The Swordsman (1990) User Reviews (15)

This is not a kungfu film

[Matti-Man · 7/10 · 20 January 2006]

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.

First class ingredients make a first class movie

[gwailo247 · 8/10 · 16 February 2006]

This movie has all the ingredients needed for a great martial arts movie: The base for this movie is that a powerful martial arts scroll has gone missing and everyone and their eunuch is out to find it.

Throw in several clans, each with their own unique martial arts style.

Stir in a shifty official with an even shiftier underling.

Add several dashes of mistaken identity.

Several betrayals and double crosses add a touch of spice to the film.

Quickly add an old martial arts master, snake throwing poisoners, and a mysterious birthmark.

To top off add a song bellowed by two old men that will never leave your head, and you have the best movie in all the Five Ranges!

If none of these things made sense, then watch the movie as soon as you can, it will all be very clear.

The Swordsman.

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 20 September 2017]

Set during the Ming dynasty this film opens with the theft of the 'Sunflower Manual' from the Imperial Palace. This, it turns out, is a martial arts manual giving details of a powerful secret technique. Now just about everybody appears to want the scroll. The scroll is hidden under a waterwheel and two students of the Mount Hua Sect, Linghu Chong and Yue 'Skinny Boy' Lingshan, are asked to inform the son of the man who took it. They will encounter many dangers including from some of the people they thought they could trust most.

I would usually describe the plot in a bit more detail but to be honest I was a bit confused a fair amount of the time… strangely this wasn't much of a problem as this film is all about the action and the action rarely stops. There is a lot of wire-assisted martial arts, fights involving mystical powers, poisoning and even a fighter who produces snakes from her sleeves! In in brief lulls between the action scenes there are some amusing moments, many involving the existence of a second scroll which merely contains the lyrics to a song the protagonists learn along the way. There is also the running gag that nobody apart from Linghu realises that 'Skinny Boy' is actually an attractive young woman! While this is mostly light hearted there is some spilt blood and, in the film's most disturbing moment, the sight or a recently removed eyeball! The cast do a solid job, most notably Samuel Hui and Cecilia Yip as our two protagonists; the rest are pretty impressive too and appeared to be having a good time. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Wuxia films; it may be a little confusing at times but is still a lot of fun.

These comments are based on watching the film in Cantonese with English subtitles.

The Flying People Saga

[mindless_junk · 6/10 · 19 April 2003]

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.

Over-the-top martial arts done right but...

[Zabadoh · 7/10 · 25 January 2001]

...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.

A classic, nearly as good as Swordsman 2

[moribana · 10/10 · 12 May 2001]

Since Swordsman 2 is one of my favorites, I was delighted to find part one finally released on DVD. It is nearly as good, even better in some ways.

If you have not seen either, start with this one and get ready to enjoy 4 hours of primo wuxia.

Too bad that the cast completely changed between the 2 films (except for the excellent Fennie Yuen as Blue Phoenix) Most of the players in part one are as good, and I even preferred Cheung Man as Chief Ying to Rosamund Kwan who takes over in part two. I do think Jet Li in 2 is far better than Sam Hui in this one. Jet copies Sam Hui's style and character well, but is far more athletic and intense which really helps the action scenes in part 2. Sam sings well at least, which is important considering how much singing of "Hero of heroes" there is in part one!

A note about the cast list above: Michelle Reis and Rosamund Kwan are NOT in this film. Kiddo is played by Cecilia Yip and Ying by Cheung Man.

A classic pair of films then. Too bad part 3, "The East is Red" was such a letdown. The first two films stand on their own though, so no real loss.

One warning, if you are new to wuxia or Hong Kong films in general you may find the action in these films often too fast and incomprehensible. Repeated viewing will accustom you to the pacing, as well as allowing you to savor all the rich density of the storyline and its numerous characters.

Assume Movie Enjoyment Stance!!!

[mctheimer · 9/10 · 2 April 2000]

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.

Slapdash, suffers from muddled direction

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 4 January 2017]

THE SWORDSMAN is one of those wirework-heavy Chinese fantasy-action films that were all the rage in the 1990s. I'm not a great fan of the sub-genre; give me the good old-fashioned kung-fu comedies of the 1970s over these any day. This one is pretty typical of the genre, as it has a hugely over-complicated plot with silly story lines and a cast of far too many interchangeable characters, many of whom could have been excised to give the movie greater clarity. Old Hong Kong film staples are thrown into the mix, from cases of mistaken identity to women posing as men and mysterious, mountain-dwelling heroes, but sadly it's all very uninteresting and there's nothing here I could get worked up about. And this is from a FAN of Chinese cinema.

The cast is pretty meagre and seems to be made up of comedy actors attempting serious roles, in the likes of Jacky Cheung and Sam Hui. Nobody stands out, aside from Yuen Wah who has a ball as another over-the-top villain and who dies after a killer bee attack this time around! The female characters are undeniably irritating (Brigitte Lin and Cecilia Yip, I'm talking about you) and the only decent acting of note comes from a pair of cameos by old-timers Lam Ching-Ying and Wu Ma, who share a touching scene together on a boat. Even worse, the fight scenes are nothing to write home about, with poor direction and confusing choreography throughout. The whole film has a cheap, slapdash feel and although it's regarded in some quarters as a classic – and was popular enough to spawn two sequels – I'd readily pick the likes of MOON WARRIORS over this tat any day.

Not less epic than Star Wars!

[vid-10 · 8/10 · 10 June 2004]

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

Overlong and confusing Wuxia epic with a dodgy theme song.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 13 June 2006]

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...

Swordsman 1: the stolen secret

[unbrokenmetal · 8/10 · 30 January 2009]

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.

...one of the best new generation wuxia films and a passing of the guard so to say

[bcheng93 · 8/10 · 22 March 2014]

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!

Great adventure movie!

[ihmispaska · 10/10 · 6 January 2008]

When talking about the Asian movie "Swordsman", people usually tend to think about Jet Li, who stars the first sequel. This first movie however is better in every department.

First and foremost, while still being a wuxia movie, the Swordman is paced, shot and cut in such a way that everyone can enjoy and appreciate it. The story is clear and you don't have to do guesswork on what's what, and why, like with some Asian movies with insufficient translation or constrained scenes. The adventure unfolds effortlessly and feels whole, which has to be a miracle of sorts when considering the difficulties it faced while in production (changing directors).

The movie has such a good soundtrack that the themes are used in the latter movies too, and features few music scenes which add to the story very nicely and let's you get a breather between all the adventuring.

Sam Hui obviously isn't a martial arts kinda guy and comparisons between Jet Li and him are a bit silly, but on his defence, he doesn't shy away from jumping around and about. He displays his physical side more than adequately. He's a comedy actor and while Jet Li portrays a pretty solid and cheerful Ling too, I prefer Hui's who is more human and softer around the edges.

Because the action isn't anywhere as fierce and raw as in the sequels, this first Swordman movie is much more viewer friendly.

This is not an action movie! This is an adventure movie!

A Nutshell Review: (DVD) Swordsman (1990)

[DICK STEEL · 10/10 · 22 December 2006]

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.

this could have been a great film

[Superdracula · 25 August 2005]

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)