The Blade | 4K Ultra HD (Criterion)
On March 31, 2026, Criterion is releasing the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray for The Blade, a 1995 Hong Kong martial arts film directed Tsui Hark (Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants, Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind).
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.
Features:
- 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 features
- 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
- Alternate English-dubbed track
- English-version opening and end credits
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by author Lisa Morton
- New cover by Oliver Barrett
Watch the Trailer:
Damn!!! Finally. Not a fan of the cover art though.
The French Metropolitan DVD I have is decent enough and scales ok-ish on a 4k tv but it will be nice to have this in native 4k. We have some experts on this website – is this a new 4k scan from the original negatives? What does 4k digital restoration actually mean?
Maybe a Pedicab Driver with good subs, too, Criterion? And Rumble in the Bronx?
F… masterpiece!
Please Criterion, put it out in UK Region B!!!!
the 4k disc is region free but according to their website their blurays will always be region A only cos of licensing agreements
Well, thanks, good to know.
Now let’s wait for a UK Blu-Ray (88 Films, Arrow, Eureka) or a French HK VIDEO one…