While martial arts had taken over the Hong Kong action in the ’70s with the rise of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, there were still those of enjoyed the sword play of wuxia. In 1980, Patrick Tam brought back the clanging glory of wuxia with a movie appropriately called The Sword. The film was produced by Golden Harvest and led to a revival in the genre over the coming years. Here’s the press release from Eureka! with all the details of the limited release Blu-ray:
EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF
THE SWORD
PATRICK TAM’S DAZZLING TAKE ON THE CLASSIC WUXIA ADVENTURE
11/19
Eureka Entertainment announces the release of The Sword, Patrick Tam’s dazzling take on the classic wuxia adventure. Presented on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration. Available as part of the Eureka Classics range, coming Nov 19 in North America. The Limited edition release of 2000 copies (per territory) will exclusively feature an O-card slipcase, and a collector’s booklet.
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.
