Genre: Drama

Eschewing, for the most part, extensive wirework and CGI enhancement, ‘The Swordsman’ delivers clean, crisp, albeit brutal swordfight action.

From the opening frames to the denouement, this is a production that sucks you into its strange universe, style dripping out of every shot.

A somewhat straightforward, and at times melodramatic, narrative is given heft by the committed cast, stunning cinematography and set design, and fantastic swordplay action.

The wonderfully choreographed, filmed and performed kung fu from a large and talented cast is the reason to watch this movie and for this it is highly recommended.

‘The Tai Chi Master’ has all the components you expect – an impressive budget, a handful of beautiful actresses, and plenty of action – but never quite convinces.

While the episodic narrative fails to engage, the short vignettes of the Dai culture and the stunning cinematography make ‘The Taste of Rice Flower’ a more bearable experience.

While it hasn’t aged well in comparison to ‘Come Drink With Me’ and even some of Chang Cheh’s early work, it still proves to be a mildly diverting Shaw Brothers’ swordplay film.

It hits all the disaster movies tropes and delivers some spectacular sequences of destruction, mayhem and general disaster insanity.

A four-star movie that, due to its heavy-handed closing shots, loses half a star; the same idea was used with much more sophistication at the end of ‘Anonymous Heroes’.

Strong performances, intelligently filmed action and an all round aura of quality mean that this comfortably hits a four star rating.

Nominated for an Academy Award and sweeping the board at the Japanese equivalent of ‘The Oscars’, Yoji Yamada’s lyrically, tenderly woven tale of dignity is a triumph of substance over action.

‘The Twin Swords’ isn’t the type of Shaw Brothers production that will appeal to everyone, mainly due to its fairly dated style that lacks the superior fight choreography.