DVD Corner

Soul Of The Sword and Shaolin Rescuers DVD Reviews

A meandering story hurts “Soul Of The Sword.”

“Shaolin Rescuers” is a film whose sole purpose is to showcase the actor’s martial arts skills.

“Soul Of The Sword” revolves around a nameless swordsman who wants to challenge and beat the King Of Swords so he can claim that title. Of course, the Swordsman’s quest is easier said than done as he faces challenging foes along his path. There’s also a key subplot involving a love interest that proves to be an obstacle for the Nameless Swordsman.

While ‘Soul’ starts out well with some exciting action sequences, the story quickly loses steam and begins to meander until the final showdown between the Nameless Swordsman and the King Of The Swords. Speaking of the showdown, it’s easily the highlight here as it proves to be both exciting and not what you would expect. I won’t go into detail about it, but I will say that there is a twist.

Another thing that caught my eye was the amount of weird stuff that is in this film. There are two huncbacks with axes, a urinating horse, a man with a giant lump on his head, nipple twisting, and a joke being told for what seems like 5 minutes. While these elements are ultimately rather pointless and cause the film to meander, I do have to admit to finding them amusing. It certainly spices the story up a little which is what “Shaolin Rescuers” could have used…

The plot of “Shaolin Rescuers” is simple. A baker and a waiter, who want to become fighters, get their opportunity to fight when they are confronted with an evil priest and his desciples whom are killing off Shaolin fighters.

‘Rescuers’ just does not work as a film. First of all, the tone is all over the place. For such a serious plot, the film is littered with goofy humor such as the slapstick/cartoony sparring scenes and the waiter who has the skill to use everything as a weapon (including tofu). Secondly, the story is painfully slow. Not only are their seemingly pointless comedic moments slowing the film down, but there are overlong fighting and training sequences that slow the story to a screeching halt. Finally, the main issue I have with ‘Rescuers’ is that the entire film seems like an excuse to showcase the actor’s martial arts skills. This is especially evident in the fight scenes. Rather than feeling like real fights filled with high stakes, the fights feel more like sparring sessions that showcase incredible moves. Needless to say, it’s a frustrating viewing experience to say the least.

Summary: “Soul Of The Sword” and “Shaolin Rescuers” are definitely not the Shaw Brothers finest productions.

Once again, the widescreen picture quality is masterful for both of these films. The prints are easily the best aspect of both of these discs.

Both discs contain English Stereo and Mandarin Mono tracks. Both of the English Stereo tracks suffer from mediocre and often goofy English dubs. The Mandarin tracks are clearly the ones to go with here.

The extras on the “Soul Of The Sword” disc include trailers for the “Hong Kong Connection” series, “Robogeisha,” “Ichi,” “Shinobi,” “Hana,” “Love And Honor,” “Daytime Drinking,” “Mushi-Shi,” and “Ghost Train.”

The extras on the “Shaolin Rescuers” DVD are the same as ‘Soul’ only the “Shinobi” trailer isn’t included and the “Vampire Girl Vs. Frankenstein Girl” trailer is included.

December 4, 2010 - Posted by nicklyons1 | DVD review | Shaolin Rescuers DVD Review, Soul Of The Sword DVD Review