Seven Swords (2005) User Reviews

No one mentioned Kenji Kawai the music composer yet..

[zhixiong · 7/10 · 15 August 2005]

I am a sound guy and always feel that audio plays a big part in the success of a film. Look at Braveheart or Lord of the Rings or Moulin Rouge.

Seven Swords soundtrack is composed by Kenji Kawai. A talented Japanese that has composed music for Japanese Anime: Ranma ½, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell, Blue Seed, Patlabor 2 & 3, Gunparade March, etc and movies for The Ringu, The Ringu 2, Dark Water, Princess Blade, etc.

Kenji Kawai is one of the top Japanese music composer, together with the ranks of Yoko Kanno, Joe Hisaishi, Nobuo Uematsu (godfather of Final Fantasy I to XII music).

I won't comment too much on Seven Swords story itself because I did not read the novel written by Liang Yu-Shen. It will be unfair to criticize how accurate or inaccurate Tsui Hark based his movie on. Did Donnie Yen's character 'Chu Zhaonan' and the mysterious girl spoke Korean in the original novel? Or it is Tsui Hark's idea to add some Korean flavor, hoping to break into the Korean market?

I do want to say that the fighting scenes are too tightly edited. Too many different camera angle cuts during a single fight scenes make my eyes sore. I believe the quick cuts was edited to make the characters look more skilled and smooth because in actual filming, they have difficulties handling the heavy swords or stunts.

Mao points: 7/10

Excellent Film. Deserving of more praise!

[UberNoodle · 7/10 · 6 October 2005]

Just finished watching Seven Swords. I have no idea why people are so against it. Sure, at 2 and a half hours length, it is still missing over an hour, but I had no trouble understanding the story, and to me the characters were pretty fleshed out. For some reason people are dead set against this film, and I wonder if it has to do with Crouching Tiger, Hero and Daggers?

Maybe these people haven't seen The Bride With White Hair, The Blade or films like that. I get the impression that many complaints are leveled by Hollywood trained fans who don't yet understand the context of this film. Whatever the case, this film deserves accolades for it's imagination and for hewing so close to sword fight movie tradition.

The action was fantastic and the fights were creative and very clever. Yes, they did it with wires. That's why we keep coming back. The swords themselves rules, and the cinematography had that Tsui Hark attention to detail. The middle of the film has mostly dramatic elements, building up to a huge finale. I never thought it dragged on, and I found myself rapt until the final credit rolled.

Seven Swords was beautifully shot, the characters embodied the fantasy perfectly and acting was full of heart. Get it.

SEVEN SWORDS (Tsui Hark, 2005) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 28 April 2006]

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!

Tsui Hark is back

[harry_tk_yung · 20 August 2005]

Not sure if I can call it a "misfortune" but director TSUI Hark certainly faces the predicament of having made "Mountain Zu". For those who have watched it, it is difficult not to fall into the thinking of "well, if he could do this in 1983, what wonders will he be able to do in the 21st century". It's a tough benchmark.

Zu II (2001) was a disappointment, flashy but little else. In "7 Swords", however, director Tsui finally got it all together again, and for a good reason. Zu, a fantasy without a really strong story, was sustained essentially by the novelty and dazzling special effects. Zu II, despite Tsui's attempt, still lacks a good story to sustain it and ends up with special effects that look quite hollow. "7 Swords", on the other hand, has good human stories.

Although "7 Swords" is inspired by Leung Yu-sang's novel and characters, it's nowhere near to following the complex stories in the novel. It follows rather the familiar plot of seven heroes leading a group of oppressed against the oppressors, as in Seven Samurai, as in The Magnificent seven and, most recently, as in King Arthur.

In such ensemble stories the lead characters do not dominate the entire plot. Reasonable coverage is given to a large number of other characters and their stories.

The storyline between top billed Leon Lai (as "second sword" Yang Yun-chong) and Charlie Yeung (as Wu Yuan-yin, a village girl who becomes one of the seven) is delightfully simple and natural. It's rather Yang's own history that carries for a while as a mild suspense, and I like the refreshing theme of "no revenge".

Unlike many Hong Kong movies that follow the fashionable trend of having a foreign (Korean or Japanese) actor playing a Chinese character through dubbing, Kim So-yeon from Korea is cast to play a Korean slave girl Luzhu, speaking Korean. Donny Yen's character, "first sword" Chu Zhao-nam, is originally a Korean. (I don't know if the Korean portion of Yen's lines are dubbed or spoken by himself but it's most probably the latter judging from the voice). In contrast to the gentle, barely perceptible affection between Yang and Wu, the passion between Chu and Luzhu is fiery.

Added to this is village girl Liu Yufang's infatuation for Chu which briefly interrupts her relationship with fiancé Han Zhi-ban, who has become one of the seven swords. Another of the seven swords, loner Fu Qing-ju (played by veteran martial artist Liu Chia-liang), has his own painful history which made him vow never to kill again. The remaining two swords are younger characters who have not been given a particular story of their own but have characteristic that make them recognizable.

Other than Kim, the cast is split between actors form Hong Kong and the Mainland of China. This is a well balanced ensemble, with no weak link. My worry that Leon Lai might be a bit too contemporary in looks proved unfounded as he certainly came though with a solid Yang Yun-chong. As for Charlie Yeung, this is not her first martial art appearance, but I doubt if many will remember Wong Kar-wai's "Ashes of time" in which she plays a minor and non-fighting role. In "Seven Swords", Yeung has delivered a very likable simple village girl turned expert swordsman.

Donny Yen and Kim So-yeon have the chemistry to fuel the strong emotion portrayed in their story. The two most notable in the Mainland cast are Sun Honglei who plays the villain Fire-wind and Zhang Jingchu who plays Liu Yufang. In particular, Zhang reminds me of top Taiwan actress Renee Liu, who in her younger days would have been perfect for the role, which Zhang handled very well.

In addition to these main ones, there are a lot more characters and stories to cram into the 140 minute movie. Overall, director Tsui has managed to keep good track of this proliferation of characters, stories and events, through crisp editing and occasion montages of flashbacks to recent occurrences. Those looking for breathtaking photography will not be disappointed. The background music does its job the way it should. Action sequences are well designed. Director Tsui has put it all together in this very respectable epic. Tsui Hark is back.

...not quite what I expected, but still enjoyable...

[brn0081 · 7/10 · 29 July 2005]

Being a big fan of Tsui Hark films, I had been looking forward to this film for a long time, and even though Leon Lai is in the movie, I still thought it would be watchable.

The film was shot quite beautifully, with certain scenes showing some fantastic imagery. However, do not take this to mean that the film was full of beautiful landscapes, no. The way the film was shot was matched fully well with the barren lands that the majority of the scenes take place in.

The music was captivating and suited the moment when you actually noticed it was playing. In my opinion, the typical 'Hero' theme in this film was a perfect mix of cheesiness and just plain, pure brilliance.

The fight scenes were fast and furious, but sometimes, due to the camera work, it was difficult to see what had become of the amazing choreography.

At this particular moment in time, I can only really think of two bad things about the film, the first being pacing and the second being the timeline/editing. The film tends to jump from scene to scene fairly well, but there were certain moments where it is obvious that something was missing, be it dialogue or scenes, and this made the pacing factor unbearable as it seemed forever for the film to get anywhere.

Overall though, I guess if you like wuxia movies, then this might appeal to you, but I still feel quite doubtful that this would actually appeal to a larger audience.

The swords are awesome by the way.... ;) Let's hope that they release a better DVD version though...

Fine entertainment cinema

[jancukon · 7/10 · 27 August 2005]

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...

Not bad, but the 1st half is certainly better than the 2nd

[danielgelsi-1 · 7/10 · 12 September 2005]

The movie started out strong although it was far from "The Seven Samurai", which I believe it intends to emulate. In the first half, I found myself caring about the characters and the non-stop action was exciting. Nevertheless, in the second half, the script started meandering in a number of nonsensical directions and the ending was somewhat ridiculous. Nonsensical is a relative term given that the film was fable like and thus once it stopped making sense it really stopped making sense.

Overall, I recommend the movie since it exceeded my expectations. It's popcorn with good character development tacked on at the beginning and So-yeon Kim is eye candy throughout the film. However, anticipate to find yourself somewhat disappointed towards the end.

Epic in The Modern Sense Of The Word

[benjamin_lappin · 5/10 · 30 December 2006]

Epicism is a dodgy business in cinema, yet it is a "genre" (for want of a better word) which has seen a rapid increase in the number of films being labelled with this description. Epic in the modern sense of the word relates to any period drama film which has scenes of intense action coupled with an overly emotive story line, and clocks in at over two hours. Seven Swords fulfils this requirement.

However, as the film neared the end of its two hour plus tenure, my mind began wandering into a critical standpoint, with anticipation of the review I was to write. I concluded that I had viewed far superior fighting sequences (with Donnie Yen) in Hero, and was far more engrossed by the superb story of Flying Daggers, yet to completely right off this film would be wrong. As it would be with many other modern "epics". Films like Kingdom of Heaven, Alexander, all in the Gladiator mold are inoffensive but never truly captivating, thus the underlying problem with the film.

The antagonists are ripped straight out from Mad Max, and I was half expecting an articulated lorry to emerge and our seven swords to fight on it.

There is no issue with understanding the film, in fact I adore foreign cinema, hence my purchase of this on DVD, yet the story felt slightly forced and often static and incoherent in places, with far too many changes of camera angles. Harking back to an earlier point, the fore-mentioned issue with angles often effects the fighting sequences (billed as some of the most awe inspiring and "epic" - by The Daily Telegraph) you never truly feel immersed in the action, nor do you feel a voyeur of it, it's somewhere in the middle. It's inoffensive yet never truly captivating.

This film is truly a modern day epic. Characters have their moments to reach out and touch the audience, but due to the action based nature of the film never really connect, and we never really identify any real reasoning for the alleged ban on martial arts, it merely seems a cunning ploy to justify grandiose sequences with Donnie Yen. However, for all the slating it is severely watchable, and possibly worth a recommendation to fans of the genre who have time to spare for an Asian epic, but perhaps it's time directors return to their dictionaries and truly find out the meaning of the word, epic.

Love this movie!!!!!!!!!!

[fan_x · 8/10 · 24 December 2005]

Just finished watching the special DVD version of the movie. I love this movie despite its many faults. OK here are the pluses and minus

Plus: Beautifully shot, gorgeous locations, gritty action with wirefu kept to a minimum, AWESOME villains, espicailly the deliciously evil fire-wind, his evil henchmen/woman, all with some of the most original costums, make up and of course weapons (sickles, umbrella that decapitates, spinning shields, 3 katanas at the same time, and of course the 7 swords). Solid acting job by all involved.

Minus:

Due to the cutting form 4hr footage to 2 hr, some of the subplot all totally underdeveloped and should have been cut altogether to make the story flow better, I'm sure with the extra footage it would be more cohesive.

I didn't see all of the bad guys die, there were at least 2 of the 12 henchmen unaccounted for by the end of the movie, again don't know if the 4hr version accounts for them.

I don't mind the different accents but when the supposed characters from the same village speak in wildly different accents that is very annoying. Kind of like trying to make me believe someone with a southern drowl grow up with a guy with a south philly accent, doesn't work no matter how you cut it.

Not enough blood! No seriously! I don't want it like Kill Bill where blood was shotting out like jet stream but when you cut so many necks and limbs with major vessels they got to squirt a little, right?

Despite all its faults, this movie makes me want more stories from its world, know more about the characters, and more sequels. Which is the best and only type of compliment that matters!!

For all its flaws, there is some excellence.

[SugarandIce · 7/10 · 8 December 2013]

Seven Swords is an ambitious film. Let me first say that it manages to not be corny when it easily could have, has several interesting characters, and contains some of the best fight scenes I've ever seen. Because of this, I've rated it higher than I critically feel it deserves which would be around a seven. The films is strangely both too long for its own good, but also leaves most of its subplots and characters underdeveloped. And then its criminal that characters like Kualo are underutilized. However, Donnie Yen is great as always. Seven Swords has the makings for an amazing film, but is quite unpolished in its current state.

Terribly boring, overlong and full of plot holes

[Geschichtenerzaehler · 1/10 · 18 December 2011]

I like martial arts films. I really do. And often I forgive them their silly stories and lack of logic. But not this time. This wannabe epic fails at everything.

For some reason, probably lost in translation, the Chinese emperor wants to eliminate all martial artists and has put a bounty on all of them. Some kind of wild mercenary army using cheap prop mechanical weapons erases entire villages on its path claiming a bounty for each slain person. Obviously imperial officers are pretty dumb...

We soon learn about an endangered village which is in dire need of help. this part of the script is basically a rip off of Seven Samurai. Unfortunately the villagers personalities are so off-putting, that one doesn't care about them at all. They are just a bunch of hate filled, xenophobic idiots. I won't go into the confusing, paradox details here.

Somehow they learn about 7 sword wielding heroes and send for them for help. Said heroes reside on a cold, snow covered mountain top in actual holes in the rock. There is absolutely no clue what the heck they are doing up there all day.

Some troubles later the heroes join the villagers in their task to defend their homes. I don't really recall any good or entertaining martial arts scenes in the middle part of the movie.

Now the movie begins to drag on. Slowly. Very, very slowly. It tries to give every(!) character an elaborate, cliché ridden melodramatic background. It ties hard. Way too hard. Lengthy landscape shots dubbed with overly emotional music accompany these parts.

The only interesting character in the entire movie happens to be the main villain. He isn't nice or charismatic, but he makes up for it with insanity, which sadly is the only entertaining thing you will witness for about 120 minutes.

At the end there's finally a good fight scene. About 2 Minutes long. That's all. I had to endure 150 Minutes of terrible movie making getting there. Absolutely not worth the time.

Easily one of the best Wuxia films ever made!

[hawk5 · 9/10 · 29 March 2006]

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!

A good film

[martin-fennell · 6/10 · 23 August 2009]

I've just watched this movie on DVD, at 135 mins long. I thought it was good, but certainly not a masterpiece. It looked gorgeous though, and had a stirring score. The dialogue was nothing to write home about though eg "protect the innocent villagers" or maybe it was "save the innocent villagers" But i thought it had some really good emotional scenes in it. I did find it confusing as regards keeping track of some of the characters. But that's my problem. The action sequences were good, but not awe inspiring. I didn't think the film was overlong. And that's all the comments I'm gonna make on the movie, except to say i would recommend it. Is that enough?

boredom is inevitable

[thisissubtitledmovies · 2/10 · 31 December 2010]

excerpt, more at my location - Given Tsui Hark's lengthy CV, expectations are understandably high for any of his films, and Seven Swords is no exception. An explosion of unlikely influences, a celebration of genre, a clash of cultures, it should be a multifaceted film wrapped up in layers of meaning. But whether Hark satisfies the challenge that he has set himself remains debatable.

Seven Swords is an admirably accessible beginner's guide to Eastern cinema, but for most, it has opened the doors far too wide and the substance has fallen out. Perhaps original and bold for fearless genre experimentation, and certainly striking for its imagery, it offers nothing to challenge the viewer or even engage them. Placing audiences in an ambiguous position, it makes for uncomfortable viewing - is Hark sharing a story with them, or just patronising them? In either case, more fool him: boredom is inevitable in this painful and over budgeted mess.

Marvellous Monumental Movie from the Wuxia Genre

[Chrysanthepop · 25 January 2008]

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 :).

Visually excellent but overstuffed

[briancham1994 · 7/10 · 2 June 2020]

The best thing about this film is the visual quality of the landscapes, sets and costumes. It makes me wish I could go back in time and see what Qing era China was like. The plot and action were alright. It is let down by being "overstuffed". There were a lot of characters and a lot of things to keep track of. I think it would have been better as a TV series.

Expensive and expansive action fantasy

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 13 December 2016]

When I first heard about SEVEN SWORDS, I imagined it to be another re-imagining of the classic SEVEN SAMURAI, about a bunch of disparate warriors defending a village from an evil warlord. In essence, this is exactly what the film is, but it bears little resemblance to the Kurosawa classic, and for me that's a good thing. Instead the film chronicles a running battle between seven warriors armed with mystical blades and all the bad guys of an army they're up against. This being a Tsui Hark film, it's got a long running time, is visually sumptuous, and packed with stirring music and top-notch technical values.

The actors are all pretty decent in their respective roles. My only complaint is that the film didn't really need seven heroes – they're too many, even despite the long running time, and some of them hardly get a look in (I'm thinking of the bald guy). Donnie Yen headlines the cast and does his usual posturing and fine fighting, and the final battle is pretty much left down to him. There are also some high quality performances from other cast members, notably Honglei Sun's developed villain, Fire-wind, and the girl who played Green Pearl. It's also fun to see Liu Chia-Liang back on screen, looking exactly the same as he did in DRUNKEN MASTER II.

The film has a distinctive visual style and Hark seems to have been hugely influenced by the landscapes and costumes of RETURN OF THE KING. That's no bad role model. Especially at this film's beginning, before you get used to it, the colours are amazing, with washed-out, drab grey landscapes and vibrant red banners and costumes. The set design is spot on, and particular attention has been paid to the weaponry. The heroes all have wicked-looking swords, which make noises, act like magnets, and they each have their own unique values; indeed the swords are as much characters as the actors holding them. The bad guys have plenty of wicked-looking weaponry adept at slicing the limbs and heads off the innocent, and as a result this is a fairly graphic film, although Hark plays down the violence by always focusing away on it (we'll see a leg falling on the ground, but not the act of it being chopped off). One of the weapons reminded me of the flying guillotine.

Of course, this is primarily an action film, and it delivers action in spades. I'd heard that there was a lagging middle, but I was engaged and entertained throughout. The fights are on a large scale and ably incorporate wire work and standard 'grounded' kung fu, and it's all very enjoyable and hard to take your eyes from the screen. I've always considered Hark's choreography to be a little over-stylised – to the detriment of being able to make out what's happening before your eyes – and that complaint sticks here, but it's a personal issue and most will love the many battle scenes. So, on a final note, this is a massive, expensive and very well made action fantasy that delivers a fitting bland of drama and action.

Hark is back

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 5 February 2007]

... but has lost a little bit of his flavor ...

Tsui Hark wasn't/isn't the best director, who came out of the Hong Kong cinema "revolution" (that's what I am calling it). But he was a pretty good one. And although he didn't make always the right choices (his US produced movies), he had some decent movies made.

But now he wants to much with the seven swords. A movie which ticks a few right boxes, if you're looking for the journey of the hero (or heroes in that case), but never feels like it is accomplishing anything.

Not to mention that the movie is just overblown and too damn long for it's own good. And although you have good and fine actors here, and all of them showing their skills (not only their martial arts ones mind you), you still won't be satisfied by this movie.

And it's not only the fault of recent success movies like "Crouching Tiger ...", "Hero" or "House of the flying Dagger", but mostly the fault of Tsui Hark himself.

If you really like this kind of movies, go watch "MUSA - The Warrior" (haven't watched the shorter western version of this movie yet, but the Korean cut is marvelous! Extraordinary! To say the least!)

Hilariously bad

[davetb · 1/10 · 10 July 2012]

A film that can only fully be appreciated when watched with a friend. From the poor dubbing, to the tangled 'plot' this film really is a standout example of how not to make a picture.

The moment I realised that this film experience was an unusual one was that after half an hour of watching the film - my friend turned to me asking "what is her name?". The woman in question was one of the main antagonists of the film who had had a great deal of screen time. She was for the rest of the film known as scary panda lady.

This film had originally been 4 hours long (seeing as it had stopped being funny a good half hour before the end of this 2.5 hour bum-numbing experience, I dread to think of that potential experience), but was cut down to 2.5 hours and unfortunately, you can tell. From frame to frame there are obvious omissions leading to an end product where between frames mystery strangers or major characters simply appear, and the characters can fall asleep in one place waking up in a totally different location wearing different clothes. Overall, it's really quite an astounding watch.

So please do not buy this full price. I am the fourth owner of my copy, as it has been handed from person to person in a desperate attempt at getting rid of it. If I was to run a pub quiz, my prizes would be thus: 1st prize: One copy of seven swords. 2nd prize, two copies.

a good mix of action, story and character (very mild spoiler)

[tjebi · 10/10 · 10 August 2005]

Movies that are purely action based are exciting for a time, but ultimately unsatisfying for me. This film is different, Tsui Hark has included enough back-story for the main characters to explain their motivation. I felt like I understood what was behind their actions and that allowed me to be part of what they were going through. The action sequences were exciting and sometimes brutal but they were only there to provide jeopardy for the victims and motivation for the heroes to act and overcome the dangers. Constant danger is also the context for the final climactic fight scene. Honglei Sun who plays Fire-Wind is a superb bad guy with an arrogant sense of humour. I found myself understanding that he too had some sadness and tragedy that was driving his cruelty. Something else that strikes me about this movie is that I felt I was in amongst the action - rather than watching it from a distance. Zhang Yimou's Hero and House of Flying Daggers were very beautiful but more like theatre where the audience is definitely separate and a little distant from the action. Seven Swords is more immediate and that makes it a stronger film I think. In short, it is an epic story set in an unforgiving landscape, a struggle where courage and integrity fight against greed and brutality.

A blazing action epic is quashed by a sea or boredom

[Deathstryke · 6/10 · 29 March 2006]

Admittedly, Seven Swords explodes onto the screen in fine form. The action is brutal, in your face and surprisingly violent. The story is simple, but fast paced. The characters are believable. The fight choreography dazzles. The cinematography and art direction are captivating. Indeed, I found myself wondering exactly what it was that made the critics moan so furiously.

Then it hit me. As the movie progress, its steamer whistles thin, coughing occasional death rattles as the plot drags itself up an arduous, bouldered mountain slope. For a period of what feels like forty minutes, virtually nothing happens, that is to say, nothing of particular interest or necessity to the story.

Characters that you might have liked at the start of the movie become irritating, their behavior confusing, and choppy, fitful editing does not help to make anything much clearer. You will quickly begin to notice how the majority of the female leads, in particular Green Pearl, rely on panting and gasping like they're giving birth in order to convey almost all their emotions. As I sat, drenched by the tumultuous waves of dialog, I found myself being invaded by that empty feeling I get when I repeat a word a hundred times over until it loses all meaning.

Unless you are endowed with the almighty patience of Buddha, you will find yourself silently screaming for the film to MOVE!!!

And it does, eventually, career downwards at breakneck speed into a flaming, physics-defying finale in which all seven Masters get to send up sparks. Trouble is, most people will have gone home before the fireworks.

A confusing letdown with big names

[kluseba · 5/10 · 13 July 2012]

Tsui Hark usually happens to be a solid venue when it comes to direct artistic, epic and philosophic Chinese movies as he proved in unforgettable classics such as "A Chinese Ghost Story" or "Once Upon A Time In China" to only name the most famous movie series he has been a part of.

Sadly, in opposition to many favourable reviews, I must say that this movie happens to be the worst I've known from him. The whole story is confusing and not well told. The seven main characters are introduced in strange ways. Some get a lot of screening time, others just appear and are a part of the group without getting any development at all. That's why it's difficult to always understand who is who and who is doing what for which reason. Many useless flashbacks make the whole thing even worse.

The battle scenes in this movie are extremely incoherent. Some of them are truly beautiful, well filmed and prove of great aesthetics. The first big battle introduces for example intriguing main villains and a lot of original arms. Other fighting scenes are just overlong while nothing really happens, for example the last fight with the main villain. The movie kicks off very promising and the first fifteen minutes are quite perfect but the film quickly decreases and even the open ending is a letdown.

The acting is also strange. Some characters show so many emotions that they don't look profound but like ridiculous caricatures. The scenes with the hysteric Korean woman for example are funny first but get truly annoying after a while. The love scenes and relationship in this movie are all but credible. Many critics say the characters have a lot of depth but apart of the first three or four actors out of seven we're introduced to, this is not true in my humble opinion. Half of the seven main characters are rather faceless, the villagers are too stereotypical and the villains faceless or just out of their minds. The most intriguing character which is the evil woman with the Gothic look, dies way too soon in this movie. I must also criticize Donnie Yen who seems to be the new martial arts star from China. He still has a lot to do to get even close to a Bruce Lee, Ti Lung, Jackie Chan, Leslie Cheung or Jet Li to only name a few. I think he is quite overrated just as the "Ip Man" films with him.

The movie also has its positive sides. As I said, the beginning is very strong. The filming is well done as the camera angles are well chosen, the choreography as well as images are very precise and the authentic costumes are flawless. In the beginning, the movie also works a lot with colours, for example by adding a darker tone to the red colours by making the surroundings look grey in the first brutal battle scenes. This stylistic elements fits well to the atmosphere but the movie strangely stops to employ this intriguing technique after a while. The ideas and the precision both decrease after a while even though the whole thing still remains somewhere between solid to good.

In the end, the few positive aspects don't justify to watch this film that is a big letdown coming from a brilliant director as Tsui Hark usually is without a doubt. The movie had too many lengths in the fighting scenes but also a lack of depth concerning too many characters. Critics are very controversial and you should be warned before you try this one out but I definitely wouldn't recommend you to watch this mediocre effort.

A must-see film

[tsui_h · 10/10 · 3 March 2006]

As I have never seen a Tsui Hark film or am familiar with any of the Asian actors in this film, I watched Seven Swords without any expectations. This movie has however, far exceeded my expectations. I was preparing myself to see another version of Crouching Tiger but was surprised to see a movie with a great story line, drama, and the best action that I have seen in a long time. My favorite characters would definitely have been the Wind Fire and Chu. Each character had a sad part of their life that made them so much human. The action, although very fast paced, made the viewer feel as though they were part of the fight and the moves much more realistic than flying to the top of a building. I am hooked and look forward to more Tsui Hark movies

It was 'good', but expected more

[ouijaouija · 7/10 · 1 March 2006]

I was expecting more from the this film. Thats not to say it was good, it was decent, but thats all. For a seemingly high budget film with many famous Hong Kong stars, I really expected some kind of real epic fighting film.

What lets this film down is its choppy nature, the film did not flow. There were too many characters, not enough depth, and I found the females were portrayed as pretty much helpless, needing protecting and all this kind of thing. Feminists won't like this film.

The villains with all the face paint looked the business, it would've been nice to see these villains actually pose a real threat to the seven swords, except they just remained in the film as cannon fodder. One wonders why they cover the movie posters and so on, they had no importance in the film and get killed off.

Yes, and like all Chinese films a person dies tragically, most often the female love interest. Not very original.

Like already mentioned, there were some scenes that were just pointless like them finding this snake style sword. The inclusion of too many sub-characters was not a good idea.

The positives. Some of the fight scenes were good, some just weren't. Some of the seven swords were cool, some weren't (Leon Lai).

Overall it is a good watch, easily forgettable.

Gorgeous wuxia excellence

[Vartiainen · 5/10 · 4 October 2014]

Seven Swords continues the proud wuxia film tradition by being utterly gorgeous, full of martial arts battles, making little to no sense whatsoever plot-wise, having the actors hamming it out constantly, yet containing subtle philosophies concerning the matter of control versus guidance, the capacity for violence used to protect and vice versa.

It's also a rather great adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, borrowing its central plot, but giving it a more mythical approach and style in a true wuxia fashion.

The best part of this film are its production values and art style. The whole film look amazing, but is given a bit more grounded style compared to other wuxia films that are usually awash with colours, loud and bombastic with details. There's still extravaganza, but it's darker, more threatening in style. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this are the weapons, both those used by the villains that are more bizarre and outlandish in design, and the actual Seven Swords from Mount Heaven. They straddle that thin line between being interesting and creative and being just functional-looking enough that you can buy them.

The story itself is unfortunately nothing special. It contains some really good moments, but also some really bad moments. The fighting and the emotions are genuine and real, but the clichés and melodrama drag the other scenes down. Seven Swords is worth a watch if you're into wuxia films, or if you're looking for a good fantasy adventure.