Book of Swords

Ho-Sung Pak is a pretty neat guy. With credits that include fighting Jackie Chan in DRUNKEN MASTER II, playing a Ninja Turtle (twice), and portraying the lead character in the original MORTAL KOMBAT games, you'd wonder why he never became a recognized action hero in the vein of Don Wilson or Phillip Rhee. The answer is that when left to his own devices, Pak's output is boring, as best expressed by BOOK OF SWORDS - a film so inherently lackluster that it collected dust for almost a decade after it was made before receiving distribution, and then only via overseas outlets. Trust me, there's a reason this one never saw a North American release.

The story: Policeman Lang (Pak) attempts to avenge the murder of his brother at the hands of a vicious crime syndicate, unaware that he's about to become the key player in the reckoning days of an age-old prophecy...

God, what a good cast this movie squandered... Along with Pak, the film is practically a reunion of MORTAL KOMBAT performers, including Richard "Kano" Divizio, Dan "Johnny Cage" Pesina, and Katalin "Mileena" Zamiar, along with Kevin Christie, good ol' Taimak, and Pak's own brother and fellow WMAC MASTERS alumnus Ho-Young as part of the ensemble. Needless to say, I expected a lot from this unique fighting cast, but was disappointed terribly by their collective misuse and underutilization. There's more hand-to-hand action in here than in Pak's future starring picture, but next to none of it is very good. The choreography is decent at best but the camera-work is awful - fighters are rarely filmed below the waist - and a decisive lack of sound effects makes the fights feel like homemade efforts. Only two of the brawls are any good at all (i.e. the last two encounters) and none of them feature any recurring fighters other than Ho-Sung.

The beginning of the movie teases some intrigue about this ancient prophecy with some deep voiceovers and fantasy illustrations, but the ensuing storyline focuses so much on the basic revenge plot that when something supernatural does actually happen, it's a shock. Long stretches without dialogue or action are just as tiresome as boring conversations about Lang's relationship woes or expositional monologues about the prophecy. Scenes that should have been filled with tension - like when officers Pak and Taimak investigate an undercover drug deal - just don't pull off the suspense, mainly because none of the characters have been written well enough for you to care about what happens to them. Additionally, none of the performers can act worth beans, with Kevin Christie's performance as a crazy main henchman being the absolute worst.

The fact that the MORTAL KOMBAT-affiliated performers pay homage to their video game personas through appearance and fighting style is pretty neat. In a pinch, you could even consider this film an alternate universe to the MK world; it's just too bad that it's not a cooler one. I really can't recommend this movie to anyone, since it neither fulfills the obligations of a good martial arts flick nor is so bad that it's worth watching for comedic value. Condensed, BOOK OF SWORDS is a slow, dark, humorless kung fu film that feels like it has no idea of the potential greatness its cast and independent nature affords it. Don't bother hunting it down like I did.

Managed to sneak my way into a viewing. Good story..great conflicts. Main character Ho Sun Pak, playing a cop "OFFICER LAING" was amazing in martial arts and toned down his acting performance at the right times to be bullied by 3 wild characters on a mission to destroy him.

I was scared off my pants by the character of "X-MAN"..I think played by a British actor with a deep menacing look..Kevin Ula Christie. I hope I never run into him, even though at times he was quite comedic and almost dishy.

This movie has the right blend of deep dialogue and action, and is very different to the run of the mill martial arts. This has story, strong acting, great fight scenes, warm crisp cinematography, and the dialogue was thought provoking.

Good job whoever you guys are!

Well, in response to the previous comment, I am a martial arts fan and I did not like this movie. The main reason is stated in my one-line summary: when the hero slaughters anonymous opponents by the dozen, as he often does here, it's not exciting - it's boring. There are only two good fight scenes in this movie: the one with the bald guy and the last one. These are the only ones where the villains put up much of a fight. As for the "no wires or special effects were used in the fight scenes" disclaimer, well, they used a lot of camera effects which in martial arts films is almost the same thing as special effects, as for the "no wires" part, it would be a lot more impressive if the lead (or anyone else) actually did anything that REQUIRES wires in the first place. Don't get me wrong, he obviously has the moves, but he doesn't do anything that I haven't seen before from guys like, say, Keith Cooke. The script is ambitious but ultimately silly, and the direction is often clueless as to how to shoot a fight scene. The actress who plays the hero's love interest packs a mean right punch - I'd like to see her again. (*1/2)

i wonder what kind of people watch this movie ??? I think martial arts lovers go out and see this movie !? Why is the ranking so low, because the martial arts is one of the best i've seen in years. good story, lots of action, lots of fighting. what more could an audience want? it was a tough decision to give the right ranking for this movie. Although the actors performance was good, if they have put a jet-Li or chow yun fat in the leading role it would have been a world wide success. one thing i didn't like about it was, that it took place in the u.s. the return of this tyrant is supposed to be a 500 year old Asian myth. Why did this have to take place in the us & why in the city of Chicago? The mix between Asians & Americans didn't bother me that much, but i think an Asian cast would have been better. and one point deduction for the city of Chicago. it would have been way cooler if it took place somewhere in the orient.

My Final conclusion: Martial arts lovers "go to the blockbuster closest to your home and go see this movie".

I watched it in 2018 and this 1996 movie is poorly directed and poorly edited but is great to watch for those who has mortal kombat nostalgia, because of the actors/actresses who were playing the roles the MK games are all portraying same characters in this movie but with different names. Usually we say so bad it's good, but here we say it's so bad that it's epic great.

The story is about detective Lang (Ho Sung Pak) who is chasing a gangster Taz (Richard Divizio) who is searching for the book of swords that can give him magical power. What they both don't know is the book can also release a soul of an evil warlord and whoevers body he takes over will have unlimited powers and only the Warrior who is born in the year of the dragon can stop him.

I love this movie because of the nostalgia of 1996 and most of all the feeling of finally a real Mortal Kombat movie, specially the disco fight scene with Ho Sung Pak and Daniel Pesina , those two actors played Liu Iang and Johnny Cage in the game and when they had their epic battle in the disco in this movie I couldn't help screaming oh my god a MK movie coming to life.

I recommend it to all mortal kombat fans, and it's my favorite I've watched in 2018.