Siu ngo gong woo

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.

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

I bought this for 2 bux at a video store cause i thought it seemed good and it had jet Li in it. but i didn't really think it was a very good film. the story is good and some of the action scenes are pretty cool but some of them are at night and are hard to see. some of them also seem sort of stupid looking when they jump around because it looks unrealistic. it is a good film don't get me wrong but they should've filmed it better. i was a bit bored by it but i didn't really mind it. it's not the best kung fu film i have seen but it's better than some i've seen. you should check it out if you don't mind bad lighting and some bad camera angles (not many though)

Having watched this movie for 2 hours, it felt like 3 - not that it was boring for a minute, it's simply that so much was happening! Action and drama, comedy and violence, treachery and bravery - anything you can expect from a good Wuxia movie is in here. The basic story is not complicated: a rare script describing a lost art of fighting is stolen. Some try and hide it, some want to get it back, others get in the way or mind their own career most of all. It is especially the well explained characters who make it interesting. The variety of the action may not have been intended from the start - director King Hu who created masterpieces like "Come Drink With Me", "A Touch of Zen" and "Dragon Gate Inn" left early on, so that Ching Siu Tung and others finished the shooting - but it works well. That is best illustrated in the scene on the river (33rd - 40th minute) where everybody sits together, singing a song when the ship is suddenly attacked and fights break out while the ship sinks, then one of the masters gets a "viking funeral". Happiness, action, tragedy condensed within 7 minutes, I thought I couldn't leave for a moment without missing something important. The 2 sequels take even a step further in the over-the-top action and glowing colors, but the first "Swordsman" already is very enjoyable during the whole running time.

...the plot needs to be tightened up a bit.

The first in Tsui Hark's Swordsman trilogy of movies adapted from a book or series of books (I'm not sure which) suffers from a wandering plotlines that seem to go nowhere. Interesting characters appear briefly to show off, then suddenly drop out of the plotline. In other movie adaptations, this happens in an effort to stay true to the book, but I, being chinese illiterate, can't tell you whether that's true for this series.

Despite the scattered presentation, the thrust of the plot seems to have a strong overall direction, perhaps thanks to the novel(s). The bad guys are well established as both evil and deadly. A few stereotypes are thrown into the mix. Not many people in the American audience "got" the female voiceover for the eunuch. A theme of betrayal is used effectively.

The martial arts work is good! Characters magically fly through the air and attack each other with kinetic ferocity. They destroy various objects wit h invisible forces from their palms or flicks(!) with ease thanks to slick editing and some simple effects. The effects fly at you so fast that it all seems believable. Yet Swordsman I is only a preview of a more masterful use of this stable of effects in Swordsman II.

Main complaint is that Song. Anyone who sees the movie will know the Song I'm talking about! Maybe because of casting Sam Hui, a by-then-aging HK pop star, the Song, gets repeated as a musical number no less than 3 times, including once as a flashback! Perhaps that's why he was replaced in the role by Jet Li in the sequel.

I found the English subtitling to be of the usual poor accuracy.