Xin bi xue jian

Its taken me a while to see this little gem of a film, and it was not what I was expecting at all...

It felt about 3 hours long, not in a bad way, but just because it had so much going on!

Yuen Biao plays a fast kicking constable who is trying to take n criminal Sharla Cheung Man as the martial world battles around him. With many great faces of Hong Kong cinema portraying kung fu masters, the Sword Stained With Royal Blood becomes a who's-who of cameos and supporting roles that only adds to the madness that ensues!

From the get-go, we soon realise that this is not to be taken seriously, even though for a good portion of it, there is heavy drama, tear jerking deaths and some serious characters, but with that said, this plays like a companion piece to the corny and fantastic Flying Daggers with Tony Leung and Jacky Cheung.

From that movie, we have once again in hilarious form, the incredible Ng Man Tat who provides the most laughs throughout. That's in between all the swordplay, crazy effects, wire-fu and drama.

So yes, I guess at the end of the day, the Sword Stained With Royal Blood is a typical 90's Hong Kong classic, and all fans of Yuen Biao, Danny Lee, and HK fantasy films should really check it out!

Great fun!!

Made in the same year as his other swordsman style move classic Deadful Melody, Yuen Biao stars in this impressive seminal classic.

Directed very differently by Cheung Hoi-Ching, Yuen Biao plays a chief constable on the tail of the mysterious Golden Snake Man who also appears to be a killer, (played very impressively by Danny Lee).

Unlike most one-dimensional 'bad guys' who are in most movies, director Cheung Hoi-Ching masterfully weaves a complicated back-story of the Golden Snake Man's (Danny Lee) past. While Danny Lee's immaculate playing gives his character a three-dimensional shape.

Also, director Cheung Hoi-Ching surrounds Yuen Biao with a dynamic cast filled with wonderfully varied characters played brilliantly by the cast (which includes Ng Man-Tat, Anita Mui and the impressive Man Cheung). The two love stories between the two main protagonists (Yuen Biao and Danny Lee) are both diverse and complicated.

Although some people have complained that the story-line is too difficult to follow, this is probably because the current flow of films are very brainless (unfortunately) so nowadays most people complain when an movie which appeals to a person of an IQ of over 5 comes out.

Although made in the same year as the wonderful Deadful Melody, these two swordsman style movies are very different. This movie contains a haunting soundtrack, immaculate performances from the whole cast. The direction and the cinematography itself is nothing short of wonderful.

What director Cheung Hoi-Ching does so masterfully is surround himself with all of the above with a beautiful site at the end. And unlike most swordsman movies, Sword Stained with Royal Blood has a huge diverse universe of characters all with a back story, with an intelligent storyline and a bitter-sweet denouement with the love story between Yuen Biao and Man Cheung.

The Sword Stained with Royal Blood is an uncommon piece of swordsman style move. Assured, intelligent, patient, meditative and different.

Those unfamiliar with the "Martial World" sub-genre of kung fu films will be unprepared for the spectacle about to unfold. Largely based on popular Chinese novels, this genre was very popular in the 1960's and 70's finally dying out with the demise of the Shaw studio. Set in a world far removed from reality these films feature super martial artists and their clans battling for fighting supremacy. Compared to your standard kung fu films, these movies can be impenetrable to non-Chinese audiences. The story was done once before by the renown Chang Cheh but Idoubt that it was anything like this movie.

Yuen Biao plays a constable who gets inadvertently involved in the quarrels of several martial clans while he brings a "thief" to justice. The "thief" is a beautiful princess who had decided to have "fun" pretending to be a thief and getting arrested. Along comes the Golden Snake Man who is slightly crazed and is primed for revenge against the leader of the clans, Lord Wan, who massacred Snake Man's village and stole his wife ten years earlier. A "Poison" clan run by women, a crazy old master who bounces around like a ball, and a Manchurian who seems to have magnetic powers over swords, complete the chaos.

Much like earlier "martial world" films, the parade of characters is dizzying. Familiarity with the novel might help but translations are not easy to come by. The subtitles don't help at all with lots of pronoun mistakes and strange choices of English. And like the earlier films there are lots of incredible martial art feats that require wires and animated rays. Most of the fights are filmed in 1990's style with lots of cuts, wide angle camera shots and movement that doesn't really connect but it goes so fast that it doesn't really matter. The first big scene has a flying log ship, with ninjas riding on top, that swings into the scene and rams into a pagoda. The cables the ship hangs from are very visible and nothing is done to pretend that they aren't there. This sets the tone for the whole film. Watch it but woe to anyone who takes it seriously.

The photography is very good and the actors are all very good given the crazy material. The film is paced very well and never bores. The attempts at melodrama almost work but the craziness surround the drama makes it hard to be involved. There's lots of fun fight scenes but little in the way of real martial arts. The finale is partially shot in an amazing cavern with the actors flying very high over actual rock formations. The two drawbacks are the confusing story and the abrupt ending, but this is very traditional for the genre as well.

Very fun light film watching. Recommended.

Superb movie with exciting scenes.Great plot and subtle character development.befits the genre.Wire work done with ease. great costumes and enough wire-fu to definitely rank this film as a tried and true way to present the chivalry/warrior theme. Golden snake style..i love it...

This version of the Louis Cha novel has little to do with Shaw's 1981 film of the same name - the one with the Venoms - which is a shame because that's by far the superior picture. This one is a typically muddled wuxia movie of the early 1990s, with elaborate wirework stunts and crazy practical effects, but it really labours in the confused plotting which'll have you scratching your head throughout. Yuen Biao is the nominal hero, a constable caught up in treachery and double-dealing and accompanied by four women of various hues. Danny Lee plays a magical swordsman and lots of other familiar faces have more minor roles. Good visuals, but they really needed to work on that plot...