fallen in love with Yip Hao. Later Fu Hung Sit arrived in town carrying a Black Sabre. He looked cold and emotionless as he wandered through town. The local businessmen could sense something bad was about to happen. Yip Hao saw Fu Hung Sit carrying the Balck Sabre and followed him around town. Meanwhile someone had caused some trouble for Ma Hong Kwan. He suspected that Bak Tin Yee's son was back for revenge but did not know who it was. In order to expose the man responsible for the troubles, Ma Hong Kwan, decided to invite five young swordsmen to dinner. Amongst them were Fu Hung Sit and Yip Hao.

At once Ma Hong Kwan suspected Yip Hao, because he resembled Bak Tin Yee and Fu Hung Sit because he carried the Black Sabre. Many days later one of the suspected swordsman was murdered and there were suspicions that it was Fu Hung Sit. Yip Hao would later uncover that one of Ma Hong Kwan's right handman was behind the murder. He would pass this information onto Ma Hong Kwun's mistress who informed Ma Hong Kwun of the trouble. In a twist Ma Hong Kwun's mistress was actually working for Bak Tin Yee's lover and married him for an opportunity to avange Bak Tin Yee's death. Ma Hong Kwun exposed his own mistress, but allowed her to leave at her own free will because he loved her deeply. Ma Hong Kwun then killed both his right hand man because they were plotting to take over his business. Ma Hong Kwun then turned his attention to dealing with Fu Hung Sit, who had killed his personal friend days earlier. Ma Hong Kwun wanted to hire Yip Hao to kill Fu Hung Sit and even offered him his duagther Ma Fong Ming in return. Yip Hao refused because he knew that he might be Bak Tin Yee's son, in which case Ma Hong Kwun would be his enemy. Also Yip Hao had began to become good friends with Fu Hung Sit. After that event Yip Hao started to reject Ma Fong Ming's love much to her disgust.

Later when Fu Hung Sit uncovered evidence that Ma Hong Kwun was behind the murder of Bak Tin Yee, from Ma Hong Kwun's mistress. Having done her job, Ma Hong Kwun's mistress decided to leave, but left her foster daugther Tu Hung behind to look after Fu Hung Sit. Many days later Fu Hung Sit went to kill Ma Hong Kwun, who pretended to be injured. Fu Hung Sit was an honourable man and gave Ma Hong Kwun a month to recover before avenging the death of Bak Tin Yee. During that time Ma Hong Kwun went to hire a hitman called Lo Siu Khai to deal with Fu Hung Sit. Lo Siu Khai arrived in Bin Sing with, Ding Ling Lam who he had met along the way. At once Yip Hao was not pleased because he did not want Ding Ling Lam around. Lo Siu Khai then challenged Fu Hung Sit to a duel. Fu Hung Sit accepted but during the contest, Ma Hong Kwun had sent men to ambush him. Lo Siu Khai was an honourable man as well and stopped the contest because of foul play. Having failed to kill Fu Hung Sit, Ma Hong Kwun knew his life would be in danger and fled. He burnt down his own business and ran away without his son and duagther. Ma Fong Ming blamed Fu Hung Sit for everything that happened and vowed to get even.

Fu Hung Sit would chase after Ma Hong Kwun. Tu Hung would follow him but she slowed him down. Fu Hung Sit, was too determined to get revenge that he neglected to look after Tu Hung. Along the way Tu Hung could no longer cope with being around with Fu Hung Sit that she decided to leave him. This made Fu Hung Sit extermely angry, because although he did not show any emotions on the outside, he deeply loved Tu Hung on the inside. Eventually they did make up and got back together. But later Fu Hung Sit decided to leave Tu Hung. This left Tu Hung very bitter and she decided to go back and become a prostitute. One by one Fu Hung Sit went through and located the identity of those people behind Bak Tin Yee's murders. He proceeded to kill each and everyone of them. He even killed an entire family despite not wanting too because he was left with few options. Once Fu Hung Sit even killed an innocent person who took the blame for his friend. Fu Hung Sit became extermly depressed at having made a mistake.

Lo Siu Khai had become good friends with Fu Hung Sit and wanted to reunite him with Tu Hung. He achieved his goal when Fu Hung Sit and Tu Hung agreed to meet each other. However in the process someone who wanted to cover up the identity of those behind Bak Tin Yee's death, murdered Tu Hung. At first Fu Hung Sit thought that it was Yip Hao because Tu Hung was killed by a small knife, which was similair to the one used by Yip Hao. This misunderstanding was cleared up when a masked man using the same weapon attempted to attack Fu Hung Sit and Yip Hao. Later Yip Hao uncovered an attempted cover up of those people behind the murder of Bak Tin Yee by the Ding family. It was later discovered that Ma Hong Kwun had turned up seeking shelter with the Ding family. He pretended to be carzy so that they would accept him. Later Fu Hung Sit arrived at the Ding famliy demanding answers about the murder.

In the end it would be revealed that Ding Ling Lam's auntie was the second major player in the murder of Bak Tin Yee. She used to be a renowed as the most beautiful woman in China, until Bak Tin Yee seduced her and promised to marry her. She later discovered that Bak Tin Yee was a player and would never be honest with his feelings. Upon this discovery she decided to cut her face and vowed to get even with Bak Tin Yee. Thus she collaborated with Ma Hong Kwun. When this was revealed Ma Hong Kwun attempted to escape but he was posioned by Ding Ling Lam's auntie, who also died. It was then revealed that Yip Hao was the true son of Bak Tin Yee along with one of the brothers of Ding Ling Lam. Yip Hao informed Fu Hung Sit that he had been used by his mother. Fu Hung Sit had nothing to do with Bak Tin Yee, but he knew it from the beginning. When he was a child he overheard Yip Hao's mother talking about his real identity. Despit this Fu Hung Sit wanted to return the kindness that Yip Hao's mother displayed to him by raising him by avenging Bak Tin Yee's death.

In the end Ma Fong Ming found a new love with one of Ding Lim Lam's brothers and they left the kung fu world together. Lo Siu Khai challenged Fu Hung Sit to a duel to determine who was the better swordsman. Fu Hung Sit won, but Lo Siu Khai's master Kim Mo Ming thought that the best swordsman was Yip Hao. The reason behidn this was the fact that the other two used thier skills to kill people whilst Yip Hao used his skills to save people. After the duel Fu Hung Sit went to pay respects at Tu Hung's grave before returning to inform his foster mother of the good news. Having heard that all those responsible for Bak Tin Yee's death were now dead, the old woman laughed. She then informed Fu Hung Sit that he was now free to leave, and took back the Black Sabre from him. Fu Hung Sit was shocked but at the same time expected that it would happen. Before leaving Fu Hung Sit asked whether his foster mother had ever loved him. She replied no. Fu Hung Sit then hobbled away. As he left it felt strange because for the first time he could not feel the Black Sabre strapped around his leg. The Black Sabre had become part of his life and now it was gone. As he wandered away Yip Hao arrived with Ding Ling Lam. They had come to visit Yip Hao's mother, but after seeing Fu Hung Sit wanderer away, Yip Hao decided not to visit the old woman. Instead he continued up the hill with Ding Ling Lam and admired the sunset.

RATING (7)

This was a very enjoyable series to watch. The cast was excellent and the acting was extermely good. Hugo Ng played the emotionless Fu Hung Sit very well. Eddie Cheung played the role of Yip Hao well. Eddie Cheung was well suited to the role of Yip Hao. He was handsome and has that herioc quality. He has a commanding voice and a good on screen presence. Margie Tsang, Fiona Leung and Jie Ling all performed well. The plot did enough to hold my attention for most of the series. However there were flat spots during it. What I like about the story was the element of mystry behind it. It was like watching a dectective story. The ending was very sad because Fu Hung Sit had accomplished his mission only to be forced to leave. The theme song for this series was just excellent as well. This series has many similarities to other Ku Long series like "Lok Siu Fung", and "Chor Lau Heung". The main character is a handsome wanderer, who relies on his intelligence more than his kung fu. On the other hand the top swordsman always takes on an icy cold apperance. Fu Hung Sit kind of reminds me of Sai Moon Tu Sit and Jong Yin Yat Dim Hung.

SCENES

CREDITS

TVB owns the copyright to the series cover.
H.K. Television Idols owns the Copyright to all of these pictures.

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