Fabulous Full Trailer For Victor Vu's Gorgeous Martial Arts Epic BLOOD LETTER (Thiên mệnh anh hùng)

In late November ScreenAnarchy shared the first trailer for Vietnamese martial arts film Blood Letter (Thiên mệnh anh hùng). Adapted from a popular novel and directed by Victor Vu, we came away enormously impressed by that first footage. The art direction and design were simply gorgeous and what was shown of the action sequences - choreographed by The Rebel and Clash star Johnny Tri Nguyen - promised good things.

Well, with the film gearing up for a rapidly approaching January release date for the Tet holidays, the full theatrical trailer has now arrived as well. This second effort gives a better look at both characters and action and while nobody will ever dispute that Vu loves his slow motion and smoothly sweeping camera arcs the simple fact is that when every frame is this gorgeous to look at there's no reason not to slow down and savor them a bit.

Blood Letter is precisely the sort of film that Chinese cinema used to specialize in but hasn't done with any sort of passion in recent years. Yes, they still make period epics in the Chinese speaking world but for the past several years - really everything since House Of Flying Daggers - the Chinese efforts have felt flat and formulaic leading to waning interest in the form. But Vu brings a fresh voice to the proceedings. The Vietnamese spin on the genre is exotic enough to breathe fresh life into it and the craftsmanship is simply sterling. The final film has a lot to live up to with these two trailers but if it does then we are looking at something very special. Check the new trailer below.