Dragon Dynasty: Seven Swords

Director: Tsui Hark Tsui Hark

Overview

Tsui Hark (The Blade) adapted his massive martial arts epic Seven Swords (AKA Qi Jian) from Liang yu-Sheng's popular novel Seven Swordsmen from Mount Tian. The story opens in the 1660s, following the implementation of China's (Manchu) Qing dynasty. To quell possible nationalist uprisings, the emperor issues a decree forbidding the use of martial arts, and guarantees decapitation for anyone who violates that order. A class of bounty hunters quickly formed to enforce the law and collect 600 pieces of silver for each violator; the most massive and domineering of the warriors is the bald, muscular Fire-Wind (Sun Honglei), a bellicose and volatile creature who lives in an elephantine tentlike dwelling on a hill. This walking terror selects Martial Village, a hamlet in northwestern China, as his next assignment. Meanwhile, in Martial, two young adults, Wu Yuanyin (Charlie Young) and her ex-beau, Han Zhibang) rescue an old executioner, Fu Qingzhu (Lau Kar-leung) who foresees the coming wrath and acknowledges the necessity of pulling in the mythical 'Warriors of Mt. Tian' to fight Fire-Wind and his cronies. The four warriors summoned by Fu include Chu Zhaonan (Donnie Yen), and Yang Yunchong (Leon Lai), who dramatically increase the tension and bloodshed when the former develops a crush on one of Fire-wind's hostages, Green Pearl (Kim So-yeon) and decides to kidnap her - sending Fire-wind through the roof. The critically-worshipped Hark reportedly cut two versions of this film (including a 2 1/2 hour cut and a 3-hour cut) and demonstrated incredible confidence in Qi Jian by planning it as the initial installment in a massive series of multimedia sequels, including a 74-part television series, an online video game, comics, and five additional films. The picture itself testifies to this, with the setup for a sophomore installment in its conclusion. Qi Jian, however, did lackluster box office when it opened in the Far East in July 2005, making the follow-ups less than certain.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/16/2007
UPC:	0796019797580
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	NR
Source:	Weinstein Company
Region Code:	1
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:33:00

Special Features

Disc 1; Feature commentary with director Tsui Hark and Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan; Widescreen; Enhanced 16x9 television; Languages: English 5.1, Cantonese & Mandarin 5.1 and Cantonese & Mandarin 5.1 DTS; Subtitles: English, Spanish; Disc 2; Deleted and extended scenes; The making Of Seven Swords; Behind-the-scenes featurettes; Interview gallery; Storyboard gallery; Trailers and TV spots; Widescreen 16x9, 4x3; Language: English stereo; Subtitles: English

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Donnie Yen	Chu Zaonan
Lu Yi	Han Zhibang
Lau Kar-Leung	Fu Qinzhu
Honglei Sun	Fire-Wind
Kim So Yeun	Green Pearl,Actor
Duncan Chow	Mustang
Tai Li-Wu	Xin Longzi
Zhang Jingchu	Liu Yulang
Charlie Yeung	Wu Yuanyin
Leon Ming	Yang Yun Chong
Sun Hong-Lei	General Fire-Wind
Yi-Ching Lu	Han Zhibang
Jason Lau	Liu Jingyi, Village Head
Chi Kuan-Chun	Qiu Dongluo, Liu's Deputy
Ma Jingwu	Master Shadow-Glow
Michael Wong	The Duke
Taili Wu	Actor
Huang Peng	Actor
Lau Kar Leung	Actor
Kenji Kawai	Composer

Technical Credits

Tsui Hark

Cheung Chi-Sing

Chun Tin-nam

Hun Tin Naam

Tsui Hark	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Cheung Chi-Sing	Screenwriter
Chun Tin-nam	Screenwriter
Raymond Wong	Executive Producer
Hong Bong-chul	Executive Producer
Zhang Yong	Executive Producer
Lee Joo-ick	Producer
Ma Zhongjun	Producer
Pan Zhizhong	Producer
Hong Rong-chul	Executive Producer
Lee Joo-ik	Producer
Hun Tin Naam	Screenwriter
He Wei	Sound/Sound Designer
Liang Zongwei	Sound/Sound Designer