Seven Swords (2005)

You won't be disappointed!

Too much of everything

Good concept, poorly executed.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

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.

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 :).

I really wanted to like this movie - and there is a lot to like in it. There are some spectacular fight scenes, especially near the end, great photography, and some good acting (but also some awful examples of bad casting). But the whole thing is let down by an incoherent, plot, numerous sub plots that should have been deleted, and a very predictable storyline. The attempts to make a more earthy, back to basics swordplay movie is welcome, but it clearly needed a more disciplined approach. For a movie of this length there is really no excuse for not working harder to develop the characters and background to the action scenes. Some posters here have accused it of being a rip-off of Seven Samurai - it clearly is not. However, I can't help wishing someone sat the makers down in front of Seven Samurai (or any Kurosawa period movie), to show that you can make a great action movie while also telling a complex story - and give characters that you want to believe in.

After the opening sequence of this film I thought I was in store for a stylish piece of cinema. It turned out to be a piece of crap. The film has some good photography but is plagued by a silly story, too many characters, and kung fu sequences that just aren't very good. I would rather watch old Bruce Lee fight scenes than watch the generic, lame fights in this film.Tsui Hark's best days are far behind him, much like John Woo. Personally, I think his best films by far are Double Team and Knock Off.The bottom line is Seven Swords is a bit of a bore.