The Story: A simple country man, Tong Po (Fengyi Zhang- Farewell My Concubine) falls in love with a girl, Yiu (the always reliable Rosamund Kwan- Once Upon A Time In China 1,2, &3), who he is not allowed to marry. They try to run away together, but they are captured and he is thrown into a jail where his eyes are graphically sewn shut. A short time later his eyes are opened and he finds himself along with some fellow prisoners in a gladiatorial ring. It is kill or be killed in this 'survival of the fittest' contest, the winner gets to live and become an assassin for the supremely powerful, evil Eunuch Ngai. Tong Po wins, of course, and is renamed Tong Chop.

Flash forward in time and the sullen Tong Chop has now become a deadly killing machine ("I kill because I want to live."), second in command of the barbaric assassins. He becomes the mentor of new young assassin, Wong Kau (Max Mok- Fiery Dragon Kid, Pedicab Driver), whom Tong Chop teaches their cold hearted killing ways. During one assassination raid, Tong sees his beloved Yui again and his past starts creeping back on him. Unable to kill now that he is reminded of who he once was, he defects and hides out with her in her village where she has formed a new life, remarried, and has a son (which may or may not be his). But, his life as a prominent killer is not easily left behind, and both his protégé Wong Kau and the powerful eunuch ("Those who don't follow me will become my ghosts") are out for his blood, leading to the final conclusion where Tong Chop must embrace the man he has become and use his murderous skills to end his horrible bloody path in life.

The Film: Assassin has a great premise, one of my HK action favorites. I first read about Assassin (1993) in the book Sex and Zen, and A Bullet in the Head, and the synopsis intrigued me; curiously, I had never heard of it before and it took me awhile to track it down (on a horrible vhs).

Obviously made to capitalize on the swordplay trend in the early 90's., Assassin is a nice entry into the genre. And, little surprise, one of the co-writers/adapters was responsible for genre classics Dragon Inn, Blade of Fury and The East is Red. I'd say if you look at your DVD collection and see Duel to the Death, The Sword, Bride with White Hair, Butterfly and Sword, Stormriders and Swordsman 2, then you should definitely give Assassin a try. Most likely, you will not be disappointed. If you don't own any of those films, get two or three of them and then give Assassin a chance. While not exactly jaw dropping, it is a good slice (no pun intended) of action entertainment with drama equally as good as its swirling swordplay stunts.

Star Fengyi Zhang is good and, while a capable dramatic actor, he doesn't quite have the charisma of an action star lead. I've always imagined that Xin Xin Xiong (Once Upon a Time in China 3, The Blade) would have been perfect, someone with the martial skill to appear dangerous, yet have the looks to appear haunted at the same time. Or, it could just be that Fengyi Zhang wears the worst wigs I've seen since a 60's Italian sword and sandal epic. Overall the film offers nice production values (for an HK film), sweeping camera shots, nice sets and costumes, yet they could have used a little more money in the wig department. Luckily, to capture those visuals they have Zhao Fei. In my opinion, the two best cinematographers in Hong Kong are Christopher Doyle- Happy Together, Chunking Express, In the Mood for Love and Zhao Fei- Sweet and Lowdown, Raise the Red Lantern. Fei uses various filters, many Westernlike sunsets, and different atmospheres to enhance the mood. Director Billy Chung, who so far hasn't made anything that lives up to Assassin, keeps the plot moving quite briskly (the entire film is only 1 hr 17 mins, with credits), and the action is pretty gruesome with plenty of slow motion shots of decapitations, a little blood spurting, some heart ripping, and so forth. Very Category III, stuff, for sure.

The DVD: Tai Seng Video presents a marked improvement over Assassin's previous World Video release. With a pretty fair picture, sound, and some extras, at a fair cost. If you wan to own Assassin, this is the edition to buy. Picture- Widescreen. Now, keeping in mind the troublesome world of HK prints, this is not too bad. Compared to a US film, sure it looks horrible, but Tai Seng manages a pretty good job. That said, the print is rather dark with some dirt, but it is not as dirty or washed out as the World Video DVD. The color and sharpness is pretty fair, but overall it lacks in all detials due to, most likely, compression. It is okay, but, all things considered, not a transfer you will use to show off your home theater system. Sound- Dolby Digital 2.0 English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese tracks with clear optional English subtitles. The two audio tracks I listened to, the Cantonese and English, were fine. Though not dynamic, audio is pretty free of any glaring distortions. Extras- 12 Chapters--- Tai Seng produced trailers for Assassin, Running out of Time, Body Weapon, Fist of Fury, Cop on a Mission, Fist Power, The Duel, Armageddon, Bullets of Love, and Dragon Inn--- Filmography and Bios for Zheng Fenghi, Max Mok, Rosamund Kwan and director Billy Chung.--- Commentary by Ric Meyers, Bobby Samuels and Frank Djeng. All familiar Tai Seng commentators- Meyers of Inside Kung Fu and Asian Cult Film magazine, Samuels a martial artist and Sammo Hung Protégé, and Djeng, Tai Seng's product marketing manager. Kinky fetishist Ric Meyers has made a career out of his gift for colorful hyperbole, industry connections, and having written a film guide that he took sole credit for by removing his co-authors names (their sections being the best written and accurate portions of the book). He is his usual jovial, exasperating self, providing the most dominant voice on the track. Samuels, although I don't recall his stating it, appears to be seeing the film for the first time. Samuels and Djeng help out with the Chinese pronunciation and cultural aspects. Like any third person commentary by people not involved in the production, they do lavish lots of praise, pointing out things they like, breaking into technical movie junkie observations. Meyers at times, unfortunately, mocks the film, emphasizing flaws. Thier talk also leads to contradictions. At one early point in the film, they talk of the importance of posing and the fight stance, as well as the nice contrast between the films down to Earth dramatic aspects and the outlandish fight choreography. Then later, Meyers, in particular, complains about the wirework (saying they haven't used outlandish choreography and don't need it) and how nice it is they aren't posing.

Conclusion: Neat HK swordplay movie + fair transfer + moderate cost = if you are a fan, give it a try.