During the Tang Dynasty, a rebellion left things in chaos and lawlessness. The various provinces posted bounties, looking for people known as “ghost killers” to come from all over to capture the criminals in exchange for money. One of these ghost killers is Cheng Yi (Xie Miao) aka Blind Cheng. He is a highly trained and exceptionally deadly swordsman, and was once a master in battle, but has since lost his eyesight. However, that doesn’t seem to have affected his other senses and fighting skills. His partner, Lady Qin Niang (Zhang Di), has been helping him find these bounties to collect, so that he can save up enough money to have his eyes fixed. While off collecting a bounty, Blind Cheng stumbles by a winery, where bride-to-be Ni Yan (Gao Weiman), is preparing for her big day. She invites Cheng to stay for the wedding if he would like a drink.
The wedding party comes to an abrupt end when Ni Yan’s estranged brother, Ni Jun (Zhang Haosen), shows up. Jun has been involved in some questionable activities, which have finally caught up with him. He witnessed something he shouldn’t have, and the powerful Yuwen crime family wants him dead. Leader Yuwen Ying (Hao Xiang) has sent his lackey He Qiufeng (Liu Ben) and his men to take care of the situation, which results in a massacre. Cheng was passed out in the stable when all of this went down, and Ni Yan was the only person to survive the attack. The police won’t do anything as they are either too afraid of, or in the pockets of the Yuwen family—they even suggest that Ni Yan confess to killing her own brother. She wants to seek revenge for her loss, but Cheng warns her about crossing the Yuwen family. However, he is so enraged by all of the evil and corruption in the provinces that, despite not wanting to get involved, he reluctantly offers to help Yan get the justice she seeks, knowing that he would have a better chance of doing so unscathed. He uses his keen martial arts skills to take down several of Ying’s men, to send a message. However, this just provokes the beast, and he quickly becomes public enemy number one to the Yuwen family, who use their power and connections to hunt down Cheng and the people he cares about, but once Cheng unleashes the full extent of his rage, does the Yuwen family even stand a chance?!
Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is an action-packed tale of justice and revenge, with the blind swordsman fighting off armies of men to help get justice for a young woman he hardly knows. However, things get even more personal when the enemy targets the people he loves, and then his full rae comes out. The fight choreography is excellent, making you believe that this blind man is really an expert swordsman. Along his journey, Cheng faces off against several different criminals and bad guys, but the one that really sticks most prominently in my mind is this really intense and freaky character who acts like a wild beast, wearing a scarf over his face, running around on all fours, and leaping at his enemy like a rabid dog. He also wields two large metal hooks on chains that he uses to pierce and hold his enemies at the shoulders. Meanwhile, the Yuwen family is known for their archery, so their weapon of choice is the arrow, which somehow Bling Cheng is able to sense and dodge.
The filmmakers have done an excellent job of showing how Cheng is able to sense his enemies approaching, and “see” them in battle, despite the fact that he can’t actually see, and his eyes are closed the entire time. You almost forget that Cheng is blind as he fights with such precision and accuracy. Inside his walking stick is a deadly sword that he wields unwaveringly against his enemies, and can even set aflame as needed.
Overall, I found the story and characters to be quite interesting, and the action and fight sequences to be really exciting. There’s not much more I could ask for or expect from a film like this.
Well Go has released Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman on both Blu-ray and DVD, and we were sent the Blu-ray version for review. The video quality is excellent, with a clean, sharp picture, with a solid level of detail throughout. There is also this neat visual style whenever we see Cheng start to detect that he is being followed, or that some enemy is approaching. I never really found the video presentation lacking in any way. The film’s audio track is even more impressive, providing clear dialogue throughout, and making extensive use of the surround channel to provide a really immersive experience. There are several scenes where in the background you can hear the whispering and commotion of the crowd, other villagers, or patrons of the gambling house&mdadh;and it’s not just murmuring, you can make out the full conversations. The action sequences also really come to life thanks to the sound design used to capture every hit, blow, and whiz of an arrow or slice of a sword. The disc offers both the original Mandarin audio track as well as a new English dub. With these foreign releases, I always prefer to try the English track first, so I can concentrate more on the visuals. I found this one to be well-acted, and the dialogue to be very similar to that in the subtitles. It’s hard to pick which I preferred—both the subtitles and the English dialogue have their moments of superiority.
Well Go’s Blu-ray releases tend to be a bit barebones, and this is one of those. The disc only contains the film’s trailer and some previews for three other Well Go releases as bonus material. The Blu-ray comes packed in a locking HD keepcase. There is no digital copy, but our review copy did include a nice slipcover with an embossed title.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:17:19)
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Blu-ray:
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Audio: Mandarin DTS-HDMA 5.1, Mandarin Stereo, English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
- Trailer (1:36)
- Previews
- The Flying Swordsman (1:29)
- Bad City (1:54)
- Night of the Assassin (1:28)
Final Thoughts:
Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman is an exciting, action-packed story, with interesting characters, some excellent fight sequences, and creative visuals. The picture and sound quality is great—I was happy to get a well-performed English dub option. There is no bonus material included other than the film’s trailer, but based on the film alone, it’s certainly worth a look for fans of the genre.
Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman
$14.99 (as of May 3, 2024 09:19 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman
48% Off $24.98 $12.96 (as of May 3, 2024 09:19 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
