The Blade Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Blade Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 18, 2026

Tsui Hark's "The Blade" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival Q&A session with Tsui Hark; new audio commentary by critic Frank Djeng; new video essay by filmmakers Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou; vintage trailer; and more. In Cantonese or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

All films Tsui Hark has directed over the years are similar in one very particular way -- they strive to be unpredictable. Some are significantly more unpredictable than the rest, but even the most conventional ones do something special that genuinely surprises their audience.

However, the unpredictability of Hark’s films is not always easy to describe as one of their major strengths. In fact, a good number of Hark’s films are problematic precisely because of the many different tricks they utilize to become unpredictable. For example, some of Hark’s films prioritize visual excess, which undermines their narrative structure, making them appear oddly chaotic. Also, quite a few of Hark’s films feature characters whose erratic behavior makes them too exotic even by Hong Kong cinema standards. Arguably the biggest reason some of Hark’s films mismanage their unpredictability, however, is Hark’s creativity. Hark relentlessly creates more, which he believes is better, even while production is in progress, and frequently, mixing all of the new with all or most of the old does not happen as he envisions.

The Blade demonstrates very well the key strengths and weaknesses of Hark’s work as a director. It is a lavish production, dazzling with stylized visuals whose special effects are of the highest quality. However, its characters are underdeveloped and poorly managed, and the content frequently feels frustratingly chaotic. A chunk of its narrative is supposed to be a reimagination of the classic story about the one-armed swordsman, immortalized by Chang Cheh’s famous 1967 film. Instead of a sword, this time, the famous character is given a broken blade.

In a distant land, a respected swordsman (Austin Wai) has raised the son (Vincent Zhao) of a great friend, murdered by a vicious, highly-skilled assassin (Xiong Xinxin), whose gang has been killing targets on demand for decades. When the swordsman breaks his promise to keep the identity of the assassin secret, the orphan vows to avenge his father’s murder. However, shortly after, while clashing with the assassin’s men and trying to save the life of the swordsman’s daughter, the orphan loses an arm. A peasant girl saves the orphan, and after undergoing a long recovery, he masters a spinning, one-armed fighting technique that allows him to challenge the killer of his father in a deadly duel.

The Blade is a passion project, and it is very easy to tell. Sadly, much of this passion is unrestrained and causes plenty of damage. For example, the narrative construction is quite problematic, making it seriously difficult or impossible to know why different secondary characters emerge and what makes their relationships with the main characters significant. In the most problematic areas, it looks like Hark rushed in multiple new ideas and content and then trusted his editor to stitch them up as nicely as he could. (In an archival Q&A session included on this release, Hark confirms that multiple new ideas and content, not present in the original screenplay, were in fact added after he had started shooting The Blade). Also, there is an obvious disconnect between the narration and the highly stylized action material, as they effectively force The Blade in opposite directions.

Loyal Hark fans will undoubtedly discover plenty of reasons to like The Blade, all of which will have something to do with its action choreography and special effects. However, The Blade is such a chaotic film that it is virtually impossible to care about any of its characters.

The Blade Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Blade arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this release:

"This new 4K restoration was created from the 35mm original camera negative. The original Cantonese track was remastered from the original magnetic track.

Mastering supervisors: Lee Kline, Giles Sherwood.
Colorist: Michel Hassidim//Resillion, New York.
Restoration: Resillion.
Audio restoration: The Criterion Collection."

The new 4K restoration is also made available on 4K Blu-ray in this combo pack release. I viewed it, in its entirety, on 4K Blu-ray. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

Even though the 4K restoration frequently produces striking visuals that look great on a large screen, I found it underwhelming because it is not graded accurately. Several supporting nuances -- most notably blue and gray nuances -- are destabilized by the presence of light teal and a shift toward an overall cooler color temperature. In darker areas, where earthy brown and brown nuances are very prominent, the negative effects of the shift remain hidden. However, elsewhere, in darker and daylight footage, the film has a distinct cool contemporary appearance. (For reference, the exact same shift caused by improper grading is present on the recent 4K restoration of Performance). This is unfortunate because the quality of the raw 4K files is spectacular. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections, such as degraining, contrast boosting, sharpening, etc. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks spotless as well. My score is 3.25/5.00.

The Blade Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese LPCM 1.0 and English Dolby Digital 1.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I viewed the new 4K restoration of The Blade, in its entirety, on 4K Blu-ray. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray. The comments below are from our review of the combo pack release. I viewed the entire film with the original Cantonese Mono track and tested the English dub track. The Cantonese Mono track is spectacular. During action footage -- like the crucial sequence in the bamboo forest -- its dynamic intensity is shockingly great. I was so impressed, I would argue that various restored Stereo tracks are noticeably inferior. The narration and dialogue are very clear and easy to follow. The English dub track is hilariously poor, but not because it has major flaws. The English narration and dialogue are quite simply too silly and frequently out of sync with the tone and intensity of the visual material.

The Blade Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critic and producer Frank Djeng in 2025.

• Action et Verite - this archival documentary explores the production of The Blade. Included in it are clips from interviews with Tsui Hark, co-writer Koan Hui, and action star Hung Yan-yan. The documentary was produced in 2006. In English. (59 min).

• The Edges of Wuxia - this new video essay was created by filmmakers Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou in 2025. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Tsui Hark - presented here is a Q&A session about The Blade featuring Tsui Hark and author Grady Hendrix. The best content addresses the improvements made after shooting of the film was initiated. The Q&A session was filmed at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2011. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• International Version Titles - presented remastered. (3 min).

• Trailer - presented here is an English dubbed trailer for The Blade. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Lisa Morton's essay "Cutting Deep", as well as technical credits.

The Blade Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unbridled creativity can be inspirational, but also quite problematic. It is definitely problematic in some of Tsui Hark's most ambitious films, where his relentless desire to improve tends to produce material that is too chaotic. The Blade, a passion project that reimagines the classic story about the one-armed swordsman, demonstrates very well the key strengths and weaknesses of Hark's work as a director. It produces some dazzling visuals, but the sum of its parts is oddly incoherent and even confusing. Criterion's Blu-ray release presents an exclusive new 4K restoration of The Blade that should have been more convincing.