Seven Swords (2005)
"Qi Jian" (original title)

Seven warriors come together to protect a village from a diabolical General.

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writers:

Chris Chow (script translator), Hark Tsui,

Stars:

Chia-Liang Liu, Leon Lai, Donnie Yen

3 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Chia-Liang Liu	...	Fu Qingzhu
Leon Lai	...	Yang Yuncong
Donnie Yen	...	Chu Zhaonan
Charlie Yeung	...	Wu Yuanying
Honglei Sun	...	General Fire-Wind
So-yeon Kim	...	Green Pearl
Yi Lu	...	Han Zhibang
Duncan Lai	...	Mulang (as Duncan Chow)
Liwu Dai	...	Xin Long Zi
Jingchu Zhang	...	Liu Yufang
Jason Pai Piao	...	Liu Jingyi
Kuan-Chun Chi	...	Qiu Luo Dong
Jiajia Chen	...	Kualo
Michael Wong	...	Prince Dokado (as Michael F. Wong)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Yao Bai-Ling	...	Chang Yu

Storyline

In the early 1600's, the Manchurians have taken over sovereignty of China and established the Ching Dynasty. While many nationalist revolts still brew within the martial artists' community, the newly set-up government immediately imposes a Martial Arts Ban, forbidding the practice of martial arts altogether in order to gain control and order. Wind Fire (Sun Hong-Lei), a surrendered military official from the previous dynasty, sees this as an opportunity to make a fortune for himself by helping to execute the new law. Greedy, cruel, and immoral, Wind Fire ravages the North-western China, and his next goal is to attack the final frontier, Martial Village. Fu Qingzhu, a retired executioner from the previous dynasty, feels the need to put a stop to this brutality and sets out to save Bowei Fortress. He brings Wu Yuanyin and Han Zhiban from the village with him to Mount Heaven to seek help from Master Shadow-Glow, a hermit who is a master of swords and leads a group of disciples of great ...

---

Plot Keywords:

village | sword | china | martial arts | warrior | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

---

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [uk]

Country:

Hong Kong China South Korea

Language:

Mandarin Korean Cantonese

Release Date:

29 July 2005 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Seven Swords

Filming Locations:

Xinjiang, China

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$331,590 (Hong Kong) (29 July 2005)

Gross:

$973,929 (Hong Kong) (19 August 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing Ciwen Digital Oriental Film & TV Production Co., Boram Entertainment, City Glory Pictures Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min 141 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The opening film of the 2005 Venice Film Festival.

---

Connections

References Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)

User Reviews

Kungfu Cinema At Its Best

First thought was also Kurosawa's Seven Samarai, but anyway ...

I don't know how Western audience views this movie but this is so much better than those made by Zhang Yi Mou (i.e. Hero, Flying Daggers). This one isn't art-house *pretending* to be a kungfu movie. The fighting scenes are innovative, well-choreographed and absolutely entertaining. It's kungfu movie at its best.

Some memorable scenes - mostly those involving Charlie Yeung (personal bias). Leon Lai and Donnie Yen also showed great chemistry. Another memorable Tsui Hark movie in the likes of Swordsman and Once Upon A Time in China.

Complaints: Either the editors or censors did a poor job. The soundtrack kept skipping and it felt like watching with someone pressing fast forward occasionally.