Marking this movie as a great martial arts flick is an insult to movie makers who do put effort in their work. Yes, the camera-work is excellent and yes there is a lot of swordplay, even very enjoyable but only for a short time. The martial arts/ swordplay looks good but it is average compared to other titles. The story seems interesting, but in fact you have to be drunk or high to understand the deeper meaning of it. I know they tried to give the movie some drama to intensify the experience, but they fail completely! Martial arts movies have to be about the action and style! This movie doesn't deliver this. The acting is below average. It is obvious that the actors don't believe in their part! This movie fails on so many levels that i have to advise against this movie. If you encounter this movie anywhere, IGNORE it!
Reaction to author matrixwomble: I have seen a lot of martial arts movies,since I was a small child and could not understand a word of Chinese. But even when I couldn't understand it I enjoyed the action. Chinese martial arts,Japanese Martial arts ,Bruce Lee's Jeet Kun Do,Jackie Chan,Jet Li,Sammo Hung,Yuen Baio,Tsui Hark (very creative and brilliant director and producer),,Yuen Woo ping (director,choreographer),Ti Lung...I can go on and on.. and all the modern Hk stuff are a passion of mine. So with all respect (I am not from another planet)I know what I am talking about. I can name "Duel to the death, "Swordsman Trilogy", Iron Monkey for example which have much better displays of swordplay and martial arts. I can dazzle you with other titles,but that would be a very long list. "What price survival" isn't one of them and will never be one of them. The actors who played in the movie are famous martial artists from the old days. They displayed much better skills than in this movie.