Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Anssi Vartiainen The Duel strikes that elusive balance between tongue in cheek and believable wuxia martial arts goodness. The story goes that a master of the sword Yeh Cool Son (Andy Lau) challenges another master, Simon Snow Blower (Ekin Cheng), to a final duel over the rooftops of the Forbidden City. And yes, that is his name. The emperor, believing this all to be in good fun, allows this, but at the same time his special agent, Dragon 9 (Nick Cheung), starts investigating strange murders around the palace.The Duel features some spectacular special effects for its time, though I do admit that they water down the traditional wuxia fighting more than a little bit. There are some cool shots, certainly, but I still prefer the more restrained wire techniques. Luckily though the movie largely makes up for this with a relaxed, tongue in cheek style of storytelling. The characters are played for laughs, the dialogue is quick and witty and overall the movie isn't aiming to be a huge epic. It's more of an affectionate parody of the genre, but in a way that also works as a straight example. If only barely.I also really enjoy Dragon 9 as the main character. He's clearly the comic relief of the film, but refreshingly that doesn't make him the butt of the jokes. Quite the opposite. He is one serious badass, only surpassed by the two masters of the sword. He's also joined by the emperor's sister, Princess Phoenix (Wei Zhao), who's a lot of fun, but also capable in her own right.All in all The Duel is a great watch for all looking for a more lighthearted wuxia experience. It's fun and witty, but also capable of telling a captivating story and featuring some truly great characters.

amid77 There was no real expectations from this movie. Just another HK martial art and romance story, but still, it was very surprising to find out how awful this film is.The story is really dumb and the rest is even more dumber. There is no logical consistence in the plot, no clever dialogs, not even funny jokes or slapstick humor. Well, maybe some situations made me smile, but now I don't remember why. Characters appearing and disappearing in the movie with no reason, most of them have no purpose at all, the others, that got something to do and should move this very simple plot forwards, are actually complicating the whole thing and the movie steps in one place with no progress or interest at all. There was at least five times that I asked myself, when, god damn it, this movie is going to end? Fighting scenes, the main reason for watching this kind of movies, are very boring and has no creativity nor imagination. Just simple and basic moves that I already saw in much better films with much better choreography and with much better camera working.Fantastic and unreal stuff, like people flying or making some "energy waves" with their swords, looks pathetic and completely unbelievable, visual effects are very bad and infantile. The only reason I gave this film a second star out of ten, is the appearance of Vicki Zhao as princess Pheonix. As usual, she is just adorable and sweet as beautiful woman can be.But I got to ask you, Vicki: WHAT DA F**K ARE YOU DOING IN THIS STUPID MOVIE? You should make more movies like amazing "Green Tea" or really funny and interesting "Chinese Odyssey 2002". Anyway, be cool.Thats it. I'm highly recommending not to see this film, especially if you Andy Lau fan, cause his acting skills is very doubtful, well, as much as the rest of the cast. ( Not you, Vicki )

masercot I don't use the term "spectacular spellbinding blockbuster of a movie" often; but, this movie certainly approximates that. It manages to combine humor, romance and martial arts with competent special effects. The women are attractive and dynamic, especially Princess Phoenix (Wei Zhao) who comes across as a little sister to the comic character, Dragon Nine (Nick Cheung).The two "duellists" are attractive and subdued in their performances...The best performance, in my humble opinion, is that of Nick Cheung. He manages to combine humor with facial expressions and physical comedy; however, his character also comes across as a competent marital artist.Granted, the movie is way too short; however, it is worth a watch (or two). Odds are, if you have premium cable, you'll come across it from time to time...

hgulfraz Following on from Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero, this latest feast for the eyes from Andrew Lau sees Ekin Cheng once again as the hero. This time his adversary is Andy Lau. With perhaps a little less action than its two predecessors, The Duel focusses on the drama surrounding events in the days leading up to a duel between two master swordsmen.When Holy Sword (Andy Lau) challenges Simon the Snow Blower (Ekin Cheng) to a duel on the roof of the Imperial Palace the imagination of the people is captured leading to much excitement and anticipation. Dragon 9, the emperor's secret agent is entrusted with choosing eight individuals worthy of witnessing such an event. However a couple of days before the duel there are some mysterious murders and Dragon 9 turns detective as tries to discover the identity of the killer.The mood of the movie is much lighter than the other two with more comical asides included in the dialogue thus keeping it interesting in the long gaps between action scenes. Despite there being less actual fighting in this movie the action, when it comes, is quite thrilling and some of it rather beautifully put together. Andrew Lau is not afraid to try out new techniques and the opening scenes in particular contain some very interesting sequences reminiscent of the Matrix. When the duel finally does happen it is the special effects spectacle you would expect but with enough attention given to the swordplay.Although Andy Lau and Ekin Cheng are the two biggest stars of the film, most of the screen time is given to the Dragon 9 character (don't know who plays him) as he tries to solve the mystery. Andy and Ekin just seem to pop in every now and again until the end of the film when the actual duel comes to the fore. Its this aspect that gives the film an air of originality in what is otherwise a pretty straightforward plot unfortunately their characters aren't really given that much opportunity to develop so come the end you don't really care that much which of them actually wins.If you didn't enjoy Storm Riders or A Man Called Hero then you're unlikely to like this very much. For me it sits somewhere between the two (Storm Riders being the worst).Rating 3 out of 5.