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The Lost Bladesman (2011)

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The Lost Bladesman is a film adaptation of a portion of the Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which has been the basis of many popular adaptations, most recently Red Cliff, the anime series Ikki Tousen and the popular Dynasty Warriors series of video games.

This particular film follows Guan Yu, here played by Donnie Yen (SPL, Ip Man, and Shanghai Knights), a great warrior and general who is more or less … (read more)

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Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2003)

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Director He Ping’s film Warriors of Heaven and Earth clearly owes a debt to the American Western as well as the films of Akira Kurosawa. It has been a while since a Chinese historical sword flick has been made with this sort of lineage and it is interesting to consider the ways in which this film deals with its somewhat traditional subject matter.

Much like Kurosawa, who insisted that motion pictures should be full of motion, He Ping makes sure … (read more)

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