“It is a simple story.”
Legend of the Shadowless Sword is an interesting adventure as far as wire-fu goes, but it feels a bit derivative. Not much new happens, but it still features some excellent set pieces and lots of action.
In 927 A.D., two kingdoms are at war, Dongranguk and Balhae. Dongranguk appears to be winning as they’ve finally killed what they assume is the last member of the royal family. However, one prince left many years before and his identity has only been discovered.
The warriors of Balhae send Yeon So-ha (So-yi Yoon), a beautiful yet deadly warrior, to recover the Prince and bring him safely back to claim the throne. Prince Jung-Hyun (Lee Seo Jin) has assumed the name of Sosam and set himself up as a pawnbroker of sorts.
When Yeon finds him he’s not exactly anxious to claim the throne and return to his homeland. The viscous Killer Blade Army is also out to find the prince and make sure that he meets a grisly fate and not make it back to Balhae to be king.
Legend of the Shadowless Sword starts off very good with the Killer Blade Army, a simple yet effective name, stomping into town and their blades causing chests to burst and heads to explode – groovy! The action and battle sequences are excellent and very fun to watch.
Of course, romance develops between the protector and the protected as usually happens in these tales. The villain also has other motives for their actions that gradually unfold as the story progresses. Some fey characters provide the comedy relief. It sounds very much like other titles from the genre.
However, there is some beautiful scenery and the battles take place on some grand sets. Again, the beginning attack is well done. It’s an enjoyable entry but don’t expect to see anything new in the plot. It Yeon is one kick-ass babe though.
Legend of the Shadowless Sword is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include the 17-minute “Character Introductions” that has some of the actors talking about their characters.
Next are a 6-minute behind-the-scenes featurette, a 90 second picture gallery, a 4-minute music video, and the 2-minute international trailer.
Beautifully filmed but really more of the same when compared to other films. I don’t think that Legend of the Shadowless Blade will go down as a classic of the genre but it is a pleasant way to spend the evening if you’re a fan of that same genre.
Legend of the Shadowless Sword is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for this version of the DVD in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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