蕩宼風雲 - God of War

蕩宼風雲 (God of War) is an 2017 movie out of Zhong Guo. The film stars Vincent Zhao, Sammo Hung, Yasuaki Kurata, Regina Wan, and Timmy Hung. The movie is based on the historical events of General Qi Jiguang and General Yu Dayou of the mid 1500s.



The coast of Zhong Guo is being plundered by wokou pirates. The pirates are a combination of ronins and samurai from Japan who enlist the help of locals to help gain a foothold. General Yu Dayou has been unable to make headway against the pirates position. General Qi Jiguang is sent to help from the north. Qi uses a variety of trickery to defeat the pirates, including observations of their tactics and weapons. With that knowledge, Qi researches ways to gain the upper and trains a new army on how to defeat the pirates.



I liked the film a lot. It was a simple premise. Defeat the pirates. With that in mind, the General has to navigate politics, the enemy's slightly more advance weapons, and the loyalty of the army. The addition of Regina Wan's added a softness to the movie in retrospect. I caught this film via Netflix.

Sacrifice - 趙氏孤兒

Sacrifice (趙氏孤兒) is an 2010 film out of Zhong Guo. The movie stars Ge You, Wang Xueqi, and Huang Xiaoming. The supporting cast includes Fan Bingbing and Vincent Zhao. The movie is directed by Chen Kaige.

Two Generals have beef with each other. One general frames the other general by poisoning the Duke. The framed general's whole clan of ~300 is killed. The only survivor is baby Zhao. A local doctor is the one that saves the baby from the grips of the general that wins. When the manhunt for baby Zhao takes the life of the doctor's son, he vows revenge. But a long drawn out revenge plan is hard to pull off, especially if it take 15 years. The doctor decides to raise baby Zhao and use him to take revenge on the general for his son. In the process, he sacrifices his wife, son, and his honor.

This movie was pretty good. Good acting, engaging story, and rather suspenseful. The matter of how things plays out kept me at the edge of my seat. I really didn't know which way things would go. Fan Bingbing's part was rather small, but quite emotional. Huang Xiaoming also plays a bit part. The main acting is left to Ge You and Wang Xueqi. Even though them two aren't the prettiest things to look at, their acting was superb.

The Blade - 刀

The Blade (刀) is 1995 out of Hong Kong. The movie stars Vincent Zhao, Austin Wai, Moses Chan, Valerie Chow and Hung Yan-Yan.

The movie is about a group of men from a blade blacksmith outfit. The 2 main characters are Ding and Iron Head. The both seek the same girls. Things turn ugly with Ding is transfered the reigns the the blacksmith factory. The majority of blacksmiths are loyal to Iron Head. At a certain point in the movie, it turns into a revenge tail.

The action in the film was based more on reality with elements of wire fu sprinkled through out. I recently re-watched this. I had originally seen this back in 1995. My reaction back than was pretty much in amazement. Because it was a very different type of kung fu flick. The violence was much more heavy than that of the other flare during that time.

I think its still highly regarded and even today, it stands the test of time. This type of film just isn't made anymore. Its too bad and its a shame.

Some of the story is very similiar to that of "The One-Armed Swordsman".

You should watch this if you're a kung fu flick fan.

Seven Swordsmen - 七劍下天山

Seven Swordsmen (七劍下天山) is a 2005 wuxia series out of China starring Vincent Zhao. The series came on the heals of the "Seven Swords" movie by Tsui Hark.

I didn't finish this wuxia series. I stopped around the 13th or 14th episode. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to stop. The wuxia was extremely cheezy. The acting was worst. To be honest, I am not sure why I am even writing about this. It must be that I actually own this and its sitting in my stack of unwatched series.

But the Netflix reviews have been very very kind. If you go off of those, this is a must see series! Hey, you can rent it.

I've liked Vincent Zhao a lot since he first appeared as the replacement Wong Fei Hong in the Once Upon A Time in China movie series. But I've had a hard time finishing the other wuxia series he's been in. I may get to those in the future.