Two rival swordsmen in imperial China, poncho-clad Fu Hung-Hsueh (Ti Lung, Drunken Master II, A Better Tomorrow) and Yen nan-Fei (Lo Leigh, 5 Fingers of Death, 36th Chamber of Shaolin) vie with a power-hungry villain for t... more »he deadly Peacock Dart and fend off waves of expert killers during their journey. Featuring non-stop action, astonishing touches of fantasy and an eye-popping climactic showdown on the villain's island lair, this remains one of kung-fu cinema's most staggering achievements!« less
"Wow, I can't believe how blown away I was by this. Ti Lung is great as the lead. He plays it straight faced all the way through, and he uses this awesome spinning blade and gets into tons of fights. It's a wuxia, so that means that some evil dude is trying to become the leader of the martial arts world. Ti Lung has to protect some special darts from the evil guy, but as you can guess it isn't going to be easy. There are 5 assassins after Ti Lung, 4 of them played by Ku Feng, Fan Mei Sheng, Lily Li and Norman Chu. There's really no point trying to explain the story. It's just typical wuxia stuff, except it's a lot easier to understand than most of Chor Yuen's other movies. Basically, all that you need to know is that Ti Lung is super cool in this, there are tons of good fights, and the final fight doesn't disappoint. The main villain is one bad old man. It's a short final fight, but very satisfying. The sets are even better than the normal Shaw Brothers standards, and I must mention how darkly shot the film is. I only remember a couple scenes that weren't completely dark. A brilliant movie in every way, a perfect 5/5.
The Image DVD has good picture quality. Subtitles are well written and the Chinese track sounds good, and there's an English dub. Not a perfect sounding dub, but good enough. Here are a couple of my favorite lines-
"Right, I'm the 5th Swordsman, Sao Chien... Invincible, killer of many, and other things."
"I practiced 20 years to move the nerve center of my body, just one inch, so that your paralyzing blow had no effect."
"
Must See!!! A Classic!!
A. D. Boorman | 03/19/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an excellent film. The plot is convoluted, but understandable. The plot is classic good versus evil, with a few plot twists. This film, shot mainly on sets, has an otherworldly 'fantasy of China' feel to it. Ti Lung is a gifted martial artist, but also a fine actor. He brings a great authenticity to the role.
There is a small amount of gratuitious nudity and sex, but not enough to detract from an otherwise fine morality play.
"
Magic indeed
Derrick Jenkins | Hampton VA USA | 05/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This one had me going from the beginning to the end with the battle of the two main actors. Then they work together for awhile then we have a plot twist or two and one of the actors disappears for awhile, dead right? Hmmm maybe not you'll have to check this one out to see what happens. The action is on point they fight with a variety of weapons a revolving sword, fans, darts and hand to hand fighting as well. All the characters whether it be hero or villian are on top of their game throughout this movie. Minus a couple ooops on the subtitles all is great with The Magic Blade.
Pick it up you'll feel a part of the story by the time its through and some classic martial arts in this one as well."
Dynasty
Pamela Carroll | Desert Hot Springs usa | 02/26/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an excellent!! kung fu movie.
I am a big fan of kung fu movies and
you cant go wrong with this one.
Ti Lung is a great actor!.
"
Good swordplay opera.
C. Palmer | Los Angeles | 05/26/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This video is very very Golden Harvest operatic. Hidden villians. Magic duels. Super warriors. Quite entertaining with pop corn and soda."