This film, based on a story from the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' opens with warlord Cao Cao attending the funeral of Guan Yu. The action then moves back twenty years; it is a time of conflict. Guan Yu has been separated from his brother and is serving Cao Cao. During a battle he slays a senior general of Cao Cao's enemy and is later tasked with escorting his sister-in-law through hostile territory; people have been ordered not to stop them but this order is frequently flouted and Guan faces many battles.
Not knowing the original story I can't say how well this film captures its essence. As a piece of entertainment I found it to be pretty good. The story isn't too complex... a good thing given that the subtitles on my DVD were quite hard to read (small and often white on a pale background). Guan moves from one action set piece to the next; each is exciting and well-choreographed. They could have felt repetitive but the action was varied. Donnie Yen does a fine job as Guan and Jiang Wen impresses as Cao Cao, Sun Li also impresses as Qilan, Guan's sister in law/ potential love interest. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of Chinese historical action films.
Plot summary
This historical martial arts film adapted from the story of Guan Yu crossing five passes and slaying six generals in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In AD 200 during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao eliminates his political opponents Dong Cheng and others, before turning his attention towards rival warlords Liu Bei and Yuan Shao. To avoid fighting a war on two fronts, Cao Cao decides to attack Liu Bei first. Liu Bei flees north to join Yuan Shao, while his family is captured by the enemy. Liu Bei's sworn brother Guan Yu (Donnie Yen),surrenders to Cao Cao to uphold his oath of brotherhood and preserve his honor. Cao Cao knows he's a great warrior & hopes that Guan Yu will continue serving him. Meanwhile, Guan Yu is secretly in love with his sworn brother's concubine Qilan, but is afraid to express his feelings to her. Qilan reproaches Guan Yu for serving Cao Cao. By then, Guan Yu has also received news of Liu Bei's whereabouts, so he prepares to leave Cao Cao to deliver Liu Bei's fiancé, Qilan, to him. Cao Cao is unable to stop Guan Yu and gives orders for the defending generals at the various passes to let Guan Yu through. Despite so, Cao Cao's followers feel that Guan Yu will become a threat to them if he succeeds in escaping, so they plot to have Guan killed. Guan Yu then embarks on a dangerous long journey through the passes to reunite with Liu Bei.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
The Lost Bladesman
American view, I deeply enjoyed this exceptionally well acted, engaging, thrilling, wonderful title
I really cannot praise it enough. It is probably the best Chinese film I have seen in years, and easily one of the best period films I have seen. Of Donnie's recent films, I really cannot find a comparison, this is truly stellar. Wen Jiang is so amazingly charismatic as Cao Cao. I couldn't help but be engaged whenever he was on screen, he is probably my current favorite actor, including Hollywood. He may be the best actor in the World currently. Betty Sun is very enjoyable in her role, and added another level of depth to the story.
From the opening, I knew I was in for something special. The soundtrack, the cinematography, the acting, just excellent.
In short, if you enjoy Asian Cinema to any degree, this film will be nothing but a delight.
Lonely Bladesmann
Donnie Yen is really good at Martial Arts, but you already knew that. Some don't think he's a very good actor though. But the role he has on hand here, is really serving him good. He plays a loner and that suits him very well. The action scenes are phenomenal as expected and the story is good enough (while you could argue there is too much kitsch in it, I think it's the right amount).
It's not a masterpiece, but I think it's a good movie overall, with great story points and turns that while you might expect them, they still come down crashing on you. What's also true, the movie does not loose much on a second viewing. I even liked it better the second time around, because I knew where it was heading and could see small touches in between the settings.