Chat gim (The Seven Swords) (2005)
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25% of critics liked it
(16 reviews) -
33% want to see it
(5,776 ratings)
Tsui Hark (The Blade) adapted his massive martial arts epic Seven Swords (AKA Qi Jian) from Liang yu-Sheng's popular novel Seven Swordsmen from Mount Tian. The story opens in the 1660s, following the implementation of China's (Manchu) Qing dynasty. To quell possible nationalist uprisings,… More Tsui Hark (The Blade) adapted his massive martial arts epic Seven Swords (AKA Qi Jian) from Liang yu-Sheng's popular novel Seven Swordsmen from Mount Tian. The story opens in the 1660s, following the implementation of China's (Manchu) Qing dynasty. To quell possible nationalist uprisings, the emperor issues a decree forbidding the use of martial arts, and guarantees decapitation for anyone who violates that order. A class of bounty hunters quickly formed to enforce the law and collect 600 pieces of silver for each violator; the most massive and domineering of the warriors is the bald, muscular Fire-Wind (Sun Honglei), a bellicose and volatile creature who lives in an elephantine tentlike dwelling on a hill. This walking terror selects Martial Village, a hamlet in northwestern China, as his next assignment. Meanwhile, in Martial, two young adults, Wu Yuanyin (Charlie Young) and her ex-beau, Han Zhibang) rescue an old executioner, Fu Qingzhu (Lau Kar-leung) who foresees the coming wrath and acknowledges the necessity of pulling in the mythical 'Warriors of Mt. Tian' to fight Fire-Wind and his cronies. The four warriors summoned by Fu include Chu Zhaonan (Donnie Yen), and Yang Yunchong (Leon Lai), who dramatically increase the tension and bloodshed when the former develops a crush on one of Fire-wind's hostages, Green Pearl (Kim So-yeon) and decides to kidnap her - sending Fire-wind through the roof. The critically-worshipped Hark reportedly cut two versions of this film (including a 2 1/2 hour cut and a 3-hour cut) and demonstrated incredible confidence in Qi Jian by planning it as the initial installment in a massive series of multimedia sequels, including a 74-part television series, an online video game, comics, and five additional films. The picture itself testifies to this, with the setup for a sophomore installment in its conclusion. Qi Jian, however, did lackluster box office when it opened in the Far East in July 2005, making the follow-ups less than certain. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Directed By
- Hark Tsui
- Genres
- Classics, Action & Adventure
Critic Reviews
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Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Tsui is capable of better than this.
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Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
The problem is that Seven Swords' narrative is so cluttered with briefly sketched characters and subplots as to be almost impossible to follow.
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Wally Hammond, Time Out
It's a bravura, artful work.
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Andrew Sun, Hollywood Reporter
[A] bloated Ching Dynasty actioner.
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Jason Gorber, Film Scouts
It's pretty enough to keep you at least mildly concerned about where things are headed.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Donnie Yen
as Chu Zhao Nan
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Leon Lai
as Yang Yun Chong
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Charlie Young
as Wu Yuanyin
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Honglei Sun
as General Fire-Wind
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Yi-Ching Lu
as Han Zhibang
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So-yeon Kim
as Luzhu 'Green Pearl'
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Jingchu Zhang
as Liu Yufang 'Fang'
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Tai Liwu
as Xin Longzi
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Duncan Chow
as Mulang
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Jason Lau
as Liu Jingyi Village Head
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Kuan-Chun Chi
as Qiu Dongluo Liu's Deputy
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Ma Jingwu
as Master Shadow-Glow
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Michael Wong
as The Duke
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Liu Chia-Liang
as Fu Qingzhu
- Taili Wu
- So Yeun
- Huang Peng
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Lau Kar-Leung
as Fu Qingzhu