Cast: Vincent Zhao, Xiong Xinxin, Song Lei, Austin Wai Tin-Chi, and Moses Chan Ho
Region: 4KUHD: All region; bluray: B
***Pre-order for release on 13th April 2026***
Payment taken at checkout. Your order will ship closer to release date and when all titles are available (we don't part ship
THE BLADE (1995) directed by Tsui Hark, Criterion Collection bluray release.
Among the boldest accomplishments of Hong Kong cinema’s golden age, this uniquely visceral martial-arts movie puts a gritty new spin on the story of the one-armed swordsman, an iconic figure from the moment he was introduced by the Shaw Brothers studio in 1967.
Composed in a whirlwind of immersive close-ups and fractured editing, The Blade follows the young sword-maker Ding On (Vincent Zhao), who, after losing an arm in an ambush, transforms himself into a furious avenger. With its intentionally disorienting stylization and starkly brutal tone, THE BLADE was a rare commercial disappointment for Tsui Hark, but it has since been reclaimed as one of the director’s most radical visions—a tour de force of action expressionism, and a scathing reappraisal of the wuxia genre’s code of masculinity, that achieves a feverish intensity
Label: Criterion
Format: 4KUHD and bluray dual format
Country: Hong Kong
Year: 1995
Language: Cantonese (with English subtitles); optional English dub track
New audio commentary featuring Hong Kong
cinema expert and producer Frank Djeng
Action et vérité (2006), a documentary
featuring director Tsui Hark, coscreenwriter Koan Hui, and actor Xiong Xin-xin
New video essay by filmmakers Taylor Ramos and
Tony Zhou (Every Frame a Painting)
New York Asian Film Festival Q&A with Tsui
from 2011
International-version opening and end credits
Trailer
PLUS: An essay by author Lisa Morton
New cover by Oliver Barrett
Technical Specifications
New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed
monaural soundtrack
One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby
Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special featuresAlternate English-dubbed track
New English subtitle translation
·
Shipping
You can see the Shipping & Packing Charge once you add an item to your basket.
We ship using a Tracked service and we pack our orders with bubble wrap and sturdy boxes to protect the items for their journey to you. That's why so many customers choose us.
