Cred Points: 7 out of 10
For fans of: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; Flying Daggers

The rundown: Set in Ancient Korea during 927 A.D, Shadowless Sword tells the tale of the town of Balhae having fallen to Georan. Driven out of their city and with the entire royal family assassinated, the surviving people of Balhae band together and fight for their homeland. With the Kingdom in turmoil and royal family gone, they realise that their only hope to survive attacks from the Georanians is to find and return Prince Jeong Hyun (Lee Seo-jin) to the throne. Jeong is the last Prince of Balhae who was exiled from the city many years earlier and never seen again.

The beautiful but deadly warrior, So-ha (Yoon So-Yi), is sent out to track down and protect Prince Jeong while returning him to the throne in Balhae where he belongs. The journey back is not an easy one as So-ha and Hyun must use their sword and martial art skills to fight off numerous attacks from The Killer-Blade Army, rebels of Georan, whose only focus is to kill the last standing prince.

The Verdict: Shadowless Sword is a frantic display of martial art and battle sequences. Although the story line seemed a bit challenging to follow at times (or maybe that’s just my attention span with subtitles) it is visually quite an amazing film. The fact that many of the scenes are filmed high in the Chinese Mountains provides a breathtaking backdrop to the battle scenes.

The most outstanding part of this film is Director Kim Young-Jun’s ability to draw together advanced martial art and sword fighting skill with a number of locations that aren’t usually attempted successfully in martial art films before. With one sword-fighting sequence between The Killer Blade Army, Prince Jeong Hyun and So-ha even continuing underwater.

If you are looking for a film that will stimulate your visuals and have you raiding the attic for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle’s sword you used to attack your brother with in the good ol’ days then this movie is definitely for you. A martial arts masterpiece that will leave you in awe until the very end.

Available now on DVD courtesy of Madman