Review by vertigo_14

'By the Sword' was an odd, misplaced one I came across at the video store and was glad I tried it out. It's the only movie that I've ever seen that's all about fencing. First off, you'd really have to want to watch more than an hour and a half of fencing competition, because it is essentially the WHOLE movie. This particular story is something like a martial arts cliché wrapped in the sophistication of 'fencing.' Eric Roberts plays a hardened fencing instructor. Kind of like the Cobra Kai master in 'Karate Kid,' but less overt in his schemes. F. Murray Abraham plays an ex-convict with a secret connection to Eric Roberts' character, although the latter doesn't yet know it. Attempting to reform and start over, he comes to the dojo looking for a teaching job. Rusty in his technique however, he starts out as a janitor and gradually works his way up. Roberts' character, "the Meistro," even becomes a little jealous and uses the guy's trust and craft as a strategy against his students. Ends in a huge, though mostly exaggerated showdown.

Overall, there is much repetition because the entire thing is set in this fencing arena and involves almost nothing but fencing, but there is a nice arrangement of character and attempt at a bit of mystery that might pique your interest. It's also one of the few movies I haven't seen Eric Roberts do his 'Pope of Greenwhich Village' accent. If for nothing else see it just to watch something different.