description The 14 Amazons Overview
The 14 Amazons is a 1972 Hong Kong wuxia film produced by Shaw Brothers and directed by Cheng Kang. It draws on the Yang family legends, in which the family's women take command after the male members are killed or incapacitated in battle. The film focuses on female relatives who organize a military campaign and defend the family's obligations. Its story combines historical romance, martial-arts action, family duty, and the conventions of the Yang generals cycle.
help The 14 Amazons FAQ
Who directed The 14 Amazons and for which studio?
The film was directed by Cheng Kang for Shaw Brothers in 1972. It stands as one of the studio's grandest historical epics of the early 1970s, before kung fu films dominated its output.
What legend is The 14 Amazons based on?
It draws on the Generals of the Yang Family legends, in which the men of the Yang clan are killed or broken at the Golden Beach disaster and the family's women take up arms. In the film, fourteen women of the household, led by the aged matriarch, wage a campaign of vengeance against a rival kingdom.
Who plays the grandmother in The 14 Amazons?
Lisa Lu plays the centenarian matriarch She Taijun, the most famous role of the film. Lu had a long international career and much later appeared in The Joy Luck Club (1993).
Why is The 14 Amazons considered a Shaw Brothers classic?
It is remembered for its enormous scale — massed armies, epic battles, and large-scale stunt work — with a frequently cited sequence in which soldiers form a human bridge across a gorge. Its focus on a whole family of women warriors was unusual for the genre and influenced later Yang clan films such as Saving General Yang (2013).
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