Yuen Woo-ping has still got it. Blades of the Guardians is a new historical martial arts epic and Yuen hasn’t missed a step.
Set during the Sui dynasty, Dao Ma (Wu Jing) and a child hunt bounties. They meet up with Mistress Ayuya (Chen Lijun) of Momoa village to go after Zhisilang (Sun Yizhou).
Every character gets an on screen ID. Eventually it stops helping because you don’t know if you’ll be following them for the rest of the movie or just one scene. It’s enough to know who is on which side and many of the characters are memorably colorful, like the prisoner Yan Ziniang (Li Yunxiao) who keeps trying to seduce men into setting her free. They are all impressive fighters who take to Yuen’s choreography.
An early fight against Lord Chang (Jet Li) includes familiar wire moves like the hand plant kick. Fighters spin in midair and do twisting jumps. Yuen incorporates these moves organically, not just to show off.
The action intensifies with a horse chase where Dao Ma is hopping on either side of the horse and wall running cliffs and saddling back up.
The 4K UHD shows the desert cliffs in beautiful glory. A few scenes at night feature deep black sky lit by torch. A flashback shows pure white snow too.
Some surround fills the room with swords clanking, galloping horses and arrows whizzing by.
Four bonus features on the Blu-ray emphasize the history and practical stunts. There is a real sense of veterans passing the torch to the next generation. You get to see them rehearse in the studio or in a stable for the horse stunts Bonus features highlight each performer’s training to make you appreciate even more how Yuen combined them all. A little bit of how Yuen shows choreography on set is downright historic.