This Martial Arts Weapon Is So Cool It Got Several Of Its Own Kung Fu Movies

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The film The Flying Guillotine was so influential with its unique weapon that it inspired many other excellent martial arts movies, including what many consider to be one of the best classic kung fu films of all time.

Martial arts movies offer exciting fight scenes that go beyond simple hand-to-hand combat. Sword fighting is a key element in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, while kung fu stars such as Bruce Lee often use weapons like nunchucks, in addition to their fists. Other popular weapons in the genre include spears, quarterstaffs, and three-section staffs.

As a huge fan of kung fu films, I’ve seen all sorts of creative weapons used, often just to spice things up. But sometimes, a gimmick really clicks with audiences. There’s one weapon, supposedly based on a real historical item, that became so popular it launched an entire movie franchise, and even popped up in other films that had nothing to do with it!

The Flying Guillotine & Real-Life Inspiration Explained

In 1975, the famous Hong Kong studio Shaw Brothers released the martial arts film The Flying Guillotine. Set during China’s Qing Dynasty, the movie centers around an imperial executioner, played by Chen Kuan Tai, who uses a special weapon – the flying guillotine – to secretly assassinate the emperor’s rivals.

The flying guillotine was a terrifying weapon used for imperial assassinations. It looked like a basket attached to a chain, and was thrown like a lasso to capture and instantly decapitate its target. Ironically, the story features the weapon being used against its master – the emperor ultimately orders the assassination of his own most skilled assassin with it.

While the flying guillotine is famously seen in films, the idea actually comes from history. Documents from China’s Qing Dynasty mention a similar weapon intended to assassinate enemies of the emperor. However, there’s no proof that a real flying guillotine could have ever worked, and its abilities in movies are highly exaggerated.

The Flying Guillotine Led To Multiple Sequels & Knock-Offs

Because the flying guillotine weapon in the film The Flying Guillotine was based on a real historical tool, other studios were free to use it too. This happened when a 1975 film starring Chen Kuan Tai became very popular.

A year after The Flying Guillotine’s release, Golden Harvest studio created Master of the Flying Guillotine. This film was a sequel to their earlier hit, The One-Armed Boxer, and borrowed ideas from The Flying Guillotine. Although it wasn’t the first film to explore these themes, Master of the Flying Guillotine ultimately became more famous and is now considered a classic kung fu movie.

As a huge fan of martial arts films, I remember the flying guillotine really taking off in 1978. Shaw Brothers released not one, but two movies that year! They made a sequel, The Flying Guillotine 2, starring Ti Lung, and then The Vengeful Beauty, which was basically a third film featuring that iconic weapon – but this time, the hero was a woman! It really cemented the flying guillotine’s place in martial arts legend.

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2026-01-31 21:40