Stars: Chiu Cheuk, Xin Xin Xiong, Song Nei

Director: Tsui Hark

Summary: A master sword-maker adopts the son of a murdered friend and teaches him the master's craft. Cantonese dialogue.

Based on THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967), which is widely regarded as launching the craze for swordfighting movies in Hong Kong, BLADE is a violent epic employing fast edits and a dynamic camera, instead of the panoramic shots of the original. With half a name, half a sword, and half of a martial arts textbook, a martial arts protege with one arm transforms himself into a whirling dervish of a swordsman--more an anarchic force, rather than the graceful flying swordsmen of Hark's martial arts fantasies. An atmosphere of suffocation, repressed eroticism, and abject suffering dominates the film, which culminates in a climactic battle that martial arts cineastes will enjoy. There is very little that is heroic about the film; more often than not, people with good intentions are brutally slaughtered, while those who prey on the weak seem to constitute an endless horde. The bleakness of the film recalls the mood of A BETTER TOMORROW, which Hark produced. Like ASHES OF TIME, which was released just one year before Hark's film, THE BLADE verges on the philosophical, with an untrustworthy narrator who is not quite sure what is happening around her.

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Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on May 10, 2006 8:01 AM

This Special WideScreen Edition of Tsui Hark's stunning remake of the Shaw Brother's classic One - Armed Swordsman is visually an extravaganza of martial - arts mayhem . He blends violent action and stunning swordplay in a sweeping epic which highlights the incredible fighting talent of Chiu Cheuk , Hong Kong's latest action
star . When a master sword - maker adopts the son of a murdered friend , ( Chiu Cheuk ) , the boy learns the master's craft well . As a young man he learns about his father's death at the hand of a mysterious tattooed killer ( Xiong Xin - Xin ) . Vengeance he seeks !

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Aspect Ratio:	Wide Screen
Main Language:	Cantonese
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive Menus, Scene Selection, Original Theatrical Trailer, Digitally Remastered
Subtitles:	English
Year:	1995
Release Date:	April 17, 2000
Runtime:	100 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D V 1021
Label:	Hong Kong Classics
Keywords:	Action, Subtitled, Blade, General, Wide, Screen, Adventure, Cantonese, Dao
Genre:	Action/Adventure