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ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (1967) (Blu-Ray)
AKA: 獨臂刀
BD (Region A): March 22, 2011
List Price:
Publisher: celestialpictures.com
Description
"You made me a cripple, so I'll make you a cripple, too," sneers
charismatic swordplay superstar Wang Yu, clutching his severed member,
in this 1967 classic of manly suffering and bloodshed. Because of its
implacable-revenge motif, and its extended training sequences, this is
sometimes cited as the first true martial arts movie--a transitional
film between the old-school swordplay and the contemporary kung fu
genres. Whatever you call it, it is easily one of the most influential
Asian action movies ever made. A master of long-sword fighting
techniques, Wang loses an arm in the early innings. (It is hacked off by
the woman he loves.) In order to exact payback, he has to master the
unfamiliar short-sword style, using the stump of his symbolically
shattered blade. Meanwhile, enemies of the long-sword school have
invented a sneaky "sword-clamp" device and deploy it against the good
guys. Issues of fighting style and discipline are central; one technique
trumps another, and the hero triumphs because, driven by rage, he
practices more obsessively than his foes. This is a lean, effective
piece of genre craftsmanship from the great director Chang Cheh, finally
available in the U.S. in a letterboxed version that gives his shapely
widescreen compositions a fair shake. --David Chute
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