Ho-Sung Pak is a pretty neat guy. With credits that include fighting Jackie Chan in DRUNKEN MASTER II, playing a Ninja Turtle (twice), and portraying the lead character in the original MORTAL KOMBAT games, you'd wonder why he never became a recognized action hero in the vein of Don Wilson or Phillip Rhee. The answer is that when left to his own devices, Pak's output is boring, as best expressed by BOOK OF SWORDS - a film so inherently lackluster that it collected dust for almost a decade after it was made before receiving distribution, and then only via overseas outlets. Trust me, there's a reason this one never saw a North American release.The story: Policeman Lang (Pak) attempts to avenge the murder of his brother at the hands of a vicious crime syndicate, unaware that he's about to become the key player in the reckoning days of an age-old prophecy...God, what a good cast this movie squandered... Along with Pak, the film is practically a reunion of MORTAL KOMBAT performers, including Richard "Kano" Divizio, Dan "Johnny Cage" Pesina, and Katalin "Mileena" Zamiar, along with Kevin Christie, good ol' Taimak, and Pak's own brother and fellow WMAC MASTERS alumnus Ho-Young as part of the ensemble. Needless to say, I expected a lot from this unique fighting cast, but was disappointed terribly by their collective misuse and underutilization. There's more hand-to-hand action in here than in Pak's future starring picture, but next to none of it is very good. The choreography is decent at best but the camera-work is awful - fighters are rarely filmed below the waist - and a decisive lack of sound effects makes the fights feel like homemade efforts. Only two of the brawls are any good at all (i.e. the last two encounters) and none of them feature any recurring fighters other than Ho-Sung.The beginning of the movie teases some intrigue about this ancient prophecy with some deep voiceovers and fantasy illustrations, but the ensuing storyline focuses so much on the basic revenge plot that when something supernatural does actually happen, it's a shock. Long stretches without dialogue or action are just as tiresome as boring conversations about Lang's relationship woes or expositional monologues about the prophecy. Scenes that should have been filled with tension - like when officers Pak and Taimak investigate an undercover drug deal - just don't pull off the suspense, mainly because none of the characters have been written well enough for you to care about what happens to them. Additionally, none of the performers can act worth beans, with Kevin Christie's performance as a crazy main henchman being the absolute worst.The fact that the MORTAL KOMBAT-affiliated performers pay homage to their video game personas through appearance and fighting style is pretty neat. In a pinch, you could even consider this film an alternate universe to the MK world; it's just too bad that it's not a cooler one. I really can't recommend this movie to anyone, since it neither fulfills the obligations of a good martial arts flick nor is so bad that it's worth watching for comedic value. Condensed, BOOK OF SWORDS is a slow, dark, humorless kung fu film that feels like it has no idea of the potential greatness its cast and independent nature affords it. Don't bother hunting it down like I did.

To make it short and quick: The movie boring, the fighting is merely more about screaming like Bruce lee than real fighting action. The actors do have a lots of good moves, but the choreography is just bad. There is a fight scene in which a oil lantern is in front of the action and you cannot see the whole fight scene, because it covers like 1 /3 of the picture.I don't know why this is called a fantasy movie, its more like a ninja movie with some bad special effects. It could also be some gangster action movie with some ninjas. Don't pay for this movie, you'll regret it.

i wonder what kind of people watch this movie ??? I think martial arts lovers go out and see this movie !? Why is the ranking so low, because the martial arts is one of the best i've seen in years. good story, lots of action, lots of fighting. what more could an audience want? it was a tough decision to give the right ranking for this movie. Although the actors performance was good, if they have put a jet-Li or chow yun fat in the leading role it would have been a world wide success. one thing i didn't like about it was, that it took place in the u.s. the return of this tyrant is supposed to be a 500 year old Asian myth. Why did this have to take place in the us & why in the city of Chicago? The mix between Asians & Americans didn't bother me that much, but i think an Asian cast would have been better. and one point deduction for the city of Chicago. it would have been way cooler if it took place somewhere in the orient.My Final conclusion: Martial arts lovers "go to the blockbuster closest to your home and go see this movie".

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.