Qi jian

With this film, the Asians seem to have reclaimed the "Seven Samurai" plot line but here the seven are somewhat haphazardly chosen (since the skill lies not with the person itself but the particular sword he or she brandishes, hence the title). However, by concentrating on the romantic complications in which a few of the main characters become embroiled, some of the warriors are kept too much in the background…but the leader of the seven is as unassuming as Takashi Shimura had been in SEVEN SAMURAI (1954), while the chief villain is flamboyantly played in the manner of Eli Wallach from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)! There is no denying the fact that its mainstay are the epic scope of the production itself (highlighting the meticulous period detail) and the elaborate action sequences which, thankfully, are rarely implausible - as most actioners from Asia (even the more critically lauded ones) tended to be of late! Apparently, the film (which runs for more than 2½ hours) was trimmed down from an even longer version; though the IMDb doesn't mention this, a Maltese friend of mine who's a veritable Asian-film nut assured me of it…and, in fact, the narrative did feel kind of choppy to me!

I walked in to the theater with a big hope that this film will be, at least, the same quality as Once Upon a Time in China. To my disappointment, it is a totally different film - in a bad way.

When I saw the opening sequence I began to feel that Tsui Hark has been influenced by modern pop culture and tried to target new audiences - the young ones. The way he dressed his characters are very much like what I saw on those RPG games (thick make up, big weapons, cute girls/ cool heroes, etc...), and I think he succeed in this department. I amazed with the amount and look of the swords and weapons exhibited in this film - the whistling sword is my favorite one!! :) Too bad, good production design doesn't supported with strong storyline. I think there's too much character in the film that makes it hard which one to focus on. To be fair, it is also affected by the poor translation that, somehow, damage the film's flow.

So, as an entertainment, i think Seven Sword is a good film to watch; but if you wish to see something more serious like Tsui Hark's old films i have to say that don't put too much hope on this one...

What i've seen simply can not be fully described, it's a movie full of emotions and heroism. Whoever directed this movie knows his craft even more than Kurosawa and Godard ever did. Incidentally when i already mentioned J.L.Godard, i must admit that i'm a bit perplexed why so many European critics constantly comparing this film to Godard's style... i don't remember Godard ever did an epic film like this. Anyway, this wuxia film cares more about the characters than most of the films of this genre i've seen in the past, including Touch of Zen or One-armed Swordsman, this gives them a very good development throughout the film.

Of course, the movie has a very challenging nature right from the very beginning as to the way how some of the fight scenes and story development being treated on the film. What i liked the most was the second half of the film because only then it started to give the meaning what the film is about... the characters! Not one scene or just a one single second of the film is wasted, everything there has the reason and meaning. The romance as much as the action of the film are evidently the most important and the most effective. It kind of shows the viewers that the romantic sub-plots is what this whole series is supposed to be about. Honestly, i found myself crying several times during the film, especially in the middle when Zhang Jingchu talks about love with so-yeon Kim, that scene is almost unbearable in terms of the emotional intensity induced mostly just by looking at both actresses's eyes and facial expressions and almost no dialogue(!)... strictly genius! Another (almost) cry inducing scene is right at the end when Hanzhiban decides which way to go, which is clearly one of the most important and emotional moments in the film.

The fact that this movie is in no way some popcorn is also one of the aspects i admired very much because it's much more demanding than usual wuxia films were used to be in the past. It tries to carry several strong messages and images that can very easily grave in your mind, so i must warn you all that it's a very memorable film that you won't certainly forget so soon.

The movie is an obvious antithesis to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero or House of Flying Daggers, strictly speaking, it's one of the most realistic wuxia films out there and far better than any one of those futile attempts at this genre. But on the other hand this is also a movie that relies on the imagination and acuity of intelligence of the viewer. What we have here is a very intelligent movie that goes against many expectations as i noticed, and that's a good sign i think because i believe that best and the strongest films are usually those that situate themselves on the border between love and hate.

However, be aware that if you find yourself entirely immersed in this fictional world of seven swords throughout the movie you won't be disappointed in its powerful end... and trust me, it'll leave you wanting more. A perfect testament of the perfect movie! It's without any doubt one of the best wuxia films that appeared in the recent years but i'm sure that only the time will tell that it's probably destined to be the best wuxia film in the Asian film-making history. Just wait if you want or see this fascinating and magnificent jewel immediately!

Tsui Hark's 'Chat Gim' is visually wonderful. The breathtaking and landscape, the beautiful set design and colourful frame, the brilliant composition of images, the mesmerizing cinematography and skilled editing superbly come together. Hark parallel's good vs evil and beautiful vs awful very well. He clearly takes his inspiration from the masterworks of Kurosawa (even though this film is an adaptation) and, in my opinion, produces something better than the likes of Ang Lee's overrated 'Wo Hu Cang Long'.

The only minor drawback, I'd say, is that the story is not anything new and it is not as impactive as Kurosawa's work. Then again, Hark manages to bring his own style and give it a unique presentation and 'Chat Gim' by no means is pretentious piece of work. The subplots fit well together and the characters are interesting. Perhaps a few could have been further developed? However, the actors do an adequate job. The fight scenes are not too many but they're appropriately set within the context of the story. They are very well choreographed and do not look over the top as is the case in many films ('Wo Hu Cang Long' being an example of such). Unlike other films of this genre, this one is very human.

It's a bit funny how I got hold of the DVD. My brother owned it and I was teasing him that I'll take the DVD and keep it (he gets very irritated when I do that) and to my surprise he told me that I can have it. Now I'm glad I get to keep the film. Hark put a lot of heart in the making of this beautiful film. It's certainly one of the better films from the Wuxia genre (one of the best I've seen so far). It's not only visually pleasing, it has a heart of gold :).

I agree with the above (or below) reviewer, the film was excellent, i just got home from watching it at the cinema. The characters were great and the story (U NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO IT) is really good, the only issue i had was that it seemed to jump, like say one second the characters are doing one thing and the next there's a whole new bunch of characters and your like- well where in hell did they come from, and sometimes i found links silly, its like scenes were cut our for necessity, but it didn't necessarily aid the film. please watch it and when i comes out on DVD no doubt it'll have a bunch of deleted scenes, but its really worth seeing. I went with my Nan and even she enjoyed it. Now what does that say!?