Customer Rating: Summary: The villain from Jet Li's Shaolin Temple and Martial Arts of Shaolin gets a leading role! Comment: This movie has the same director, actors, and action directors as Jet Li's Shaolin Temple movies. Jet Li not being in the movie is not a bad thing, because Yue Sing-wai is a perfect choice for the lead role. I don't know how old he is during the time of this movie, but I would say at least 40. His facial features and sword skills give him the perfect look for this role, but his acting is much better than I expected. I don't think he had any other lead roles, so cherish this movie.
Around 1000 years ago, China was always a war with itself. Yue Sing-wai plays swordsman Ma Yi. After he watches his daughter die during a raid on his village, he starts to drink his life away hoping to ease his pain. Because he saved a king at the start of the movie, the king wants to give him a big reward. After being poisoned, Ma Yi is left partially blind. He has no wish to live, but decides to accompany the king, not because he wants the riches he is offered, but because it is the king's wish. There is not just 1 king, but 3 are vying for the position. The good king decides to send a challenge to the evil king (played by Gai Chun-wa), the same guy who killed Ma Yi's daughter. Nobody in the king's army will take the challenge, so Ma Yi volunteers. It goes very badly, and Ma Yi barely escapes alive. But, he gets his revenge on the man who killed his daughter. When Ma Yi returns, he is offered a high ranking position, but that just isn't Ma Yi's thing. He looks to lead a happy life and the king agrees to give him his own sword school. But with war always going on, Ma Yi can't just sit idle at his school. I will leave the last 30 minutes for you the viewer to find out what happens. It is cruel and bloody and there is a great twist that happens towards the end.
The action is about as good as it gets. This is without a doubt one of the top 20 best sword fighting movies ever. Yue Sing-wai is probably the greatest sword fighter I have ever seen on screen.
The location shots also have to me mentioned. The sets and outdoor locations are absolutely stunning. It all feels real, especially when men are fighting on an iced river.
4.5/5
The DVD from World Video has good picture quality. This a dark movie for the most part, and the English dubbing kind of ruins that. Sound quality is good, but I would have liked to have heard the original language. Customer Rating: Summary: Good Mainland pic Comment: This film was made by several people envolved with Jet Li's Shaolin Temple trilogy and it will be fairly easy to pick out some faces (sorry, don't have the names at my fingertips). The story is about a swordsman who's village is caught between warring feudal lords (I believe there are three groups, all plotting to wipe each other out). Our swordsman is more or less non-partisan until his wife and daughter are killed. Ironically, all the warlords want him to join their forces on
account of his indredible skills, but are willing to resort to any means if he won't join them. The tone od the story is somewhat downbeat, and there are no surprises in terms of plot, but the action is pletiful and we see some great drunken sword! World Video's version of this is widescreen (1.8.5) and offers english dub or cantonese (but no subs!!!!!). This movie was filmed with a pretty serious budget and we can tell on account of the large armies and elaborate costums. The print is sharp and well preserved. Worth checking out!
