China Swordsman

(1992) Swordsman II (In Chinese with English subtitles) ACTION

Full of big name Chinese stars from the likes of Jet Li, Rosamond Kwan, Jacky Cheung and Hong Kong actress veteran Brigitte Lin follows a mythical tale about ruling powers within' China. Full of wire- fu effects, and not so much a fan of those either but plenty of sword fights and beheading's (looks fake, of course), back stabbers and betrayals and some comedy relief. Similar to what one can find on one of those long Chinese soap opera films except that it's all crammed into a film. The other thing I like about this film is that it's not all serious as say "Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon" or even "Hero"! Jet Li's boyish persona was still intact here before his movies went all serious and the subtitled version is better than seeing it dubbed.

Provided you are slightly interested in fantasy, horror, and a little kung-fu, this film is the best in the genre. Great choreography and music, ok humor, very good lighting, nearly perfect sound (unlike many fantasy flicks), a very good story and colorful and dynamic cinematography (Lau Moon Tong) that surpasses even Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Lee, 2000) sometimes though it is nine years older. On every other fields CTHD is simply crushed by this fabulous film. I can't believe CTHD got 22843 votes and Swordsman 2 less than 1% of that. Mwahahahehe: have all these guys missed something! :-P

In Asia Jet Li is very famous and most Chinese who are interested in movies will probably have seen this already. In the rest of the world this is probably only seen by people who liked Evil Dead (Raimi, 1982), Chinese Ghost Story (also directed by Siu-Tung Ching, 1987) AND at recently CTHD. Featured are Recoiling whip, Flying bomb, Rotation of the stars (massive action scene with 6 swordfighters), Essence absorbing stance, Invincible Dawn, Kiddo and Scum Bag (last two are characters). Some of the story elements are hard to follow, but that doesn't diminish the entertaining value (story continues AND action continues): just go see it again if you didn't understand it 8-)

THIS is groundbreaking: not CTHD. The action scenes in CTHD may be shot beautifully and without many cuts, but Swordsman 2 definitely has more fantasy and the director isn't afraid of showing blood like Ang Lee WAS unfortunately. Swordsman 2 tries to embed the story in Japanese civil war and therefore the film starts with Japanese swordfighters (speaking Kantonese though) and Japanese music. After the titles we are left with gravity-defying swordfighters of Chinese AND Japanese origin and ninjas as they fight in South China in the 22nd year of Emperor Sun. Also there is a megalomaniac who slowly changes into a woman and there is a girl who constantly is mistaken for a man (not exactly like Vasquez in 'Aliens'). Don't ask for the significance of that plz. Swordsman 2 (haven't seen part 1 yet) is NOT over-rated with 8.6 (211 votes), and provided you liked Iron Monkey (Woo-Ping Yuen, 1993), this one will blow you out of your socks and chop you in half. Finally, the popular Stormriders (Wai Keung Lau, 1998) also couldn't come near this masterpiece.

10 points out of 10 :-)

You know it's going to be a wild ride when bodies are being chopped in half five seconds into the film. The manic pace of this film never lets up, the assault of flashing swords, flying bodies, snakes, needles, throwing stars, whips, needles and kitchen sinks (all right, not really, but I think you get my point) is almost too much to absorb all in one sitting. But what really makes the film is the striking performance by Brigitte Lin as the villain. She's fast becoming my favourite HK actress, and her wicked performance here is a big reason why. Her character is so captivating that the next "Swordsman" film was apparently centered around her character. The only letdown is that for the bulk of the film, she's dubbed (with a male voice), but since that's integral to the plot, I'll let it slide. For fans of HK fantasy/action films, this is very much worth your while.

This is no doubt the best wuxia film of the 90's. The costume, fight scenes and compelling cast all add up to an excellent and engrossing film. The story revolves around swordsman Ling Wu Chung (Jet Li) who on his way to retreat from the martial arts world, having to rescue a kidnapped leader of the Sun Moon Sect and confronting the powerful Asia, a person who have master an invincible form of martial arts, but at a terrible price. Yes, the plot is complex but is far more interesting than the simple and cliche "you kill my master, I want revenge" plot we get from some other martial arts films. The brillant colours and thrilling action scenes are also well-made and serves to grab and hold the attention of the audience until the very end of the film. All in all, a superb film. Those who thought "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was the best martial arts will have to see this film.

If you only see one movie from Hong Kong, look no further. This one packed the best of all that kept HK's movie industry at the forefront of the action/ martial arts genre. The androgynous leading role also revived veteran actress Brigitte Lin's career, launching scores of other copycats casting her in such roles. She completely overshadows everyone else, despite the star-studded cast (incl Jet Li). The action sequences were stunning and kudos also for the meticulous costume-design and music score - a classic!