Sha ren zhe Tang Zhan

The Assassin is a very violent and well done swordplay epic. The tone and storytelling are very consistent in this film. Zhang Fengyi, Max Mok, Rosamund Kwan and the rest of the cast did a real good job in bringing this story and world to life. The film has little humor and maintains a cold and bleak tone to show the harsh and unforgiving lives of assassins(and their victims) in Ming Dynasty China. The Assassin looks beautiful, but maintains a gritty tone and style. The fight choreography is not very flashy here, but very effective and at times very brutal. The action is quite savage and the violence gets real graphic with brutal beheadings, disembowelments and other assorted kung fu carnage. There are nods to Japanese samurai films as well as American westerns. Overall, The Assassin is very well done and is a top notch Chinese swordsman movie.

Tong Po Ka, played by a young Zhang Feng Yi - star of Red Cliff 1&2, and The Emperor & The Assassin - tries escaping down-river with his lover, Rosamund Kwan of whom he has been accused of kidnapping. Chased by hundreds of men, they are caught and he is shipped off to a dark and violent prison where the red-eyed rats feed on the blood of men, and prisoners get their eyelids stitched closed in a graphically disturbing fashion.

There's a reason Billy Chung's epic The Assassin is a Category 3 movie, and in about 6 minutes of its running time, you start to see why!

A tale of forbidden love, and a fight for survival, this 1993 graphic swordplay, martial arts flick is not director Chung's first foray into Cat 3 territory having made the dark, Love To Kill. Beautifully shot with stunning cinematography from Zhao Fei (who also shot Warriors Of Heaven & Earth, Raise The red Lantern, and Let The Bullets Fly), the film just oozes that Hong Kong new-wave style of film-making with gorgeously lit night shots, smoke filled scenes, and great set-pieces...

The handsome Max Mok Siu Chung soon joins the story as another assassin for the band of killers, joining Zhang since his recruitment from prison. Not long after, we are treated to a decent attack on officials in a nearby town with some bloody action, enhanced with a little wire-fu by choreographers Stephen Tung Wei and Benz Kong To Hoi. While they don't bring anything spectacular to the screen, the fights still entertain and offer enough great moves and violence to keep fans happy!

At this stage, Zhang has become a ruthless killer, letting no man stand in his way and enjoying the smell of burning corpses at his feet. Both he and Mok bond together, often fighting side-by-side as more missions come along. Obviously, that isn't to last as Zhang finds Rosamund Kwan once again who is now married with a child, and defies his master to try and escape the killing life.

Thankfully, it also means escaping that dreadful wig!

Forced to fight his new friend to the death, Zhang must take on the Assassination Factory in a bid to get his life back and survive the violent world he now lives in. Thankfully, this results in a few more pretty sweet battles reminiscent of classics such as The Bride With White Hair, Blade Of Fury, and Burning Paradise. While flawed in many areas, The Assassin still entertains and offers plenty of bloody action in its short running time...

Overall: Like a violent Ashes Of Time, only a little more straight forward, The Assassin is pretty sweet and a forgotten classic of the Hong Kong new-wave era!

This film offers plenty: perfectly choreographed swordfights with dozens of men, a nice plot and gore. The fast-paced action sequences are well timed during the film so I have never been bored while watching the movie. Everyone who liked A Chinese Ghost Story should not hesitate and get this film. One last word to the gore hounds: Though there are lots of amputations, everything happens so fast that you hardly have time to watch it, but don't cry: there is a scene where a man gets his eyes sewn and it is shown very explicit. Overall this film is worth a 9/10.

The fighting was dull and unspectacular, the story was likewise rather boring and cliched. The action tries to get by on the sheer force of its violence rather than by exciting, well choreographed sequences. There certainly is a lot of violence, rather graphic in relation to other movies of the genre (many beheadings and dismemberments, and most notably an eye-sewing-shut scene), but it is a VERY poor substitute for good action. I think it's terribly unfortunate that this movie has received full DVD release and The Blade (Dao) (1995) has not, as that movie shared the same form of unnerving violence, but it was much, MUCH better done on every level.

The Assassin (1993) is one of the few Hong Kong movies to earn a category III rating just for it's shear brutality. Usually a CAT. III is awarded for excessive sex, nudity or violence but this one was earned for it's bloody carnage. Rosamund Kwan co-stars as the former love of Fengyi Zhang. Kwan and Zheng are two lovers who's love for each other is forbidden. When Zheng refuses to acknowledge this, he's imprisoned and brutally punished. While in prison, he becomes an assassin for an evil eunuch. Upon his release, he tutors an up and coming assassin (Max Mok). while under his wing, Mok slowly turns into something that Zheng could never be.

Highly recommended for H.K. Cinema fans. Be warned because this film is violent!!