14 Blades (2010) - Trailer

[luckystars]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0HoZL111yk

Holy Crap this looks amazing.

[Yi-Long]

Hmmm... not excited yet. It just looks.... meh.

[luckystars]

Meh meaning fucking amazing??

[HungFist]

I liked the middle section of the trailer. There was some early 90's wuxia in there. But parts of the trailer also make it very obvious this is a new HK film that perhaps takes itself too seriously and is too... bland. The early 90's wuxia was fun, partly intentionally, partly unintentionally, and there was still that HK movie essence, that craziness, that does not exist in the new, techically more competent and polished HK cinema.

[romerojpg]

Errrm OK.

[Beat TG]

More trailers.

Teaser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu_9cANOOsU

Trailer 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D1EN6OPMm4

Trailer 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abhE4kQH9U

Taiwanese Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WMrNn_uWbY

[grim_tales]

Looks pretty good However the setting also makes it like a serious period epic, not sure if it is that or a wuxia too.

[romerojpg]

However the setting also makes it like a serious period epic, not sure if it is that or a wuxia too.

What are you on about

[grim_tales]

However the setting also makes it like a serious period epic, not sure if it is that or a wuxia too.

What are you on about

Giving my thoughts on the trailer, not sure if the wuxia style sits well with the setting or what exactly its aiming for. Clearer?
It does look good though.

[Shingster]

Trailer 1 almost made me forget that the 90s Wu Xia New Wave never ended! Shame it's directed by Daniel Lee, who hasn't made a good film in a decade and who completely ruined Sammo's choreography in his last film: Three Kingdoms*. If it goes true to Lee's usual form then the fight scenes will be appallingly edited and the story will be a total mess.


* Sammo may have been to blame, but he know's how to edit a fight scene and Lee generally doesn't.

[romerojpg]

not sure if the wuxia style sits well with the setting or what exactly its aiming for. Clearer?

Nope.

[grim_tales]

Looking forward to it
Well Romero that is your problem, not mine. As Hung says, some wuxia films were often light, yet the period setting of the film looks serious.

[romerojpg]

You are just talking bollocks, so it is your problem.

[Shingster]

As Hung says, some wuxia films were often light, yet the period setting of the film looks serious.

Most 90s Wu Xia were quite dramatic, it's just that there were lighter films and stronger comic relief in the serious ones back then, as opposed to today where it's always overblown and dry.

You are just talking bollocks, so it is your problem.

He's got something in common with you then.

[grim_tales]

Fair enough Shing

[luckystars]

Trailer 1 almost made me forget that the 90s Wu Xia New Wave never ended! Shame it's directed by Daniel Lee, who hasn't made a good film in a decade and who completely ruined Sammo's choreography in his last film: Three Kingdoms*. If it goes true to Lee's usual form then the fight scenes will be appallingly edited and the story will be a total mess.


* Sammo may have been to blame, but he know's how to edit a fight scene and Lee generally doesn't.

Hey! I liked Three Kingdoms. Despite not being filmed and edited like an 80's Sammo flick


And Kingdoms was wayyy better than Dragon Squad so I'm hoping for at least a greatly entertaining film

[thelostdragon]

I like it.

[Shingster]

I reviewed it for DVDTimes a while back and gave it 4/10:

"The latest in a long line of Chinese historical “epics” Three Kingdoms fails to bring anything new or exciting to the table. Daniel Lee’s had a career that has been inconsistent to say the least, and he fails to successfully reinvent the story of the Three Kingdoms of China; instead producing an aggressively paced blur of a film that treats its viewers as if they have the attention span of a gnat. The general theme of Three Kingdoms is that war is meaningless when there’s no definite goal or end in sight and soldiers are ultimately dehumanised and senselessly slaughtered on the whim of puppet master generals. We know this because characters keep repeatedly referring to military tactics as a game of chess, and whilst these themes do tend to lend themselves to stirring melodrama, the characterisation in Three Kingdoms is so shallow that you really don’t give one hoot as to their fate. Most unforgivable though - and I never thought I’d be saying this about a film with Sammo Hung as action director - the action sequences are atrociously directed. There’s never more than three moves in a single shot and the frenzied editing makes the fights about as coherent as Oliver Reed on live TV after downing multiple bottles of Whiskey.

Three Kingdoms has clearly had a bit of money thrown at it, so why are the visuals so bland? Lee just stumbles from close up to close up and shows little of the visual flair he demonstrated in his debut: What Price Survival. As a huge fan of Sammo Hung and (to a lesser extent) Lee’s early work, watching Three Kingdoms evoked a deep sense of uneasiness in me, as it gradually became clear that the film is ultimately a testament to their faded talent."

[luckystars]

It's a good film.

A strong 8/10.

[Beat TG]

http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/01/r ... blades.php

[thelostdragon]

Thanks Beat. Are you a contributor to Twitchfilm or did you just copy their review here?

[Markgway]

'Wuxia' is just a catch-all term for period-set martial arts fiction. It can be light or dark, serious or comic. Because of the eras these stories are set in the vast majority of wuxia is swordplay or blade weapon-based (though you technically can have hand-to-hand there's not likely to be much of it).

[Beat TG]

Thanks Beat. Are you a contributor to Twitchfilm or did you just copy their review here?

The latter.

[Shingster]

In future Beat could you please clarify that you have copied the review from a film review site or preferably just post the link alone, as it does indeed come across like you're the one who wrote the review and I don't want any Twitch contributors/readers who may visit these boards thinking you're plagiarising their work! Thanks for bringing the review to our attention though!

[Beat TG]

Sure thing. Edited the post.