The Heroic Ones

Set in late Tang dynasty China, the film follows the warlord Li Ke Yung and his thirteen sons, renowned warriors who help him fight to retake the imperial capital of Chang'an from rebel forces. Li Ke Yung gives command of the campaign to one of his younger sons rather than to Li Tsun Hsiao, an older brother who expected to lead. That slight opens a rift within the family, and the jealousy of outside rivals turns the dispute into a deadly feud that threatens the reputation of the general and the lives of his remaining sons.

Chang Cheh directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Ni Kuang, and Run Run Shaw produced it for Shaw Brothers. It was the fourth of Chang's films chronologically, arriving between The One-Armed Swordsman in 1967 and The New One-Armed Swordsman in 1971. David Chiang Da-Wei and Ti Lung head a credited cast of seventy-seven, with Ku Feng as Li Ke Yung and Chan Sing as the rival warlord Zhu Wen.

This 1970 Hong Kong production runs 126 minutes. Ratings place it as a modestly regarded entry in the director's filmography: on IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from around 910 votes, and on TMDB 6.6 out of 10 from a much smaller base of votes, suggesting a solid following among martial arts enthusiasts rather than wide contemporary acclaim.