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Tsui Harks’ Seven Swords was an ambitious project with a large cast. Originally planned as a four-hour extravaganza, the edited version left gaping holes in the story and character development.
When the Qing Emperor outlaws martial arts and martial artists a bounty is set on the practitioners. General Fire Wind and his villainous crew hunt down martial artists and their families killing every man, woman, and child. The last bastion of fighters and source of wealth for them is Martial Village. While Fire Wind negotiates his price for eradicating the village, Fu Qing Zhu and two young people from the village travel to Mt Heaven to meet with Master Shadow Glow. The Master wakes up four swordsmen and gives the two villagers swords as well. Now there are seven swordspeople to save the village. Hooray!
I’m not sure what the original plan was, Leon Lai appeared to have top billing, but his character didn’t have much to do. Of the swordsmen, Lau Kar Leung and Donnie Yen had the most development and interesting storylines. Charlie Yeung’s novice swordswoman had the most growth going from crybaby to gaining a sword that nearly killed her to a willingness to take on the bad guys while badly outnumbered. Too bad they tried to insert her into a romance with Lai’s loner who wanted to be alone character. It was sad to me that more time was spent building sympathy for a horse than most of the human characters. Without proper character building, there were only three characters I vaguely cared about living. But given the genre, I didn’t expect many if any to walk away/ride away. Then there were characters who seemed important, even finding a 1000-year-old sword that was important, but who appeared and disappeared within minutes. Poof! Two of the 7 had very little coverage except when fighting as a group. There simply wasn’t time to build rapport and interest as much as the story moved around.
Aside from narrative issues I had with the film, one of my primary concerns was the visual. Shot in the golden-brown pallet of LOTR, only dusty like a western, the lack of clarity and the camera jumping around from character to character as if the dollies got loose, made it difficult keeping up with the large cast and trying to emotionally bond with any of them. Tsui Hark seemed to be reaching for grandiose storytelling with the essential shots of mountains and horse riders galloping toward sunrises, yet the giant villain sets couldn’t elevate themselves above Styrofoam molded pillars and buildings. I grew up watching shows with these kinds of sets, so that’s not a knock, just an observation.
Lau Kar Leung is my favorite old school martial arts director which made it a treat to see him in front of the camera as well. At 69 he still had solid choreography and moves left to share. One fight between two walls has been done before but was still skillfully accomplished. There was a segment of kung fu fandom that maligned Donnie, but I’ve always enjoyed watching his moves. Along with Lau, old schoolers Jason Pai and Chi Kuan Chun were along for the ride as prominent villagers.
Seven Swords had its entertaining moments, but it was obvious bits and pieces were missing. The villains were wildly over the top like they’d all been to a KISS fan club in the 1970s, minus the platform shoes. Yes, that was an outrageously dated pop culture reference, but look ‘em up. Lol. Seven Swords is worth a look if you are a fan of the actors or genre, if you keep your expectations low.
12 March 2026
Uncredited star sighting-an updated version of 1975’s Guillotine!
Trigger warnings: Sexual assault. Attempted sexual assault. Lots of beheadings, and arms and legs lopped off. Various and sundry gruesome deaths.
SPOILERY COMMENT BELOW:
The heroes spent so much time rescuing each other that they abandoned the village which had been the point of their mission which I found disappointing.
When the Qing Emperor outlaws martial arts and martial artists a bounty is set on the practitioners. General Fire Wind and his villainous crew hunt down martial artists and their families killing every man, woman, and child. The last bastion of fighters and source of wealth for them is Martial Village. While Fire Wind negotiates his price for eradicating the village, Fu Qing Zhu and two young people from the village travel to Mt Heaven to meet with Master Shadow Glow. The Master wakes up four swordsmen and gives the two villagers swords as well. Now there are seven swordspeople to save the village. Hooray!
I’m not sure what the original plan was, Leon Lai appeared to have top billing, but his character didn’t have much to do. Of the swordsmen, Lau Kar Leung and Donnie Yen had the most development and interesting storylines. Charlie Yeung’s novice swordswoman had the most growth going from crybaby to gaining a sword that nearly killed her to a willingness to take on the bad guys while badly outnumbered. Too bad they tried to insert her into a romance with Lai’s loner who wanted to be alone character. It was sad to me that more time was spent building sympathy for a horse than most of the human characters. Without proper character building, there were only three characters I vaguely cared about living. But given the genre, I didn’t expect many if any to walk away/ride away. Then there were characters who seemed important, even finding a 1000-year-old sword that was important, but who appeared and disappeared within minutes. Poof! Two of the 7 had very little coverage except when fighting as a group. There simply wasn’t time to build rapport and interest as much as the story moved around.
Aside from narrative issues I had with the film, one of my primary concerns was the visual. Shot in the golden-brown pallet of LOTR, only dusty like a western, the lack of clarity and the camera jumping around from character to character as if the dollies got loose, made it difficult keeping up with the large cast and trying to emotionally bond with any of them. Tsui Hark seemed to be reaching for grandiose storytelling with the essential shots of mountains and horse riders galloping toward sunrises, yet the giant villain sets couldn’t elevate themselves above Styrofoam molded pillars and buildings. I grew up watching shows with these kinds of sets, so that’s not a knock, just an observation.
Lau Kar Leung is my favorite old school martial arts director which made it a treat to see him in front of the camera as well. At 69 he still had solid choreography and moves left to share. One fight between two walls has been done before but was still skillfully accomplished. There was a segment of kung fu fandom that maligned Donnie, but I’ve always enjoyed watching his moves. Along with Lau, old schoolers Jason Pai and Chi Kuan Chun were along for the ride as prominent villagers.
Seven Swords had its entertaining moments, but it was obvious bits and pieces were missing. The villains were wildly over the top like they’d all been to a KISS fan club in the 1970s, minus the platform shoes. Yes, that was an outrageously dated pop culture reference, but look ‘em up. Lol. Seven Swords is worth a look if you are a fan of the actors or genre, if you keep your expectations low.
12 March 2026
Uncredited star sighting-an updated version of 1975’s Guillotine!
Trigger warnings: Sexual assault. Attempted sexual assault. Lots of beheadings, and arms and legs lopped off. Various and sundry gruesome deaths.
SPOILERY COMMENT BELOW:
The heroes spent so much time rescuing each other that they abandoned the village which had been the point of their mission which I found disappointing.
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