bcheng93
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!
DICK STEEL
Which brings us to Swordsman, or as the novel titled, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, whom Chow Yun-Fat took on the title Linghu Chong role in a TVB serial of old. Swordsman is part of a loose trilogy of sorts, the sequels being Swordsman II starring an almost different cast in leading roles, and Swordsman: The East is Red, made solely to capitalize on the popularity of actress Lin Ching-Hsia who made her memorable comeback role as The Invincible Dawn from the second movie. Amongst the three, Swordsman is still my favourite, even though Swordsman II had more fantastical fighting sequences, no doubt made more exciting by the charismatic presence of pugilist Jet Li. Swordsman: The East is Red, was largely wasted, and save for Lin, none of the other cast members returned, and had a totally unrelated story from the original medium.Not that Swordsman stuck closely to the intended Louis Cha version. As mentioned, plot lines were compressed, and characters sometimes appear and disappear with hardly a fight. What worked, was how the movie managed to sample the spirit of the novel, and translate it for the screen. The script and plot was kept tight, and revolved around the intense search for a missing martial arts manual, called Kui Hua Bao Dian, which is known to give the practitioner extreme prowess, as demonstrated in the sequel Swordsman II, but with a price.Double crossings, hidden intentions, quest for power - these are familiar themes which are played to perfection by the characters, save for one pair, our heroes Linghu Chong and Kiddo, who are caught in the web of intrigue. In short, the movie pretty much summarized the battles and craftiness of the characters in their thirst for the book, and ultimately, we see the disillusionment of Linghu Chong in matters of "jiang hu", as sung in the song Xiao Ao Jiang Hu.And oh, the song! If there's a song that maketh the movie, Swordsman will immediately spring to mind. It's an infectious earworm, but what elevated its status rather than being just another song played during the credits or relegated to background music, was its involvement as a plot element, in the bonding of friendship, the expression of disillusionment, and also, being so integral to the development of the story, in the form of revelation of true intentions.Naturally, since the song is important, the God of Songs of the time, Sam Hui, was casted as Linghu Chong. There were reported protests against the casting of Sam, because of his lack of martial arts background, but I would like to beg to differ. Yes he's not a natural pugilist, but don't forget, the characterization is key upon deciding who gets casted. His interpretation and portrayal of Linghu Chong, in my opinion, is spot on (miles better than Jet Li), bringing a dash of suave and impish slyness, together with strong vocals and that devil may care attitude. Stuntmen were probably roped in to handle the complex fighting stances, especially when Linghu Chong executes his Du Gu Jiu Jian (Du Gu's Nine Swords), a reputable and formidable swordsplay technique able to counter any attacks, but hey, more than half the martial arts movie out there, have stunt folk fighting in the place of actors.The rest of the cast were also top notch, like Yueh Wah, Cecilia Yip, Cheung Mun and even Jacky Cheung in a rare villainous role, although it was a pity that for the sequel, almost all of them were replaced, yet by another strong lineup like Rosamund Kwan, Michelle Reis, Jet Li, and of course, Lin Ching-hsia.With a rich, strong story containing the essence, adequate interesting fighting sequences, awesome cast and memorable song, it's hard to find what's not to like about Swordsman. Never mind the rumoured reports that director King Hu actually walked out of the project halfway, and had folks like Ann Hui, Ching Tsui-Tong, and even Tsui Hark himself amongst others take over in a collaborative effort, this movie delivers, and will forever remain one of my favourites of the martial arts genre.
BA_Harrison
The first in an epic Wuxia trilogy, Swordsman was a major success on its release in 1990 and spawned two sequels (which helped to boost the careers of Hong Kong superstars Jet Li and Brigitte Lin).I, however, found the film to be a passable affair, spoilt somewhat by a meandering storyline, a rather overlong running time and a visual style which often left me scratching my head as to what exactly had just happened. In true Wuxia fashion, the emphasis is not on realism, rather on aesthetic value, and fights scenes become chaotic colourful whirlwinds of limbs, smoke, and clothing; whilst this looks impressive, it is also very hard to follow.Also rather hard to follow is the storyline; at first I was doing OK, but as more and more characters were introduced, I became lost as to who was doing what and why. The basic premise is that there exists a scroll—The Prized Sunflower Volume—that promises "supernatural powers to see through things and to let out power over great distances", thus assuring its owner supreme martial arts powers. When the scroll is stolen, a power hungry eunuch realises the importance of the document and employs his best men to try and retrieve it. It's at about this point I got a bit lost plot-wise (I partly blame this on watching the film whilst suffering from the flu and partly on the film just being plain confusing).Swordsman features a terrific cast: Sam Hui, Cecilia Yip, Jacky Cheung, Lam Ching-Ying, and one of my personal favourites of HK cinema, the great Yuen Wah. However, their combined talents do little to improve the movie. Yuen Wah, in particular, is completely wasted; his impressive martial arts skills are hardly used at all. Instead, he is required to leap about on a wire a bit, laugh maniacally and wave his hands at the good guys (supposedly fighting with his 'chi')—very disappointing! Its not that I disliked everything about Swordsman—any film which features killer bee kung fu, two headed snake kung fu, and an attack with a waterwheel can't be all bad—but given its reputation and the great cast involved, I was expecting the film to become an instant favourite of mine.I was about to give Swordsman 6 out of 10, until I remembered the awful theme song 'Proud Laughing World of Martial Arts', which was repeated time and time again throughout the movie, ad nauseum. I'm going to deduct a point for that...
