Seven Swords (2005)

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

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writers:

Chi-Sing Cheung, Tin Nam Chun

Stars:

Leon Lai, Donnie Yen, Charlie Yeung

3 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leon Lai	...	Yang Yuncong (as Ming Li)
Donnie Yen	...	Chu Zhaonan
Charlie Yeung	...	Wu Yuanying
Honglei Sun	...	General Fire-Wind
Yi Lu	...	Han Zhibang
So-yeon Kim	...	Green Pearl
Chia-Liang Liu	...	Fu Qingzhu
Jingchu Zhang	...	Liu Yufang
Li-Wu Tai	...	Xin Longzi
Duncan Lai	...	Mu Lang (as Kwan-Tat Chow)
Jason Pai Piao	...	Liu Jingyi (as Piao Pai)
Kuan-Chun Chi	...	Qiu Dongluo
Peng Huang	...	Guan Sandao
Haitao Li	...	Twelve Guardians (Si Yilang)
Jingwu Ma	...	Master Shadow Glow

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

village | sword | martial arts | china | journey | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

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:

Sete Espadas

Filming Locations:

Xinjiang, China

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

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

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.

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Connections

References Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)

User Reviews

solid escapism

how many years has tsui hark been plodding along? and still he turns in this solid effort while the film industry in HK are still going down hill at the box offices.

yet he goes out to the XinJiang wilderness and do this 7 swords - an ensemble cast from an Chinese paper pop wuxia column written in the 50s. for what you have to wonder? fame... fortune ..love of the movies? could be .. or maybe more.

this film is meticulous, well told, well styled, with an interesting choice in action director to boot: the old timer, Lau Kar-Leung, who is not a specialist in sword play. why again? meticulous in the constant mix of medium and close-ups -- his style, and washes these with occasional wides. here he adds the constant flash-backs. meticulous in color control, lighting, the heat of the battle, the heart of the story.

His movies are kind of a Chinese comic book; or the Chinese science fiction. it is arguably for the Chinese spirit, documents upon documents of the Chinese mind set, the hopes and dreams in the culture (because of suppressions?), ideals and philosophies and sustainment of what maybe to him -- that are Chinese? and yet universal at the same time? i'm reaching sure. but i'm Chinese after all.