Shui yue shi san dao

I saw this Taiwanese wuxia movie under the title EVERLASTING DUEL. It's a fast-paced little effort that feels just about adequate for the genre, although it's worth commenting that it's not one of those films to go out of your way to get hold of. It's resolutely ordinary, with a big mismatch between the aspirations of the director and the actual budget, which renders the whole thing a bit disappointing.

As with many films in the wuxia genre, there's a big tapestry of character to get to know, and plenty of action to keep things moving along. The main character is an expert swordsman called Snowy White who receives a challenge from an old one-armed opponent he beat years before. The plot becomes more complex as the two characters realise that somebody is setting them up and female fighters are added to the mix.

The action is rather unspectacular and the film is saddled with the usual poor dub job, with one of the female British accents really grating. There are some bizarre elements in the story including dwarfs, vampires, and a random tattooed Japanese Yakuza woman, but none of it really blends together very well. Bog standard is what this film is.