The Lost Bladesman

[Hebrew Hammer]

Been looking for it on the web...I want to see this badly.

[doug maverick]

its not out yet.

[Zenshiite]

That trailer looked to me like they were embracing a kind of Dynasty Warriors vibe, at least as far as the graphics for the actors shots and all that.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Here it is lads...not perfect but viewable.

http://www.videobb.com/video/Mi5Hg5QhsyWl

Of course its in Chinese...looking for the English Version.

[Hebrew Hammer]

http://www2.zmovie.tv/movies/view/th...bladesman-2011

[Hebrew Hammer]

Well, not quite what I expected, but I'm ok with that. I thoroughly enjoyed the action scenes, the Kwan Dao was awesome to watch and they didn't disappoint even when Donnie was using it in close quarters. I wondered how that would go. So the martial aspects were solid.

The plot is another story, I was not sure really what Guan Yu was about? It wasn't revenge, was it about the his sister in law?? A warrior of the people?? A pacifist? Who was he fighting for? Clearly not a revenge film. Just totally lost me and that's not easy to do. It ended oddly too I thought. Maybe it was just edited poorly?

The other draw back for me was Donnie Yen's acting...he was soo stiff (so to speak) in this role...it was like his make up and underwear were too tight. Hardly any facial expressions, he didn't bring any life to the character other than the fight scenes which has solid.

Check out for yourself...maybe I'll watch it again later for some more perspective.

[SimonM]

When I discovered that Donnie Yen, one of my very favourite kung fu movie stars had done a movie detailing my very favourite sequence in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms I thought it would be a sure-fire win.

I was painfully mistaken.

The subtitles on my copy were so absolutely horrible that it was easier to understand the film, even with my fractured mandarin, to just shut them off. The fight sequences, though too infrequent in this slowly-paced period piece, were very well done, credit where credit is due, but while some reviewers thought that the "closed-door" fight was innovative I saw it as nothing more than a blatant rip-off; a cost cutting measure that allowed the crew to cut an entire fight sequence.

The inscrutable attempt at an unrequited love story between Guanyu and Liu Bei's concubine and the downright silly twist ending were stupid beyond words and veered precipitously from the text in fundamental ways.

The framing device, using Cao Cao's grief over Guanyu's eventual death was actually very well done. It's just too bad that it framed a story that was ultimately so poorly told.

The Lost Bladesman is sadly a flawed film. Completionists of either Donnie Yen's oeuvre or of Three Kingdoms stories might want to watch it but don't get your hopes up too high.

[GeneChing]

The Lost Bladesman: Film Review
3:28 PM 6/1/2011 by Maggie Lee

The Bottom Line: Unadventurous, self-conflicted costume martial arts film that does not put its valuable stars to proper use.
Venue: Udine Far East Film Festival
Cast: Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Sun Li, Edison Bo-Chieh Wang, Alex Fong
Directors-screenwriters: Felix Chong, Alan Mak

Felix Chong and Alan Mak wrote and directed the martial arts film, starring Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen.

UDINE, Italy – The martial prowess of Donnie Yen and acting chops of Jiang Wen are squandered inThe Lost Bladesman, a pseudo-historical blockbuster that’s wordy and ponderous, interspersed with (rather than driven by) sturdy but never mind-blowing action sequences. The subject is Guan Yu (a.k.a. Guan Yunchang), a fictional hero from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who is widely enshrined in temples and deified by police and triads alike for chivalry and manhood. Directing-writing duo Alan Mak and Felix Chong (Overheard, Infernal Affairs) can neither decide whether to humanize or glorify Guan, nor make up their minds about shooting an action-entertainment or political drama.

Though the film falls way short of epic status, Yen’s bankability as a premier action star will help The Lost Bladesman find its way into overseas genre ancillary markets. In China, it reportedly made around $24.4 million in just under a month.

Set in 198 A.D., when the Eastern Han Dynasty has collapsed into civil war, and the young Emperor (Edison Wang) is a puppet of prime minster and generalissimo Cao Cao (Jiang), the film singles out two famous chapters from Guan (Yen)’s many heroic adventures: his hostage period in Cao Cao’s camp in Baima City, and his dangerous mission to escort Qilan (Sun Li), concubine of his lord Liu Bei (Alex Fong, completely under-used) to safety.

Guan’s captivity occupies the film’s dawdling, 45-minute first act, during which Cao (the film’s narrator) ponders how to turn Guan into his “chess piece.” This ranges from boring him with propaganda on benevolent dictatorship to drugging his food with aphrodisiac so he would cross the line with Qilan, whom he had an adolescent crush on. The historical context of Guan’s and Liu’s strategic situation vis a vis Cao’s and the Emperor’s is blurrily related, with interpolations of names and places that overwhelm rather than clarify. The love plot, with its potential for challenging taboo, has as much spark as damp firewood.

The second act finally breaks free from the sluggish, enclosed atmosphere and allows a number of action setpieces to be designed around various eye-catching natural locations. Guan’s journey, known in Chinese folklore as “Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles” involves him crossing five barriers and defeating six generals sent by Cao’s aides to halt him. A fight on horseback along a circular alley impresses with moves devised to fit around the tight, curving space, caught by a nimble, swiveling camera. But the narrative scurries and scrambles, never achieving a headlong thrust in pacing.

One expects physically demanding knockouts and elaborate moves from Yen but there’s not enough innovation or exertion in his martial arts choreography. As the bearded hero known for his towering build, Yen’s petite, albeit sinewy figure diminishes his stature. Yen is also hampered by the need to brandish Guan’s signature “guan dao” — an unwieldly blade on a stick that circumscribes fancier moves utilizing his superb boxing skills.

Mak and Chong, whose expertise lies in setting taut psychological dramas in urban, westernized Hong Kong, are out of their depth when projecting a historical vision steeped in ancient folklore. A move to modernize the protagonists by besetting them with philosophical doubts about their raison d’etre and values of their time is not developed in line with their course of action, which remains orthodox. Jiang bestows gravitas to his role but his scope of acting is limited to delivering turgid political treatises.

Venue: Udine Far East Film Festival
Sales: Easternlight Films
Production companies: Star Union Skykee (Beijing) Film & Media Advertising Co Ltd, Shanghai Film Group, Anhui Media Industry Group presents a Pop Movies production
Cast: Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Sun Li, Edison Bo-Chieh Wang, Alex Fong
Directors-screenwriters: Felix Chong, Alan Mak
Produced by: Li Junhao, Xia Huajun, Anson Leung, Zheng Gaofeng
Producers: Liang Ting, Wang Tianyun
Executive producers: Liang Ting, Ren Zhonglun, Li Jinhua
Director of photography: Chan Chi-ying
Art director: Liu Jingping
Music: Henry Lai
Costume designer: Zhang Ling
Editor: Kong Chi-leung
No rating, 107 minutes

I still need to see this. I've suffered through all of Jackie's & Jet's flops. I'll suffer through most of Donnie's (although I'll probably draw the line at All's Well, Ends Well 2011).

[SimonM]

I still need to see this. I've suffered through all of Jackie's & Jet's flops. I'll suffer through most of Donnie's (although I'll probably draw the line at All's Well, Ends Well 2011).

Warning you Gene the third act is basically made of fail. But, yeah, you're a completionist so watch it in that context.

[GeneChing]

...given your reviews, my expectation wasn't too high. Thanks for that. If I hadn't been warned by y'all, I might have been more disappointed.

It's another gorgeous ancient Chinese warfare flick - great sets and costumes, massive siege battles. Betty Sun (Fearless, Painted Skin) was the concubine. She has impossible huge eyes, like an anime character, and got a little annoying. Zhang Wen plays Cao Cao, and comes off looking strangely like Zhang Fengyi's characterization for Red Cliff. Yen was too gaunt for Guan Yu, IMO, although I did like the notion of how Guan gets his red face (smearing blood over it). Got to hand it to Donnie tho - he's playing all the great martial heroes, one by one. From Chen Zhen, to the god of war, and on to Monkey King. About halfway through, there's an awesome action sequence that's classic Donnie - the one in the narrow corridor. There's several more good fights to follow as he plows through the 6 generals. I always enjoy seeing good Kwan Dao work. I love that weapon.

If you're a fan of Donnie, the central action portions are really solid, but the beginning is slow and it ends with a thud so either fast forward, or enjoy a few brewskis for those parts. Of course, if you know RotTK, which any sinophile knows like Harry Potter, it's not going to surprise you significantly with plot twists. Seeing this has inspired me to read RotTK again.

[GeneChing]

Enter to win KungFuMagazine.com's contest for Donnie Yen's The Lost Bladesman on DVD! Contest ends 5:30 p.m. PST on 11/10/2016.

[GeneChing]

See our WINNERS: The Lost Bladesman on DVD thread.

I'm a little late with this announcement. My apologies.