Seven Swords begins with this fantastic battle scene that when first viewed, seems to set the tone for the rest of the movie. Unfortunately, as the movie progresses, it fails to live up to the expectations based on its opening sequence.

The original release was suppose to be a little over four hours long, but with all the editing for the English version, it was cut to around two and a half hours. This extensive amount of editing was perhaps the biggest reason that this film seemed to be very disjointed. It contained so many sub-plots that made very little sense to me. A sub-plot would be introduced and then almost immediately dropped a couple minutes later. I can recall one scene where the “bad guys” uncovered this ancient sword, but we never found out what happened to it. I was left with so many questions when the film ended that it really left me unsatisfied.

If your a martial arts enthusiast I think that you could enjoy this film as a one time DVD rental. Otherwise I’d probably steer clear from this one. Even with several good action scenes and beautiful scenery, this film lacks a clear storyline and character development to make it in my DVD collection.

In the early 1600′s, the Manchurians have taken over sovereignty of China and established the Ching Dynasty. While many nationalist revolts still brew within the martial artists’ community, the newly set-up government immediately imposes a Martial Arts Ban, forbidding the practice of martial arts altogether in order to gain control and order. Wind Fire, a surrendered military official from the previous dynasty, sees this as an opportunity to make a fortune for himself by helping to execute the new law. Greedy, cruel, and immoral, Wind Fire ravages the North-western China, and his next goal is to attack the final frontier, Martial Village.

With the exception of the terrible CGI, this film was pretty entertaining. The scenery wasn’t bad at all, and the costumes were great, but for some reason the computer generated images did not blend in well with the backgrounds. At some points in the movie, the graphics reminded me of an eight bit video game. It was just terribly bad. I heard this film was the most expensive Chinese production at the time of its release, but for the money they spent, they did a very poor job. I’ve seen better special effects using a much cheaper budget without the use of computer.

The Promise’s basic plot was a good one and the moral of the movie was simple yet satisfying. The biggest problem was the execution of the storyline. It was total chaos. The scenes would jump from one idea to the next and I could never really pinpoint what was going on. There would be a time when the story would begin to get interesting and then the entire scene would just drop and change. What kept my mind occupied was the main character Kunlun. His character development was the perhaps the most important aspect of the film and it gave the film some substance and continuity. He was the only character I was able to attach myself to because of his unselfish behavior and almost chivalrous acts.

The version that I watched was edited for US release so I’m afraid that I might have missed some important details from the original. They always seem to edit out important aspects of the original film in edited releases. I am hoping I can get a subtitled version of this film in Chinese in the future to make a fair comparison. Anyone have a copy they can lend me?

An orphaned girl, driven by poverty at such a young age, makes a promise with an enchantress. In return for beauty and the admiration of every man, she will never be with the man she loves. This spell cannot be broken unless the impossible happens: snow falling in spring and the dead coming back to life. Now a grown and beautiful princess, she regrets her promise, for all of the men she’s loved has always been met with tragedy. In love again with a man behind a red armor and a golden mask who rescues her from death, she is tormented by their inevitable parting. Meanwhile, Kunlun, the slave of a great general, is searching for the lost memories of a family he once had. Soon the fate of these two intertwine when the princess believes the general to be her hero, thus pulling him into this web of fate. What end will befallen our three characters? Are their fates already sealed by a higher power, or can they still choose a life they want?