San shao ye de jian

I great movie as expected of Tsui Hark. I enjoyed as well the story as the great filming. It's a matter of taste, the last part I liked less visually, but as I said, it's a matter of taste. Nevertheless a great movie and I really enjoyed it.

So beautiful. Worth every minute. Definitely deserves more than a 6 rating

Rundong He's performance is surprisingly the best in this embarrassing movie. I am even shocked by the unreasonable and confusing character Yeqing Zhu who is asking "Do you love me?" all the time. The most confusing scene is that villagers blamed Yan Shisan for not teaching them Kungfu after he just saved all of them. What's even more unacceptable is that Shisan Yan forced into the town and killed all people near the bad boss and screaming "I will never be a selfish man!" Although many details in this movie cannot be explained ideally, the relationship between Shisan Yan and Xiaofeng Xie really moved me a lot. Two respectable swordsmen pitied each other's talent and spirit.

Sword Master 2016 is a wu xia martial arts movie remake of a old Shaw Bros movie Death Duel 1977 starring Derek Yee as the main character now he back again as the director of the new version.The original version is not terrible but also not that good to begin with but the new version is absolutely better in every aspect.The character is more well developed,the cinematography is as good as a wu xia movie can get and the action scene is flat out awesome.I find the actors in this version fit with the story more than the old cast.The conflict between the two sword master played by Kenny Lin and Peter Ho is more fleshed out although some of the random stuff and a boring romantic subplot is still there but at least this time it not meaningless.They definitely up the wire work action in this one cause the original is traditional Chinese swordplay but it work well in this version.Highly recommend to martial arts movie fan

Sword Master is a typical example for the new wave of wu xia cinema. The costumes are colourful, the landscapes are breathtaking and the fight sequences are quite spectacular on the positive side. On the negative side, the special effects are exaggerated and overused, the story is developed in a confusing way with numerous flashbacks to hide the fact that the scenario is rather ordinary and the movie doesn't have the magic pioneer vibe of the original version called Death Duel in particular and the first wave of wu xia movies in general.

There are three elements that make Sword Master stand out and put it on a slightly above average level if compared to other contemporary wu xia flicks. The first twenty minutes of the movie are quite entertaining and feature interesting character developments, ferocious fights and stunning settings. The movie then quickly becomes exchangeable, predictable and shallow but its first impression is very positive. As a second element, the acting performances are rather positive even though they aren't outstanding or even moving. The different characters are credible and the actors and actresses rarely overact. Aside of one silly character who only has a minor role, the movie also avoids adding silly slapstick elements that wouldn't fit in. Finally, the movie has a great soundtrack that unites traditional folk instruments, classical music and a few modern sounds in a highly diversified and always appropriate way. The soundtrack manages to add more emotions to the different key scenes of this film.

Fans of traditional Chinese action cinema will surely be entertained by this movie even though it can't compete with the best genre flicks of the seventies and eighties. Those who aren't familiar with the wu xia genre should not start with this film though and discover the original films first. I was entertained very well and would watch this movie again in a few years.