During a chaotic periodin ancient China, soldier Dik Ming-kei (Yuen Biao) deserts the battlefield but runs into a much more nefarious foe, the Blood Demon. Luckily for him, sword master Ding Yan comes to his rescue. They later meet fellow demon hunter and frenemy Siu Yu (Damien Lau) and his apprentice Yan Jan (Meng Hoi). Since neither one of them is strong enough to defeat their red foe and his cult, they must seek greater power from Lady Li I-Chi (Judy Ongg). With the backing of the film production company Golden Harvest, Tsui Hark hired American special effects artists to work with his team to deliver an eye-opening visual experience that propelled the wuxia genre to the future of filmmaking. But at its very core, Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain (1983) still captivates audiences with its relatable characters, hearty humour, and a moral that is deeply personal for the filmmaker.

Tsui Hark (b. 1951, Vietnam) spent his early years in Vietnam before moving to Hong Kong, where he completed his high school education. He then moved to the United States where he graduated from the film programme at the University of Texas at Austin. After a short spell of work in the US, he returned to Hong Kong and became a director at TVB. Later, during a brief stint at Commercial Television, he directed The Gold Dagger Romance (1978). The Butterfly Murders (1979), Tsui’s feature film directorial debut, was hailed as one of the early examples of the Hong Kong New Wave. Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980) faced censorship from the colonial government for its uncompromising vision. Tsui would break ground with Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) by introducing Hollywood special effects to the wuxia genre. For much of the 1980s, Tsui was one of the creative masterminds behind the hitmakers Cinema City.

In 1984, he and Nansun Shi founded Film Workshop, which launched with the critically acclaimed Shanghai Blues. Tsui and his company found much success in several popular long-running film series, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), The Swordsman (1990), and Once Upon a Time in China (1991). In a career spanning over four decades, Tsui has not stopped finding new ways to reinvent himself as a director, writer, and producer. His take on the wuxia genre has continued to evolve in The Blade (1995) and the Detective Dee series. His Chinese war epic, The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014), impressed audiences in China and abroad for his creative storytelling and eye for spectacle.