Swordsman

THE SWORDSMAN is a movie very much in the style of the classically-influenced Wuxia movies of the 1960s, like DRAGON GATE INN (1966) and A TOUCH OF ZEN (1969), which was based in turn on a Qing Dynasty (17th Century) story by Songling Pu. These sword movies were at their most popular in the years running up to the earliest kungfu movies like Chinese BOXER (1970) and THE BIG BOSS (1971), but are not to be confused with the more familiar martial arts movies, as they have conventions and rules all their own.

Wuxia movies are typified by the spectacular sword battles where antagonists fly through the air in prodigious leaps as they cross swords. This kind of spectacle may have reached its pinnacle in the stunning sword battles seen IN CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON or HERO, but it can trace its roots back to the earliest swordplay movies of King Hu and the first New Wave movies like Tsui Hark's ZU: WARRIORS OF THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. But Wuxia films are also about honour and the code of the warrior, and in this respect resemble Samurai movies more than kungfu films.

In THE SWORDSMAN, the students of the Hua Mountain style of sword fencing have developed their Chi (internal power) to such a high degree that they are able to quite literally float through the air during their sword battles. Most powerful of all the Hua Mountain practitioners is Sifu Ngok, teacher to the young hero of the story Ling Wu Chung. Or so it seems. Early in the film, Wu Chung meeting an elder of the Hua Mountain Clan, Fung Ching Yeung, who'd gone into hiding so his enemies wouldn't try to control him by harming his family. Fung recognises Wu Chung as one of his own clan and teaches him the deadly "Nine Solitary Swordplays" and it is these techniques he uses against his own traitorous sifu.

As other reviewers have noted, "The Song" does get a bit of a caning in this movie, and I defy anyone who's heard it once to get it out of their heads in less than five days.

And it should be pointed out that Celia Yip is fooling no one with that boy disguise. Though in all fairness, this "girl disguised (badly) as boy" routine crops up a lot in Chinese stories. Anyone remember the equally gorgeous Kara Hui (Hui Ying-Hung) in EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER searching for brother Gordon Liu disguised as a man?

Wuxia have to be accepted on their own terms. There is a prevailing belief in China that the Chi abilities of martial artists in historical times were far superior to what contemporary kungfu experts are capable of. This is no different to the belief in the West that ancient seers were able to predict the future. Neither set of beliefs have any real credibility, but it makes for fun storytelling.

THE SWORDSMAN is a pretty good example of the genre, but to be honest, the sequel, SWORDSMAN II, is the better movie.

The above title will make no sense to you until you see this wildly entertaining movie. There's no point in summarizing the plot, since it's so convoluted that it's futile to try to follow it. The film takes place in the past, and involves a scroll which describes how to obtain secret powers. Not surprisingly, various martial arts clans vie for its ownership. This sets up various great martial arts sequences, cheesy jokes, and the codesong (as opposed to codeword) which will get stuck in your head no matter how much you try to fight it.

Besides the fact that it's just plain fun, I appreciated the fact that the film includes several strong female characters. It would be great if Hollywood could learn from this and other martial arts films that women who can kick serious butt can still be feminine and smart.

If you enjoy this film, check out its sequel (Swordsman II), and also check out "The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk," with Jet Li. You'll enjoy them as well.

a lot of reviewers are saying that this one is almost as good as the second installment which had jet Li as the lead. what crack are they smoking? do they even know what a good movie is. if jet Li were to star in the first one there never would have been a second one because he didn't have the acting chops to make the first one a success. yes, the swordsman actually had good acting by SAM Hui who was the lead. Cecilia yip was so much better in the first one then Michelle reis was in the second. Sharla cheung was better then Rosamund kwan and King Hu is a better director then tsui hark.

a mystical scroll that gives supreme power to the owner is stolen from one of the chambers in the imperial palace and the hunt is on for it. everybody wants it except for SAM Hui and his band of brothers who are all about justice and morals. there's eunuchs, kung fu clans and outlawed kung fu clans, there's double and triple crosses, there is the fight between good and evil and not everything is what it seems.

the action choreography was done by Ching siu tung who is the best at wire kung fu and it shows. the movie was probably made on a shoestring budget but looked like a million dollars. the score was awesome and the theme song to the movie is unforgettable. try to get the translation for the song it really has deep meaning...generally about life itself and how fickle life is. we had my favorite singer Jacky cheung in one of his first award winning roles and the unforgettable fang yuen who played blue phoenix, a boy crazy snake charmer.

this movie was a passing of the guard from the old wuxia to the new wuxia movies of today, so it is important based on that alone. it was done very well considering it was only 2 hours long and the book had volumes as i recall.

they don't make movies like this enough, with a good storyline, likable actors, good fight scenes...i mean everything was good about this movie and the second one was good but this one is great!

The first part of the Swordsman trilogy can be compared to a wuxiapian version of "Star Wars": it boasts paladins of the sword and virtue, leaders of sects being deranged by thirst of power and ambition, plus a musical score no less epic than the Lucas movie soundtrack. The story centers on the theft of the "Sacred Book of Power", a scroll which can bestow invincibility on the bearer and which everyone wants to attain for themselves. The only one unaffected by the hypocrisy and egotism that such search generate seems protagonist Lin "of the Wah Mountain", who regards swordsmanship as an art rather than as a means of dominating the rivals and who would prefer a quiet life of wine and singing, but unwittingly is thrown into the turmoil of the clash between sects. Besides the epic tone, a couple of other factors contribute to the success of the movie:

• the richness of the people who, friends or foes, surround Lin. Much attention is put to their characterization: as they have different age, background, culture and social status, every one has his/her own distinct way of speaking, of acting and harbors different desires, in accordance to their position. In particular, the character "Blue Phoenix" is full of surprises! while Sharla Cheung donates charisma, regalia and beauty to her role.

• the awkwardness of the "hero": he and his pupil don't exactly "aid" their ally in the beginning of the movie and in general are quite fun to watch! 8/10

Swordsman was so popular in Hong Kong that it sprang two other sequels, which starred Jet Li. I consider this film to be a classic which started the whole "flying people martial art" movement in the 90's.

The movie is about a sacred scroll stolen from the vault of the emperor's palace. Different groups of people wanted to get their hands on the scroll, from the master of the Wan San school, to the Eunuches. Along the way, there are a lot of fighting, a lot of singing, comic relief, even an irony of how the most powerful martial art is no match against modern weapons (In Swordsman III - the east is red, this would have reversed, culminating in the quote "You have science, I have mysterious kung fu, your science is s**t")

The movie does not take itself too seriously. One of the best kung-fu/comedy/flying sword fights combination.