Qi jian (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

Featured in Yi ge ren de wu lin (2014)

User Reviews

Fine entertainment cinema

I walked in to the theater with a big hope that this film will be, at least, the same quality as Once Upon a Time in China. To my disappointment, it is a totally different film - in a bad way.

When I saw the opening sequence I began to feel that Tsui Hark has been influenced by modern pop culture and tried to target new audiences - the young ones. The way he dressed his characters are very much like what I saw on those RPG games (thick make up, big weapons, cute girls/ cool heroes, etc...), and I think he succeed in this department. I amazed with the amount and look of the swords and weapons exhibited in this film - the whistling sword is my favorite one!! :) Too bad, good production design doesn't supported with strong storyline. I think there's too much character in the film that makes it hard which one to focus on. To be fair, it is also affected by the poor translation that, somehow, damage the film's flow.

So, as an entertainment, i think Seven Sword is a good film to watch; but if you wish to see something more serious like Tsui Hark's old films i have to say that don't put too much hope on this one...