Welcome back to Movie Recap. Today I'm gonna show you a 2015 Chinese historical action film called,
Dragon Blade. Spoilers ahead. Sit back, relax and enjoy the video.
The movie begins in Northwest China in 50 BC, wherein a security company under Han China's
current government called The Silk Road Protection Squad is battling against the legions as they are
committed to stopping battles and promoting the idea of peace. While the duel is happening on
the Silk Road, Huo An, the Captain, suddenly arrives and calls the attention of everyone.
Afterward, he tells them that he comes in peace when suddenly the Cold Moon asks about
what peace has to do with the Silk Road Protection Squad. So, Huo explains that
their mission has always been to turn foes into friends and attain peace for all races.
However, the Cold Moon refuses to believe Huo's words and tells him that survival of
the fittest is the only truth on the Silk Road. To Huo's surprise, Cold Moon suddenly
attacks him using her whip, so he immediately grabs it and stops Cold Moon from beating him.
Huo then tells her that success doesn't depend on how many they are but on their determination.
But then, Cold Moon is eager to have a duel with Huo, so Huo has left no choice but to fight her
back. Cold Moon then dares Huo to take his sword as they duel and follow the code.
Yet, Huo refuses to obey what she said and fight Cold Moon without using a blade.
Fortunately, Huo successfully averts their battle after accidentally removing Cold Moon's veil.
Later, Huo apologizes to Cold Moon for removing her veil and reason out that
she's the one who dropped it. Luckily, Cold Moon admits her fault and tells Huo that it was fate.
To Huo's surprise, he sees Cold Moon removing her attire as she tells him that she's ready. Huo,
who suddenly gets shocked, averts his gaze towards her and covers Cold Moon's bare body. Afterward,
Huo immediately walks out of Cold Moon's room. After, Huo and his group return to their unnamed
home city, where Huo's gentle Uyghur wife, Xiuqing, serves as a school teacher for orphans.
Then, while Xiuqing teaches her students to sing in Mandarin, Huo suddenly enters their house.
Afterward, Xiuqing comforts Huo by reassuring him that marrying a Hun man like him has nothing to
do with her status in life. Xiuqing then tells him that she believes in equality for all races.
While Huo and Xiuqing are talking, Yin Po suddenly knocks on their door to inform
Huo that the Protection Squad is in trouble. Unfortunately, the Prefecture Chief's army,
one of the government soldiers, uncovers evidence that someone in their Squad is corrupt. Yin then
tells him that they have found four boxes of gold coins with customs clearance documents outside the
border. So, Huo asks who signed the papers. Yin then immediately says it's the Protection Squad.
Afterward, Huo quickly talks with the Lieutenant to ask about their crime. Unfortunately,
Huo sees his group locked up with chains upon his arrival. So, the Lieutenant explains that his
members are arrested because the Protection Squad is under the Prefecture Chief's jurisdiction.
Then suddenly, Yin and the rest of their men take out their swords, but Huo immediately stops them
from attacking. Afterward, the Lieutenant announces that Huo and the Protection Squad
are sentenced to construction at Wild Weese Gate, a ruined fortress,
as they are under arrest for gold smuggling. Once they arrive, the Protection Squad pays
respects at the shrine of a fallen Chinese general named General Huo Qubing. Huo believes that they
originally were child-slaves of Han descent, and this general had later rescued them. Afterward,
the Protections Squad helps the construction workers after seeing them almost getting hit by
the falling sandstone. Unfortunately, the incident turns into chaos as the other workers fight.
Not long after, a legion from the Roman Empire suddenly invades the Wild Geese Gate.
So, Huo calls his Squad to meet the intruders halfway outside the Wild Geese Gate.
As the legion tries to enter the Gate, Lucius suddenly shouts "halt" after seeing
the Protection Squad waiting for them. Afterward, Lucius walks towards Huo and
introduces himself as the Commanding General Black Eagle Corps of the Roman Empire.
Huo then asks if there is any way to avoid fighting, yet Lucius says there is none
because they need to enter the Wild Geese, so Huo refuses to let them in. Without hesitation, Lucius
dares a fight against Huo. While battling, Huo suddenly sees some of Lucius's soldiers pass out.
Then, after a stale-mated duel between Huo and Lucius, the Roman general, the latter
agrees not to assault the city in return for letting them inside because Publius is already
dying out of dehydration. Unfortunately, the Roman Empire needed water and supplies, so Huo
let them in and saved them from the sandstorm. Later, Huo offers a drink with Lucius and talks
about their differences regarding handling their soldiers. While talking, Huo suddenly receives
news from his men that they have to finish restoring the Wild Geese Gate in fifteen days,
so Huo makes a meeting with Lucius to seek help from his soldiers. Fortunately, Lucius agrees,
but only if Huo's soldiers help Lucius' deputies to guide them through the Parthian Empire.
So, Huo returns the favor by sending men to assist Lucius's envoys in reaching the said Empire.
As their deal gets secured, the legion starts using their superior engineering skills to speed
up the construction work while some of Huo's soldiers depart from the Wild Geese Gate to
go to the Parthian Empire. Fortunately, Lucius's soldiers suddenly boost the morale and happiness
of the inhabitants, who are divided among several ethnic groups, such as Chinese, Uyghur, and
Turkic. Then, upon working, Huo plans to perform martial arts with his group to challenge Lucius.
Later, Huo celebrates their success in restoring the Wild Geese Gate.
Afterward, Huo signals his men to put the flag they created on the Gate,
while Lucius, on the other hand, quietly celebrates their succession with Publius.
Later at night, Lucius reveals to Huo that he served under Consul Marcus Crassus Dives
and begins telling how his son, Tiberius, a corrupt soldier, murdered their father
Crassus to become Consul. Lucius even says that Publius was supposed to inherit the throne,
but Tiberius blinded him for thinking that he was a threat, so they fled from the Parthian
Empire afterward. Unfortunately, they become a fugitive after escaping from Tiberius.
Later, Huo also tells his life story to Lucius. Upon talking, one of Lucius' soldiers informs
him that Dessasmiss has returned. So, Lucius forms his soldier to attack. As they are about to leave
the Wild Geese Gate, Huo insists on helping him, yet Lucius refuses to accept the offer and tells
Huo that he doesn't want him to get killed because he is in charge of protecting the city they built.
So, Huo points out that Tiberius would approach with a hundred thousand soldiers,
making him a threat to the Silk Road in its entirety. Huo then convinces Lucius to borrow
soldiers from his friend, Yin, to stop Tiberius. Convinced, Lucius finally accepts the offer.
Shortly after, Huo leaves the Wild Geese Gate to find reinforcements. Fortunately,
before Huo leaves, he receives a commission from Publius for the centurion of the legion. At first,
Huo hesitates to take the offer, but he kneels in front of Publius to receive the sword later on.
Then, on the other hand, Lucius shows his happiness with Huo upon seeing
him receive the honor from Publius. Meanwhile, the corrupt group member
from earlier sends Chinese soldiers to execute Xiuqing. While arresting Xiuqing,
Huo suddenly appears and kills the soldiers. Afterward, Huo takes Xiuqing and the children
inside their house when suddenly Cold Moon shoots an arrow on one of the Chinese soldiers, helping
Huo to fight against them. Fortunately, they escape from the Chinese soldiers and run away.
Later on, some of Cold Moon's soldiers appear and fight with the Chinese soldiers.
However, upon escaping, Xiuqing suddenly gets shot at the back by helping her student get
the book that falls from the ground. So, Huo immediately runs towards his wife to save her,
yet Xiuqing has already passed out. Meanwhile, Lucius and his legion patiently
wait for Tiberius' arrival outside the Wild Geese Gate. While waiting,
Lucius suddenly receives news that reinforcements are inside the city. But little does Lucius know;
it is a trap made by Tiberius. Lucius then fights with the soldiers inside but fails to win.
Unfortunately, the legion is imprisoned in the non-Chinese trading city of Kroran,
where Tiberius has chosen to camp. Captured, Tiberius visits Lucius, who is chained in a
cell. As Tiberius talks, he reveals that he's the one who plotted with Huo's subordinate, Yin,
to arrest the Protection Squad. Tiberius also admits that he had already killed
Publius by making him fall from the tower. Meanwhile, Huo realizes that they fall from
the trap of Yin. Afterward, a captain informs Huo that Tiberius wants him to give up.
Leaving him no choice, Huo and the few loyal Chinese soldiers travel to Kroran, pretending to
surrender. Then, upon their arrival, Huo suddenly sees some of Lucius's warriors in a cage, shouting
his name. Afterward, Huo finally meets Tiberius. Upon talking, Tiberius orders Huo to pledge
his loyalty to him, yet Huo answers him with a question about being blind to what he's doing.
Huo then proclaims himself that he's supposed to be a chief as he works hard to protect the Silk
Road, yet Tiberius gives it to Yin. Huo then reveals that Yin will not provide the border
but fight against him. Afterward, Tiberius receives news that Yin is arriving soon.
After, Tiberius' soldiers guide Huo and his group to their cell when suddenly Huo makes a scene to
get the keys and destroy the Roman legion's cages. Fortunately, Huo successfully saves Lucius' troops
by giving them the keys to escape. Afterward, one of Huo's soldiers shoots an arrow through
the sky to signal Yin's soldiers for the attack. As the battle ensues inside and outside the camp,
Tiberius orders Ma Chuang to kill Yin so that the Prefecture Chief title will belong to him. But
instead of killing Yin, Ma Chuang points his sword to Tiberius and tries killing him, yet Tiberius
makes a fast move and kills Ma Chuang first. Yin then continues the fight against Tiberius.
Unfortunately, Yin fails to win against him. Meanwhile, Huo fights against Tiberius' soldiers.
Afterward, he aggressively opens the cell door and breaks into Lucius's solitary cell, finding him
tortured and bound. Then, after seeing Lucius getting weak, Huo tries breaking the chains.
However, Lucius tells him that it's not his business to fight against the Romans,
yet Huo refuses to hear it from him. As they talk, Tiberius' soldiers suddenly throw gas to break out
a fire in his cell; after that, Lucius calls out to Huo, saying he entrusts his troops to him.
Leaving Huo without a choice, he shoots Lucius an arrow, killing him so he doesn't
have to suffer a slow death by burning. Afterward, Huo continues his fight with his
troops. Unfortunately, some soldiers already get killed after Tiberius' men shoot them with arrows.
So, Huo finds another option to attack, throwing big stones at them. Fortunately, they succeed in
their plan and kill most Tiberius' soldiers inside the camp. Afterward, they continue shooting while
Huo, on the other hand, suddenly gets stabbed in the stomach. Luckily, they escape the base
by remembering their shield technique to rebuild the Wild Geese Gate during their construction.
However, upon escaping, Huo and Lucius' soldiers suddenly get surrounded by Tiberius' soldiers. So,
Huo shouts and tells his troops to fight as they die together. And as they are about to attack,
the armies of several other nations suddenly arrive and fight against Tiberius, including
the Indians, Han, Uyghurs, and Turkic. All of them are determined to preserve the Silk Road's safety.
Later, the rest of the armies of several other nations attack the
area where Tiberius is standing. So, Tiberius signals his men to attack.
However, even their combined forces are unable to gain the upper hand. Yet, Huo continues fighting
with his troops despite getting killed by Tiberius's soldiers. Unfortunately, some of
Huo's most outstanding soldiers, including the Captain, die at the hands of Tiberius' soldiers.
Meanwhile, Tiberius walks towards the dying men of Huo when suddenly he sees the envoys from earlier
return with a massive host of Parthians. These soldiers are the people who signed a particular
treaty with Publius' father and who intend to avenge his memory. Shocked, General Sertor calls
for disengage to stop the battle against Huo's men. Afterward, a General announces Tiberius'
crime for killing his father Crassus and blinded Publius. Yet, Tiberius refuses to surrender
and says it's an outrage and conspiracy. So, the Persian Queen makes her talk and
tells Tiberius that she and Crassus signed a peace treaty to guarantee his brother's safety.
The Persian Queen then reveals that Crassus knows about Tiberius' evil plan, killing Publius to
become a consul and occupying most regions near the Silk Road. As Tiberius' listens, the Persian
Queen asks on behalf of Crassus and Publius what is on his mind when he ends their lives. Yet,
she receives nothing from Tiberius as he refuses to speak and tell the truth.
Meanwhile, General Sertor approaches Tiberius and tells him to surrender.
General Senator then commands him to give his sword, but Tiberius chooses to kill him
and says his last words about 'a real hero should remain accountable until the end'. Afterward,
Tiberius calls for his soldiers to attack, but suddenly they lose their will to fight.
Then, Huo, on the other hand, suddenly challenges Tiberius to a duel.
Despite the gashes in his body, Huo remains on his stand to fight alone with Tiberius.
Afterward, the challenge begins, and Huo makes his first move.
However, Tiberius is too strong to the extent that Huo almost dies from his hands.
However, Huo never gives up and remembers his memory with Lucius' before he dies.
As Tiberius is almost to slice his head, Huo breaks his arms, allowing him to cut his neck
using the dagger. Fortunately, Huo wins the combat against Tiberius and gives Lucius's death justice.
Meanwhile, the Chinese emperor hears about Lucius's legion's bravery. So,
he grants them the right to establish their city on the Silk Road. And as the battalion proclaims
Publius as their master and an aristocrat, they named their city 'Regum,' a symbol for royalty.
The movie ends with a ceremony wherein the troops graciously accept Huo as their commander,
and together with him, they form a new corps to protect the Western Region. On the other hand,
Huo returns the honors to the deceased Roman general by relocating the shrine to their city.
Afterward, they sing the Latin song to commemorate the death
of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the Silk Road against Tiberius.
While honoring, Huo suddenly cries as he remembers his moments with Lucius.