Really Surprised!

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Almost every image in this film has a million unspoken words and many expressed words actually hinting at many images your mind can conceive at that very moment - it's just up to you what you take from it. In reality of this bleak world Tsui Hark showing us the way how to survive and at the same time there's searching for non-existent love and harmony (almost i'd say the lost paradise), it is so far away from a usual action film, it's more about a wicked human behaviour and feelings, very interesting demonstration of a corrupt world wherein is not a way of escape. Though not a revolutionary landmark film of the high caliber of "Seven Swords", yet, this masterpiece is another proof (with many more - Chinese Feast, Don't Play With Fire, Peking Opera Blues, Green Snake, Butterfly Murders, Once Upon A Time In China, Seven Swords, Legend Of Zu) that an innovator and revolutionary perfectionist "Tsui Hark" rightfully belongs to the same league of such greats like H.Hawks, O.Welles, A.Kurosawa, F.Truffaut, S.Leone, S.Fuller, J.L.Godard, R.Polanski. After all, he's responsible for many more classics than even the great A.Hitchcock himself! Which seems to me quite ironical.

The greatest Wu Xia Pian I've ever seen in my life (and god knows I've seen a lot). The final action sequence, including Hung Yan-Yan, is now a legend in Kung-fu movies, just like the duel between Jet Li and Donnie Yen in Once Upon A Time in China 2... Tsui Hark's direction is fabulous despite an obvious lack of money. And Chiu Man-Cheuk is a tremendous actor/kung-fu artist, as charismatic as Bruce Lee himself in his quest for revenge. Too bad this actor is now semi-retired from movie industry...(sorry for my horrible english, but I'm french)

Having seen and thoroughly studied Wong Kar-wai's Ashes of Time, it is very interesting to see this rebuttal by Tsui. Not only is he directly attempting to pull attention towards himself after the firestorm that was Ashes, but he is at the same time adapting a King Hu classic (One-armed Swordsman). Not that this is all that surprising, of course. HK cinema is littered with remakes. In any case...This is a nice change from Tsui's usual comedic, new wave style of directing (ala Swordsman and Wong Fei-hong), but due to his "this is MY genre" attitude following the success of Ashes, it comes dangerously close to, well, trying too hard. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable film. The growth of the main character after the loss of his arm draws the viewer in, much like the training of San Te in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. The fight scenes are impressive, of course, as Tsui's directing power is still at its peak.A good film for those interested in smarter WU XIA films but not in the mood to tackle Ashes of Time. One must, however, recommend it's predecesor, One-armed Swordsman.

This is a fantastic fantasy film, not only has it got many exciting characters, it also has a story that builds up the injustice and leaves you crying out for revenge. You also wonder who is the main character, is it the woman telling the story? Or is it the sword brandishing heroes? As the final scenes come you are really cheering for revenge to be done.I read the previous summary and it's got some errors in it. The main Character doesn't actually loose his hand to the tattoed Dragon, he looses it long before this mythical character turns up.Also, this book he finds isn't called "the blade" and the fencing style he uses he discovers himself as he in frustration spins around and strikes out at at things, discovering the power of spinning around at great speed.