The One-Armed Swordsman

The One-Armed Swordsman
Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 02/05/2008 Run time: 111 minutes
Customer Review: Great story and plot with believable characters.
One Armed Swordsman is an excellent film that combines drama, great story telling, and action. It's rare to find any type of action film that keeps you gripped without introducing another fighting scene for the sake of it. The main character loses his right arm in an accident. He's forced to physically and mentally deal with being crippled forever. There is also another plot taking place that deals with revenge. This also adds a great deal to the story and is pulled off very well. The characters are well acted and Wang Yu's performance stands out the most. He delivers some very powerful scenes. There is also a good deal of character development. It's very hard not to feel the main characters plight and I found myself waiting impatiently for the villians to finally get theirs. The action scenes are pretty good, very well coordinated and some good gore. Another strength is the fighting happens for reasons. Multiple fight scenes aren't being used to cover up a poorly written plot. The transfer is done to perfection. This is a huge plus because it brings out the best in the scenery. Which is beautiful to say the least. And the well orchestrated music score. I also enjoyed the short documentary The Master: Chang Cheh which runs for almost 20 minutes. The commentary by Quentin Tarantino is not added but I'm not bothered by that at all. This was a great buy for me. And I'm sure anyone looking for a good film to watch most likely won't be disappointed.
Customer Review: Jimmy Wang Yu and Chang Cheh in top form!
What a film! The One-Armed Swordsman is the story of a humble student who in a terrible "accident" loses his right arm and is then forced to make tough decissions on where his life will go from there. Jimmy Wang Yu is fantastic as our lead and uses incredibly great facial expressions and body language to support the emotional beats thrown his way(best performance of his career in fact). The direction by the legendary Chang Cheh is some of his best as well with quite a few of the most beautifully shot scenes I've ever scene in the genre. The incredible thing about that is the film is almost exclusively shot on sets which when teamed with Chehs direction gives the entire film almost a surreal fairy tale quality. Now the effects are a little dodgy at times but when taking into consideration that this was released in 1967 it is easily forgivable (and makes them actually pretty good overall). The choreography and fights also aren't much to get overly excited about but that's never really been Wang Yus strongest trait anyways (that's why fighting with one-arm works well to help discuise his already shaky skills)... this one puts great acting, story, and themes at the forefront making it a classic movie for all viewers rather than just a must-see for genre fans alone. Much like Dragon Dynasty's other Shaw Bros. release "King Boxer," the movie is truly a early work of art filled with so many influential elements (it helped create the entire one-armed martial arts sub-genre) that you watch it in awe whether it's your first or tenth time seeing it.