Legendary Amazons (4 Stars)

This is a remake of "The 14 Amazons", which I watched two days ago. I watched it again today to compare it with the original. It's difficult to go into details, because the characters are named differently in the two films. Sometimes the names are similar, just the result of different transliteration into English, for instance Yang Tsung Pao in "The 14 Amazons" is Yang Zongbao in "Legendary Amazons". In other cases, the names are so different that it's impossible to tell which characters are the same in the two films.

The biggest and most significant difference is that General Yang Tsung Pao is killed by the Western Xia army in "The 14 Amazons", but in "Legendary Amazons" he's saved by a tribe of herdsmen and is reunited with his family late in the film.

In "The 14 Amazons" the Great Grandmother (called Taijun in "Legendary Amazons") leads the Song Dynasty army, but in this film the 18-year-old Yang Wenguang (Yang Wen Kuang) is the army's leader.

In "Legendary Amazons" only 13 female warriors are explicitly named, but there are many other women who are in the army, maybe 30 or 40, it's difficult to count them all. The 13 named women are easy to follow, if you make notes after their introductions, because each uses a different weapon. For instance, Mu Guiying (Mu Kuei Ying) uses a broadsword and Taijum uses a dragon-head staff. If you can't see a woman's face in a battle scene, look at her weapon.

Only two of the "14 Amazons" are killed, but in "Legendary Amazons" most of the 13 women die.

There's no transgender casting in "Legendary Amazons", even though some of the women decide to cut their hair short for battle. Men are men and women are women. That's the way I like it.

The women wear sensible helmets that protect their heads better than tiaras.

Most of the other differences are a matter of style rather than content. In "The 14 Amazons" there are a lot of skirmishes, whereas in "Legendary Amazons" there are extravagant battle scenes. The large battle scenes are more confusing, but more realistic.

There are a lot of beautiful women in this film. Some of them are addressed as Mother or Grandmother, but they don't look a day over 25.

Mu Guiying is the general's wife and Yan Wenguang's mother. She fights with a Broadsword.

Yang Sanniang fights with a Divine Bow.

Yang Siniang fights with Double Hammers (not in the picture).

Yang Qiniang fights with a Double-Handed Broadsword.

I have no idea what this woman's name is, but she has a Cute Smile.

This is a fun film, easier to follow than "The 14 Amazons", but it still needs a few viewings to figure out all the details.

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