I caught a screening of this film at the AFM this past February. Wow...very impressive. I recognized the lead, Hosung Pak, from his co-starring role with Jackie Chan in Legend of Drunken Master (the best fight scenes with Hosung unfortunately got deleted in the final cut of Drunken Master). For those who don't know, Hosung is one of the true modern masters of Wushu. Nobody can fight with swords like he can. I used to see him when he was a legend on the American martial arts tournament circuit back in the late 80s, early 90s. Book of Swords' story is just a standard action piece, but it has some of the best martial arts fight scenes I've ever seen on film. It was a nice change of pace to see an action film with real action, as opposed to relying on wire tricks, CG enhancements, etc. I've heard they're releasing this on DVD very soon. I'll definitely be picking up a copy. Hope Hosung is planning on coming out with more stuff soon. The martial arts/action genre definitely needs a breath of fresh air...hopefully Hosung's films can provide that new kick fans are looking for.
Review of Book of Swords
