Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords"
This is the next big wuxia movie I'm looking forward to seeing. The casting is pretty good -- the stars will be Leon Lai and Donnie Yen (who I think has way more potential than Jet Li).
And MK, I'm sure you are aware of this film by now, but the fight choreagrapher is none other than the legend himself, Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Kar-Leung)! Good to see him back in action -- I still have yet to see that Drunken Monkey movie he did for Shaw Bros. back in 2003.
Tsui's movies are hit or miss for me, although some of his are certainly classics. Anyone else catch the buzz on this one?
So...who has the bootleg Seven Swords?
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain really started the whole Fant-Asia genre back in 1983. I remember seeing it in the theaters and thinking it was pretty cutting edge at the time. I saw soem of it again a few months ago and it looked incredibly dated, not just because the film quality (and this was on a DVD version, mind you) but because it was pre-CGI so the effects were sort of H.R. Puffenstuff, if you get my meaning. But still, and we say that a lot when studying wuxia pian, it's a very important film in the development of the genre. I can't wait to see Seven Swords. I've always loved Tsui Hark's visionary cinematography and have been eagerly awaiting something big from him for a few years now. Legend of Zu was beautiful, although vacuous plotwise.
Yes, it's a definite must see for fans of the wuxia genre...
...have you read Seven Swords? I haven't (nor do I intend to) but I'd be very curious about how it compares to the books.