'What Price Survival' was initially billed as a remake of the Chang Cheh classic 'One Armed Swordsman'. However this is not the reality as all the main characters keep all their limbs until the final showdown. Anyone who wants to see a new take on 'One Armed Swordsman' however, should instead check out Tsui Hark's 'The Blade' made the following year.

The performances are all adequate and the presence of veterans Tsui, Chiang and Lau are a definite plus point for this film. I would however be inclined to question Wu Hsin Kuo's ability to carry a film as the real tedium begins with David Chiang's exit from the film. The cinematography is also of a very high standard. The praise however ends therein.

Director Daniel Lee later took the helm of 'Black Mask' starring Jet Li. However despite having Yuen Woo Ping as action choreographer, it still took some criticism over the MTV style camera and editing techniques employed during the action sequences. 'What Price Survival' may be the evidence that Daniel Lee was the guilty party as the same problem persists, only to a larger degree. While some sequences aren't that bad others begin to verge on being unwatchable making it hard to admire the choreography. Ultimately the action remains rather tedious, which is a shame when you consider that Tsui Siu Keung and Damian Lau were participants in some of the industry's most notable sword battles in Ching Siu Tung's 'Duel to Death'.

'What Price Survival' is also very poorly paced. It plods along very slowly then at several points threatens to speed up only to disappoint. This happens most notably when Ning confronts Ching Kuo. It feels as though the film is really about to gain momentum only to become more tedious than all that had preceded it.

'What Price Survival' is nice to look at on the surface but is ultimately very tedious and the action sequences make for insufficient compensation. All in all, dull and boring.

Review: The swordplay genre is given a stylish update where form wins over function. What Price Survival is a melancholy hybrid of old world clans fighting for dominance in a semi-modern world. Director Daniel Lee (Black Mask) gets the tone right in this attractive homage to Shaw Brothers classics, but the characters' vacuous contemplation and a dependence on disorienting action cuts distances the viewer.

Just like some of the more self-absorbed SB classics, What Price Survival leaps right into the middle of a conflict without explanation. It comes down to a rivalry between two sword clan leaders. Legendary old school veterans David Chiang and Norman Chu step in to these roles. For reasons I was not satisfied with, Chu demands and receives Chiang's infant son. Years go by and Chu sends the fully grown and trained Wang Ning (Wu Hsing-guo) to kill his own father. Hsiang-guo, who shares some resemblance to old school kung fu star Jack Lung, is miscast here as the lead hero with aged and non-threatening looks unsuitable for an avenging swordsman. Wang believes Chiang to be his parents' killer, but he learns the truth shortly after killing him. Why Chiang made no effort to explain matters to him beforehand is a mystery. Wang decides to kill Chu, but the story gets a little confused as Chu's daughter steps in between them. Wang and the girl run off together, are confronted by Chiang's traitorous student (Damian Lau), and eventually settle in a run down house along the railroad tracks. Wang is forced to battle his best friend (Charlie Yeung) before taking on Chu for a final match.

This film's greatest asset is first-time director Daniel Lee's artistic eye. The art direction is excellent. The film is filled with washed colors and rundown or bleak sets and exteriors. This lends the film an added sense of despair that reinforces the moody tone. But Lee gets too heavy-handed with the despondency each of the characters exhibit. The biggest problem is that he takes the swordplay genre too seriously. Few people, especially Western audiences could genuinely fathom why a couple of aging martial arts masters would spend their entire lives in the pursuit of destroying one another. In the case of the old school swordplay films, they contain enough camp to make these unjustifiable confrontations at least appear entertaining. But when the filmmakers get moody and artsy without providing high quality action or more engaging performances, we're left with What Price Survival.

Daniel Lee certainly wasn't the only one to attempt an artistic swordplay update. Most notably, Wong Kar-wai's Ashes of Time, Tsui Hark's The Blade, and Donnie Yen's Legend of the Wolf all tried to push the limits of the genre visually and viscerally. They all succeeded to some degree where Lee failed not only because his characters lacked justification, but because the action is inferior. None of the actors in this film are up to performing any challenging martial arts feats, but that isn't the biggest problem. Around this time, directors were experimenting with 'edgy' action editing where fight scenes devolved into a series of blurry imagery, tight close-ups, and rapid cuts. Donnie Yen probably took the disconcerting test as far as anyone would go with Legend of the Wolf. But his outstanding martial arts abilities and powerfully dynamic choreography made it work. There isn't anything to balance or ground the bewildering camerawork during action scenes in this film. Sadly, the worst to be found is during David Chiang and Norman Chu's engagements. Both action stars are certainly beyond doing the more extreme stunts Lee attempts to portray, but judicious use of doubles or more refined editing could have sufficed.

What Price Survival is definitely not a film for those unfamiliar with the swordplay genre. It's not friendly to novice viewers and even the most diehard fan could be challenged by the trumped up misery and jumbled action editing throughout. As an update to old school swordplay films, it doesn't push the genre forward and it doesn't improve on the originals. Instead, it tries to bring the campy, otherworldly tone of the old films into a modern, or at least early 20th century world and without much success. David Chiang and Norman Chu at this point are better actors than the film gives them credit for and they should have been doing something more mentally stimulating. Both of them show glimpses of depth far beyond the limited scope of this film, but they never get a chance to run with it. Aside from above average visuals, this effort is a depressing martial quagmire.