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Story: The estate of the Kao family was attacked by Pai an enemy of the Kao family. The last member of the Kao family barely escapes with his life and seeks to avenge himself. His old teacher refuses to help him because he is too caught up in anger and hate. Kao hears of a famous hero in the local town, he tries to befriend him so that he might have his aid in taking revenge against Pai.
Review: This is an old style Swordplay/Kung Fu movies, considered one of the best films of its genre. The style of swordplay used in this movie is very realistic, that is what sets this movie apart from the new trend swordplay movies with CGI special effects. The story takes place in ancient china, its about friendship and heroes. The story is easy to follow but there are quite a few surprises that you would not expect from the beginning.
Like in most of the older movies from Hong Kong, you have some pretty good characters. The good guys are very likable and righteous and the villains are both ruthless and manipulative. There isn't any character development but somehow the actors are really able to transmit the essence of the characters they play. You end up getting attached to the characters and each time their lives are in danger you worry for them. The acting is good and not to mention their skill in martial arts.
This is a movie with a lot of action and they made sure it was high quality. Right from the beginning when there is the first big sword fight, you know you are going to be in for something good. The choreography of the fights is simply beautiful, they especially paid close attention to the duel like fights. Another thing to mention with all the swords swinging around, some scenes tend to get bloody but its not overdone. Another thing that was pretty cool was at a certain point in the movie the heroes had to fight enemies that all had a certain strange talent. This made for to unique and interesting fights. A lot of attention was placed on the fighting art in this movie and that makes it really good for the action part. A good 95% of the fights are realistic, they don't use any wire or other special effect to make impossible moves. Don't expect fight like in Zu warriors or any magical swordplay movies for that matter... well, except one fight.
The subtitles were clear and readable, we had no trouble following the dialogs. This movie is one of the rare swordplay movies that John Woo has made, just goes to show how versatile her is. The movie reminded us of one thing, one of those old legend about great heroes in the land. A lot of the old Kung Fu and Swordplay movie set in this time period are like that, maybe that is why we have such an interest in them. As for this movie it can easily be considered a great classic in its genre. The mix of great characters, a story of heroes and excellent action always makes for a good movie. If there are any swordplay fans who have not yet had the chance to see this movie we strongly encourage you to do so.
   
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