euroasiangenetic
I watched it in 2018 and this 1996 movie is poorly directed and poorly edited but is great to watch for those who has mortal kombat nostalgia, because of the actors/actresses who were playing the roles the MK games are all portraying same characters in this movie but with different names. Usually we say so bad it's good, but here we say it's so bad that it's epic great.The story is about detective Lang (Ho Sung Pak) who is chasing a gangster Taz (Richard Divizio) who is searching for the book of swords that can give him magical power. What they both don't know is the book can also release a soul of an evil warlord and whoevers body he takes over will have unlimited powers and only the Warrior who is born in the year of the dragon can stop him.I love this movie because of the nostalgia of 1996 and most of all the feeling of finally a real Mortal Kombat movie, specially the disco fight scene with Ho Sung Pak and Daniel Pesina , those two actors played Liu Iang and Johnny Cage in the game and when they had their epic battle in the disco in this movie I couldn't help screaming oh my god a MK movie coming to life.I recommend it to all mortal kombat fans, and it's my favorite I've watched in 2018.
dmkou1
Saw an early screener copy of this film. It has great action and unbelievable martial arts. HoSung Pak is great in the starring role, he is the next breakout martial arts star bar none. Try and get a copy of the DVD or see it soon in the theaters, but don't miss this one!!! The cinematography is great too... by the same guy who did project greenlight (the 1st one). HoSung Pak has a great screen presence, you've also seen him in Jackie Chan's film "The Legend of Drunken Master" and he was in the Video Game's Mortal Kombat I & II. The urban setting's in this film lend a great background to the dark and mystical storyline of the "Book of Swords" legend, the obstacles that HoSung's character has to encounter make a worthy counterpart to his high level of the arts.
anmi3103
I caught a screening of this film at the AFM this past February. Wow...very impressive. I recognized the lead, Hosung Pak, from his co-starring role with Jackie Chan in Legend of Drunken Master (the best fight scenes with Hosung unfortunately got deleted in the final cut of Drunken Master). For those who don't know, Hosung is one of the true modern masters of Wushu. Nobody can fight with swords like he can. I used to see him when he was a legend on the American martial arts tournament circuit back in the late 80s, early 90s. Book of Swords' story is just a standard action piece, but it has some of the best martial arts fight scenes I've ever seen on film. It was a nice change of pace to see an action film with real action, as opposed to relying on wire tricks, CG enhancements, etc. I've heard they're releasing this on DVD very soon. I'll definitely be picking up a copy. Hope Hosung is planning on coming out with more stuff soon. The martial arts/action genre definitely needs a breath of fresh air...hopefully Hosung's films can provide that new kick fans are looking for.
roxane-6
This is a well-written, well-acted, spectacular film. BOOK OF SWORDS' star, Ho-Sung Pak, is one of the world's top Wushu practitioners and his on-screen charisma, action sequences and superb overall performance will take your breath away. As we watched the film, there was little doubt that we were witnessing the rise of a superstar. Ho-Sung is able to execute 4 to 5 kicks in midair and 720 degree kicks, butterfly twists, where his body spins one and a half rotations while being perfectly parallel to the ground - all without any help from wires!! Everything from the musical score to the photography in this film is top notch. It's been rumored that BOOK will be released theatrically in the US early 2005.
AD
