Seven Swords (Chat Gim)

Rating: Not Rated

Movie Release Date: July 29, 2005 (China)

DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007

Plot 411: Seven master swordsmen join forces to protect a village from a merciless general.

Review: With a recent ban on the practice of martial arts offering ample bounty, Fire-Wind (Sun Honglei) and his men ravage villages in the name of the new ruling. He kills men, women and children even if they aren't trained to fight. Opposing him is Fu Qingzhu (Liu Jialiang), a former executioner who is trying to make up for his sins. He gathers several other great fighters and together they attempt to protect a village of innocents. This movie echoed Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven. It combined the creativity of Chinese martial arts with the mastery of swordplay. As with most period Chinese action films, this one contained a lot of great stunts, acrobatics and wire work. There were also a decent amount of CGI - some looked more realistic than others. The English subtitles were done with a British accent, so I assume they might've been done in Hong Kong. The dub didn't match the subtitles so that was a little distracting. Other than that, this was an enjoyable action-filled movie.

Watch It: For high-flying action and sword fights.

Skip It: If you usually enjoy a good love story thrown into the mix. This one was pretty weak.