Two independent stories involving chess wizards are interwoven to satirize the politics of the Chinese Cultural Revolution as well as Taiwan's capitalist boom of the 1970's.

1995 film by Tsui Hark

1992 film by Ching Siu-tung

A streetwise young man becomes a bodyguard to score quick cash. He befriends a disillusioned mercenary determined to begin life anew. They find themselves working together to foil an assassination attempt, but their partnership can't last.