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Released by: Warner Archive
Released on: March 1st, 2016.
Director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Zhao Wen-Zhou, Xiong Xin-Xin, Song Lei, Austin Wai, Moses Chan
Year: 1995
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The Movie:
Director (and co-writer) Tsui Hark's remake of the undisputed classic that is the Shaw Brothers' 1967 film The One-Armed Swordsman introduces us to Ling (Song Lei), the daughter of a man who owns a factory that makes swords. Ling has got eyes for two of her father's workers - Ding On (Vincent Zhao) and Iron Head (Moses Chang) - and she seems to enjoy pitting them against one another. But things get complicated when her father chooses Ding On, who he raised after he was orphaned, as his successor to run the factory. There's a problem, however, because Ding On is more interested in trying to avenge the death of his father that occurred years ago at the hands of a mysterious tattooed swordsman.
Things get complicated for all parties when a gang of bandits try to settle in the town, killing a monk in the process. This is enough to get the factory workers to take up arms against the bandits in an attempt to clean house and to protect their own, and in the process, Ding On's arm is severed, his body missing. His friends and co-workers presume him to be dead, but he's not - he has moved out of the limelight in hopes of living the quiet life away from violence. But as the bandit attacks not only continue but intensify, he finds himself having to learn to fight with only one arm and his father's broken sword… eventually tracking down that tattooed man, Falcon (Xiong Xinxin) for a final fight that is one for the record books.
Like a lot of Hong Kong cinema from this era, The Blade throws a lot of different elements against the wall to see what sticks. There's romance, violent revenge, drama aplenty and of course some rock solid martial arts action. Vincent Zhao is well cast in the role that was originally played by Jimmy Wang Yu and he does the brooding, angry thing well once the time comes, handling the softer, quieter, almost melodramatic aspects of the build up with just as much skill. The rest of the cast are good here as well, with Xiong Xinxin in particular cutting a seriously imposing frame with his turn as the seemingly invincible villain. Song Lei's character at first seems like a bit of a spoiled brat but as the movie progresses, we wind up feeling some legitimate sympathy for her and the actresses work here is a big part of what makes that work. Likewise, Moses Chang is very good as Iron Head, a noble but flawed man who is just as likely to risk his life for his friend as he is to let his base desires for a troubled prostitute get the better of him.
There are different subplots woven around the man tale of Ding Ho's quest for revenge, some of which are wrapped up more effectively than others (resulting in a few scenes that drag a bit now and then), but there are times where Tsui Hark doesn't seem all that concerned. He clearly concentrated a lot on the visuals here, maybe more so with this film than some of the other wuxia he's lent his talents to before and since. The use of color in the film is noteworthy, if you pay attention to it you start to realize that instead of simply painting pretty pictures for us the hues that bath certain scenes have a lot to do with symbolizing what the different characters are actually going through.
Really though, it's the action scenes that most viewers will be curious about here and on that level, The Blade does not disappoint. There are times where the handheld 'shaky-cam' look could have been a bit more restrained but outside of that the camera work is great and the fight choreography dizzyingly fantastic. The use of violence in the film hits hard and pulls us further into the storyline and the characters that populate it. Likewise, the editing reflects this, as the filmmakers opt for frequent use of fast cutting to convey the intensity of the action from a series of different angles. It works - by the time the film gets to its big finish, you'll be on the edge of your seat, even if you'll have likely seen the ending coming a mile away.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Blade is released on MOD/DVD-R format through Warner Archive in a pretty solid anamorphic 1.78.1 widescreen transfer that is colorful, clean and sports nice detail for what is obviously a standard definition offering. Skin tones look good, black levels are nice and there's virtually no print damage here at all. Compression artifacts are held firmly in check and the image is free of any noise reduction or edge enhancement - obviously this would have looked better on Blu-ray but for a standard definition offering, it looks really good.
A Cantonese language Dolby Digital 2.0 is offered alongside an English dub option in the same format. The movie comes with removable English SDH subtitles (meaning the text describes the music and sound effects in addition to translating the dialogue). The English track sounds a bit cleaner than the Cantonese track does but they're both fine. The subtitles actually translate the English track, not the Cantonese dialogue.
There are no supplements on the disc, just static menus offering chapter selection.
The Final Word:
The Blade is interesting enough that martial arts fans will probably want to check it out, even if the film it remakes is more impressive. The fight scenes here are as stylish as they are vicious and if it does occasionally suffer from some pacing issues, when it's on, it's really on. The DVD-R release from Warner Archive contains no extra features but it sounds good and it looks great.
