The first few Hongkong produced, martial arts movies I've seen were so exotic and so different that I was really astounded simply because they were new to me. Then after watching a few more, and a few more again they started to really be really boring - a hero, some ninjas, more ninjas, even more ninjas, and of course the final showdown with an evil and ugly black character. This movie is slightly different - this time the bias is put on the confrontation of mentalities rather than practical skills. Once a year a great duel is held and two champions - one from China and one from Japan meet. Their duel decides which school of fighting (or rather style) is superior. "Duel to the death" is a great movie to observe (for a non-Chinese or a non-Japanese at least) the subtle differences between the two cultures. On the other hand, this movie is far from being a psychological one, there are a lot of sword fights and a lot of ninjas but the subtle addition of a little bit of philosophy (?) makes the difference. And last but not least, the ending scene is one worth seeing over and over again! Two thumbs up!
Review of Duel to the Death
