Overview: Best known as a key contributor to the Hong Kong New Wave as the director of My Heart is That Eternal Rose and the editor of Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild and Ashes of Time, Patrick Tam began his filmmaking career with The Sword: a love letter to the wuxia genre starring Adam Cheng (Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain).

Believing that he is in possession of a cursed blade, the legendary swordsman Hua Qian Shu (Tien Feng, King Boxer) has retreated from the martial arts world to live in peaceful seclusion. However, his retirement has done nothing to dampen his reputation; a young warrior, Li Mak-jan (Cheng), wishes to challenge the master in order to test his own sword-fighting skill.

But as Li searches for the reclusive Hua Qian Shu so that he might face him in combat, he finds himself entangled with old lovers and new rivals. Soon, it becomes apparent that the old master’s sword really might be cursed - and will, perhaps, bring nothing but tragedy to those who seek to wield it.

After a period of dormancy, wuxia films resurged in the 1980’s as the likes of Duel to the Death, Bastard Swordsman and Tsui Hark’s Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain rejected the realist approach adopted by kung fu cinema in the previous decade.

Eureka Classics is proud to present Patrick Tam’s The Sword - one of the earliest and best pictures to emerge from this wuxia revival - from a brand new 2K restoration.

Blu-ray Verdict: The Sword is unlike any wuxia I have seen before, but granted, I haven’t seen that many. With its deliberate pacing, focus on characters and its expertly build dramatic tension, it feels a lot more catered to a serious audience.

The movie has a very modern sensibility to it, not only in its visual story telling but also because of its partial inclusion of a synth soundtrack. It looks absolutely stunning; scenes are intricately framed, the color palette is super lovely and the fight sequences are expertly choreographed (that editor deserves a award, trust me).

The story itself isn’t anything overly special to its craft, but the way it all unfolds on screen is so classy and beautiful, that it just pulls you in. That said, I would summarize it as a moody meditation on violence and its social impact, quiet, understated, full of character development and deep themes, punctuated by a delightfully anachronistic, yet fitting synth-driven score.

And also peppered with mind-boggling swordplay choreographed by Ching Siu-Tung that gets crazier and crazier until the final duel, which I will describe with only two words: Swordsman Superman!

Special Features:
1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration
Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Andrew Heskins on The Sword – A new interview with film critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks)
Forging Ahead – A new interview with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong on The Sword and the wuxia genre
Original theatrical trailer
Limited edition of 2000 copies only

Official Purchase Link