Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Leofwine_draca When I first heard about SEVEN SWORDS, I imagined it to be another re-imagining of the classic SEVEN SAMURAI, about a bunch of disparate warriors defending a village from an evil warlord. In essence, this is exactly what the film is, but it bears little resemblance to the Kurosawa classic, and for me that's a good thing. Instead the film chronicles a running battle between seven warriors armed with mystical blades and all the bad guys of an army they're up against. This being a Tsui Hark film, it's got a long running time, is visually sumptuous, and packed with stirring music and top-notch technical values.The actors are all pretty decent in their respective roles. My only complaint is that the film didn't really need seven heroes – they're too many, even despite the long running time, and some of them hardly get a look in (I'm thinking of the bald guy). Donnie Yen headlines the cast and does his usual posturing and fine fighting, and the final battle is pretty much left down to him. There are also some high quality performances from other cast members, notably Honglei Sun's developed villain, Fire-wind, and the girl who played Green Pearl. It's also fun to see Liu Chia-Liang back on screen, looking exactly the same as he did in DRUNKEN MASTER II.The film has a distinctive visual style and Hark seems to have been hugely influenced by the landscapes and costumes of RETURN OF THE KING. That's no bad role model. Especially at this film's beginning, before you get used to it, the colours are amazing, with washed-out, drab grey landscapes and vibrant red banners and costumes. The set design is spot on, and particular attention has been paid to the weaponry. The heroes all have wicked-looking swords, which make noises, act like magnets, and they each have their own unique values; indeed the swords are as much characters as the actors holding them. The bad guys have plenty of wicked-looking weaponry adept at slicing the limbs and heads off the innocent, and as a result this is a fairly graphic film, although Hark plays down the violence by always focusing away on it (we'll see a leg falling on the ground, but not the act of it being chopped off). One of the weapons reminded me of the flying guillotine.Of course, this is primarily an action film, and it delivers action in spades. I'd heard that there was a lagging middle, but I was engaged and entertained throughout. The fights are on a large scale and ably incorporate wire work and standard 'grounded' kung fu, and it's all very enjoyable and hard to take your eyes from the screen. I've always considered Hark's choreography to be a little over-stylised – to the detriment of being able to make out what's happening before your eyes – and that complaint sticks here, but it's a personal issue and most will love the many battle scenes. So, on a final note, this is a massive, expensive and very well made action fantasy that delivers a fitting bland of drama and action.

thisissubtitledmovies excerpt, more at my location - Given Tsui Hark's lengthy CV, expectations are understandably high for any of his films, and Seven Swords is no exception. An explosion of unlikely influences, a celebration of genre, a clash of cultures, it should be a multifaceted film wrapped up in layers of meaning. But whether Hark satisfies the challenge that he has set himself remains debatable.Seven Swords is an admirably accessible beginner's guide to Eastern cinema, but for most, it has opened the doors far too wide and the substance has fallen out. Perhaps original and bold for fearless genre experimentation, and certainly striking for its imagery, it offers nothing to challenge the viewer or even engage them. Placing audiences in an ambiguous position, it makes for uncomfortable viewing - is Hark sharing a story with them, or just patronising them? In either case, more fool him: boredom is inevitable in this painful and over budgeted mess.

J_Charles This is a great martial arts film that could probably qualify as just a good film in general.It has interesting characters, a decent plot line, some great cinematography, and excellent fight and battle scenes. For those who hate the wire-fu genre, don't worry. They sacrifice the acrobatics here for some real gritty action, lots of blood and guts flowing with every severed limb, gouged eyeball, and decapitated head.The characters of the "Seven Swords" are dominated by Lai Ming, Donnie Yen and Charlie Yeung. The other ones are there but have much less significant roles. The design and use of the swords they use are quite remarkable. I really liked the secret to Charlie's sword.The plot line with the Korean mistress was a bit of a misdirect but it did play an important part of the story and gave Donnie a chance to try speaking Korean.The ending was the one disappointing part. You can see the director/writing wanting to do a sequel so badly. But alas, it never came to pass (yet).8/10

Chrysanthepop 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 :).