Ding-on (Vincent Zhao) is an orphaned blacksmith working in the Sharp Foundry, which is run by his master, a friend of his deceased father. Later, he learns that his father was murdered by the assassin Flying Dragon (Hung Yan-yan) and runs away with the broken sword left behind by his father. When his master’s daughter Ling (Sonny Su) is kidnapped by a group of thugs, Ding-on fights to save her, but he loses his right arm and falls off a cliff. Later, he comes across a martial arts manual and attempts in vain to learn the techniques in the book. After developing a unique fighting technique that allows him to compensate for his missing arm, he engages in a final battle with Flying Dragon.

The Blade is ostensibly a remake of Chang Cheh's The One-Armed Swordsman (1967) but offers a completely new take on the martial arts genre, replacing fantastical and supernatural elements with cruel scenes supercharged by primal killing instincts, set in a multicultural world where Chinese people rub shoulders with south Asian merchants and other groups. Tsui Hark's outbursts of masculinity are more passionate, tragic and hysterical than Chang Cheh, which makes The Blade Tsui’s most archetypal film since Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980)—a true display of energy, ferocity, and ground-breaking cinematography.

Tsui Hark (b. 1951, Vietnam) spent his early years in Vietnam before moving to Hong Kong, where he completed his high school education. He then moved to the United States where he graduated from the film programme at the University of Texas at Austin. After a short spell of work in the US, he returned to Hong Kong and became a director at TVB. Later, during a brief stint at Commercial Television, he directed The Gold Dagger Romance (1978). The Butterfly Murders (1979), Tsui’s feature film directorial debut, was hailed as one of the early examples of the Hong Kong New Wave. Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980) faced censorship from the colonial government for its uncompromising vision. Tsui would break ground with Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) by introducing Hollywood special effects to the wuxia genre. For much of the 1980s, Tsui was one of the creative masterminds behind the hitmakers Cinema City.

In 1984, he and Nansun Shi founded Film Workshop, which launched with the critically acclaimed Shanghai Blues. Tsui and his company found much success in several popular long-running film series, including A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), The Swordsman (1990), and Once Upon a Time in China (1991). In a career spanning over four decades, Tsui has not stopped finding new ways to reinvent himself as a director, writer, and producer. His take on the wuxia genre has continued to evolve in The Blade (1995) and the Detective Dee series. His Chinese war epic, The Taking of Tiger Mountain (2014), impressed audiences in China and abroad for his creative storytelling and eye for spectacle.