Sword Master

Sword Master 2016 is a wu xia martial arts movie remake of a old Shaw Bros movie Death Duel 1977 starring Derek Yee as the main character now he back again as the director of the new version.The original version is not terrible but also not that good to begin with but the new version is absolutely better in every aspect.The character is more well developed,the cinematography is as good as a wu xia movie can get and the action scene is flat out awesome.I find the actors in this version fit with the story more than the old cast.The conflict between the two sword master played by Kenny Lin and Peter Ho is more fleshed out although some of the random stuff and a boring romantic subplot is still there but at least this time it not meaningless.They definitely up the wire work action in this one cause the original is traditional Chinese swordplay but it work well in this version.Highly recommend to martial arts movie fan

Hong Kong powerhouses Derek Yee and Tsui Hark team up to bring this lavish, beautifully made production to the fans. A loose remake of 1977's fantastic Death Duel which starred Derek Yee in the lead role - both of which are a take on the novel by Gu Long, this update was made for the 3D market although still highly impresses when watched as normal.

While a little confusing in the long-run, of which I put down to its main leads Kenny Lin and Peter Ho looking too much alike as well as its interconnecting flashbacks, the film does entertain enough to keep you watching - finally ironing itself out in the later half.

With incredible sets and locations (some of which are CGI enhanced), beautiful costumes and non-stop swordplay/wire-fu action, Swordmaster is a stunningly polished version of films such as Zu Warriors; Swordsman 2; Moon Warriors; Bride With White Hair and many more - and to me, falls very easily alongside those classics as one of the best in its genre.

Kenny Lin (Taking of Tiger Mountain; The Great Wall) strangely enough reminds me of Kenny Ho (Red Wolf; Project A 2) and impresses as the lead of the film, hiding in a brothel and neighbouring village as Useless Chi, avoiding the troubles and nightmares that plague him from his earlier days with his father and cult leader Hsieh, played by the wonderful Norman Tsui Siu Keung.

Peter Ho as the tattooed face assassin Yen Shi San is just brilliant, with his opening scene on the snowy bridge setting the pace for the rest of the film and taking part in the most of the films major action scenes wonderfully choreographed by the fantastic Yuen Bun and Dion Lam.

With plenty of great characters and performances, there is hardly a slow moment throughout the whole film, with every shot beautifully framed and captured, it just keeps your eyes glued to the screen for its full running time. Swordmaster may suffer from a few minor CG flaws as well as the aforementioned story telling at the beginning, but its a damn near perfect wu xia film and one I have enjoyed re-watching time and time again...

Overall: A stunningly action-packed revisit to HK's golden years in style, Swordsman is highly recommended!

I great movie as expected of Tsui Hark. I enjoyed as well the story as the great filming. It's a matter of taste, the last part I liked less visually, but as I said, it's a matter of taste. Nevertheless a great movie and I really enjoyed it.

Sword Master is a martial arts action movie directed by Derek Yee and stars Lin Gengxin, Peter Ho, Jiang Yiyan and Jiang Mengjie.

A skilled swordsman who is haunted by his past leaves his deadly skills and starts living simple life. The movie is a cocktail of emotions, romance, revenge and finally redemption.

To be honest I am little perplexed about this movie as the movie has elements to entertain but on the other side the uneven pace also deviates from it's path. The action of the movie is praiseworthy but too much use of CGI results in lack of originality.

Acting is decent and Peter Ho was the most impressive of them all in the role of Yen Shin-San, he is funny as well as brutal. Lin Gengxin is impressive but is almost similar throughout the movie apart from his very few romantic scenes, he also didn't looks impressive in action scenes, Jiang Yiyan is superb and Jiang Mengjie also looked good.

Screenplay as mentioned above is uneven it's is going very fast and all of sudden it's gets very slow. Action and stunts are great but too much use of CGI works as a spoiler. Climax of the movie is predictable but decent.

Overall this is a decent action movie and can be watched once, the lovers of Martial Arts action movie will enjoy this movie.

Rundong He's performance is surprisingly the best in this embarrassing movie. I am even shocked by the unreasonable and confusing character Yeqing Zhu who is asking "Do you love me?" all the time. The most confusing scene is that villagers blamed Yan Shisan for not teaching them Kungfu after he just saved all of them. What's even more unacceptable is that Shisan Yan forced into the town and killed all people near the bad boss and screaming "I will never be a selfish man!" Although many details in this movie cannot be explained ideally, the relationship between Shisan Yan and Xiaofeng Xie really moved me a lot. Two respectable swordsmen pitied each other's talent and spirit.