Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

"The Water Margin" is based on a great ancient tale from Chinese literature. HOwever, it's not the entire story--just a small portion of the text "Shuihu Zhuan". I am certainly no expert on it--and that's a serious problem, as I had a lot of trouble understanding the context for the film as well as the sheer number of characters. Keeping track of them was impossible for me though I assume many Chinese viewers would be far more material with the characters and source material. I wish I could have sat and watched this with a Chinese scholar--and it's very likely you'll feel the same way. The story is about revenge and abuse of power--but I did have significant trouble following the story. And, although it's a Shaw Brothers film, martial arts are not that prominent in the movie. My advice is that if you know the story well, watch it. I have no idea how to score it for you. But, for the average fan of martial arts flicks who is NOT familiar with the story, I say skip it--it's just too confusing and the action isn't enough to keep your interest.By the way, when this film began, my uncle turned to me and asked a very obvious question--'how are those boats moving so fast?'. This is because the ships' sails are not down and there are no oars--yet the ships are going VERY fast across the water! This is supposed to be the Middle Ages--yet the boats appear to be moving as a result of outboard motors. Could the ancient Chinese have been THAT clever? I think not--though they were darned advanced at the time!By the way, much of the soundtrack for this film was 'borrowed' from the Hollywood film "Hang 'em High". It's pretty weird, as the original film was a western made to look and sound like a spaghetti western--and now it's in a Chinese martial arts film!

Even at the time of its initial US release, THE WATER MARGIN (known to moviegoers then as SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON) was generally acknowledged one of the better imports because, unlike most "kung fu movies" of the day, it boasted an actual storyline. Although it wasn't always clear, even then, who was who or who was on whose side, the mere fact that there were exchanges of dialogue at all elevated SEVEN BLOWS OF THE DRAGON to unheard of heights among the cognoscenti. Until its recent release on DVD, I had no idea that it was based on a novel (much less a novel boasting a hundred or more chapters). That explains a lot. (Not that it makes it any clearer who's who or who's on whose side...) It was cool to see David Chiang again as "the master of the eighteen tumbles," and I'm still looking forward to the (hopefully eventual) release of Wang Yu's THE Chinese PROFESSIONALS (which I still remember as being a great deal of fun and preferable, back then, to most everything but Bruce Lee's movies).

First time i saw this film was back when I was 5 years old. We had it in beta format. it was titled Seven blows of the dragon. The fight scenes and weapon usage is flawless. Epic. unforgettable. Last time I ever saw this film was more than 20 years a go. Now, amazingly, it has been released on DVD in it's original title on the Shaw Brothers DVD collection. ( Everybody note, the DVD title of this film is "The Water Margin" ) I also found a sequel of this film called "All men are brothers", but it's no where near as good as this film. Rent it, enjoy it. It will definitely build you up towards one of the most intense final confrontations you've ever seen on a kung-fu movie of this kind.

If you want a great martial arts flick with unbelievable choreography check this masterpiece out well worth your time to watch and savor!!!! David Chiang shines in this movie his grace and style is a wonder to behold.Hunt this movie down now! If you enjoy any kind of action/martial arts movie you will not be disappointed!