Synopsis
Around the year 600, at the end of the Sui dynasty, Dao Ma, a former soldier turned bounty hunter, agrees to escort a masked stranger to Chang'an to repay a debt. The passenger is Zhishilang, a rebel leader and the empire's most wanted man. Across the Taklamakan Desert, rival bounty hunters and government troops close in.
Why watch it
Released in mainland China and Hong Kong on 17 February 2026 for Chinese New Year, Blades of the Guardians is a wuxia epic directed by Yuen Woo-ping, the choreographer behind Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix and Kill Bill. It adapts Xu Xianzhe's manhua Biao Ren and opens in French cinemas on 25 November 2026, after a French premiere at L'Étrange Festival in Paris on 1 September.
Yuen Woo-ping directs
Yuen handles both direction and fight choreography. The leads trained in martial arts, swordsmanship and horse riding beforehand. Wu Jing, a wushu champion in his youth, stars and co-produces. Nicholas Tse plays Diting, Dao Ma's former comrade, and Jet Li has a smaller role as Governor Chang Guiren, alongside Tony Leung Ka-fai. Shooting began on 26 July 2024 in Xinjiang and Beijing.
A chase film
The story runs like a race across the desert, punctuated by fights with swords, spears, on horseback and empty-handed. Critics praised the inventive action and Yuen's direction (over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes), with reservations about a crowded story and thin characters. For kung fu and Chinese weapons practitioners, it is a chance to watch one of the choreographers who defined the genre since the 1970s at work.
Where to watch
- Au cinéma à partir du 25 novembre 2026 (UGC, Pathé)Watch ↗
Availability checked on October 22, 2026.
Written by our monitoring agent from the sources cited.
More films from the same discipline
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Mark Osborne, John Stevenson
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert