The Same Story That Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Is Based On Received A Movie 33 Years Earlier

Movies that leaned heavily on ancient Chinese settings, swordplay, and elements of fantasy dominated the martial arts genre long before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came around. The film revitalized this facet of the genre, but it was popular in other periods of its history as well, particularly in the mid to late 1960s, shortly before the “kung fu craze” took over in the early 1970s.

This era was full of films not unlike Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, including must-watch classics from A Touch of Zen to The One-Armed Swordsman. Not only that, but the exact source material for Ang Lee’s critically acclaimed movie received a worthwhile film adaptation (and a sequel) during this period.

Rape Of The Sword Is A 1967 Wuxia Film Based On Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Preceding Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by 33 years is Rape of the Sword. Although it was not marketed as such, Rape of the Sword is widely credited by fans and martial arts movie historians as a film interpretation of the 1940s Chinese wuxia novel, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This has also been backed up by its action choreographer, Yuen Woo-ping.

Directed by Yueh Feng, Rape of the Sword shines the spotlight on two women, one of which is a princess and the other her servant. Unbeknownst to the princess, her servant is actually a highly skilled swordswoman, and a widow on the hunt for revenge against those responsible for her husband’s death.

She’s also on a mission to retrieve a highly-coveted – and extremely powerful – sword, which is also being pursued by her enemy, Prince Wu Yi (played by Chan Hung Lieh). The two women work together to oppose them, and wind up recruiting a righteous bandit chief trained by the servant’s senior classmate.

Although the character names and some of the key players are different, the link between the two stories is unmistakable. Like the original Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon story, Rape of the Sword is propped up by two strong and well-developed female protagonists as they search for a legendary sword and team up with a criminal in the process.

Rape Of The Sword Has A Sequel Called A Taste Of Cold Steel

Shaw Brothers, the Hong Kong studio that made Rape of the Sword, released a sequel three years later, titled A Taste of Cold Steel. However, it moves away from its literary inspiration and appears to be an entirely original tale.

Rather than finish the adventures of the three main characters seen in Rape of the Sword, A Taste of Cold Steel instead continues the exploits of its predecessor’s main villain, Prince Wu Yi, with Chan Hung Lieh reprising the role.

This time, he’s trying to steal a different weapon, referred to as the Purple Light Sword, which brings him into conflict with four new protagonists in the form of three sisters and a swordsman.

However, it avoids simply repeating Rape of the Sword’s story by having Prince Wu Yi accidentally create new enemies for himself by recruiting a bandit gang to steal the sword for him. Things go haywire when they keep the sword for themselves, setting up a thrilling, three-way battle where the heroes, the bandits, and Prince Wu Yi are all at odds with each other.