The Blade cover art

The Blade Details

1995 Certificate 18
  • 60
  • from 550 members

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 .. Read more

Starring Chiu Cheuk, Xin Xin Xiong, Song Nei
Director Tsui Hark
Genres Action/Adventure, World Cinema

loading loading...

The Blade

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.

Starring Chiu Cheuk, Xin Xin Xiong, Song Nei
Director Tsui Hark
Studio AMAZON WEB
Run time DVD: 1 hr 40 mins
Certificate Certificate 18
Genres Action/Adventure, World Cinema
Language DVD: Cantonese
Subtitles DVD: English
Released Production year: 1995

To Rent:
DVD: 17 Apr 2000

Like it What's this?

Rating breakdown

550 Member ratings
  • 100
36
  • 90
31
  • 80
77
  • 70
81
  • 60
110
  • 50
72
  • 40
59
  • 30
35
  • 20
31
  • 10
18

Buy from Amazon.co.uk


    • The Blade
      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 ...