Swordsman: La légende d'un guerrier

many of the previous comments have cited this film as one the best in the martial arts genre. i think there's a little more to it. this film articulates one of the central philosophical questions of the Chinese tradition: withdrawal from the world vs. facing the world. it is a theme featured in all of china's great philosophers, Lao-Tze, Zhuang-Tze, Confucious, and as well as its great poets and artists. it is also, arguably, the central question of Chinese Buddhism.

recall that the film premises on the withdrawal of Jet Li's character and his clan from the world of martial arts (the uniquely Chinese, "Jiang-Hu"). they were tired of the constant battles and blood-shed. "Ox-back Mountain" was, for them, the idyllic place to escape the bitterness of the world. the events of the movie--Jet Li's involvement with Ying Ying, the rescue of Ren Woxing, the appearance of Dong Fang Bu Bai, the brutal slaughter of the Hua Mountain clan--all serve to problem's the possibility of exiting the world.

Linghu Chong's (Jet Li's) conversation with Ren Woxing captures this conflict in these immortal words (my translation): "you (Linghu Chong) know so little about the world. when there is people, there is hatred and resentment, and when there is hatred and resentment, there is Jiang Hu (the world)." this is a pessimistic view of the world, but one that rightly argues for the importance of resentment in the order of the world. moreover, unlike most films that fall into this trap, the Swordsman II does not posit love as a force of reconstitution and re-ordering; love only complicates things...

(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.

Asia the invincible? what the hell's that? the guy's surname is Dong Fang, which is a normal chinese surname, means "the east", he call himeself Bu Bai, coz he has not, did not, and thinks would not be defeated, so it means The Undefeated.

I know translation is a tough job, no matter how good you think you did, you still cannot transform all the meanings, undertones, indications in a culture sense. But not like this one! This is a very beautiful movie, all the lines, the scenes, the costumes, all very authenticly chinese, and stunning. And the poems recited in the movie, and the haunting song...hate to see all of these been ruined by the rediculous translantion.

You know, many things are just not meant to be translated, many words in chinese, they just can't be properly translated, such as "tian xia","qian kun", they are somewhat close to the meaning of "the world", but never is in the same sense of it.

So, for those who deminished the plot of the movie, I just wana tell you, it was based on one of the best selling Wuxia books in China, and the lines, they are very beautiful, in chinese. And for those who talked about the wire works, hello, this is a fantasy movie, and even with the wiring, have you ever seen body movements as beautiful as this in other movies, say the matrix? Wiring doesn't neccesarily mean it's not googd KongFu, This movie has some of the best fight scenes I have ever seen, wiring is only a basic requirement for action fantasies, but the thing they did with the fight scene, that's art, man. You have to be a KongFu master and an artist at the same time to be able to design, to creat such beautiful things.

In short, advice for people from America, Europe, Africa...no-china£¬If you wana have a better understanding of the movie, READ THE BOOK FIRST, and before that, LEARN SOME CHINESE! :)

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!

Having been a big fan of Hong-kong fantasy action movies(chinese ghost story 1,2,3..and etc..) especially I completely captivated by this one. When I first saw this movie, I was only 14. this movie was brought a great popularity and main stars Brigitte Lin and Jet li became household name in here, South Korea. I still remember when these two stars visited here to promote, Brigitte Lin had to escaped from being run over by her fans in Korea.

She plays "Asia the invincible" who's gave up his manly symbol to become the best sword man. Jet li plays another great sword man who's pure, sincere to his belief. On the way to find his men, came across "Asia the invincible" several times. although "Asia the invincible" is a villain who's so brutal when he eliminates his enemy, starts attracted to Jet li. and Jet li does too.

But the development relationship between Jet li and "Asia the invincible" can hardly describe. actually both of them are men. It can be called "Homosexual interest". but it doesn't a big deal. In fact I think this made this movie more unique, and sensual, joyful to watch.

Striking, powerful performance by Brigitte. she had been my idol for years. it's a really pity that she had disappear from the screen after getting married. it's a role really hard to play. but she's charismatic enough to command the whole movie. her last scene still haunting me. can't believe she was almost 40 when she did shoot this one.

The early Jet li so cute, and I really admire his martial arts skills( although most of his martial arts here are computer-generated or wire actions ) I can't count how many times I've seen this movie. action sequences so beautiful and stunning. See this movie. it will be unusual experience!!!