The Legend of the Swordsman

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It's not necessary to see the first Swordsman before you see Swordsman II--though some of the characters are the same, the cast is almost completely different. Into the thick of a clan feud in long-ago China comes young swordsman Ling (Jet Li), who has a romantic attachment to the leader of one side of the feud (Rosamund Kwan). However, on the other side is an evil sorcerer, Asia the Invincible (Brigitte Lin), who has found a magical scroll that will give the user formidable powers if the user castrates himself. Not only has Asia done so, over the course of the movie he transforms into a woman. Ling accidentally meets the newly feminine Asia, who remains silent to hide her still masculine voice, and they find themselves in the throes of a powerful attraction. But this much of the plot is only the tip of the iceberg; Hong Kong movies routinely pack enough story for three films into one, and Swordsman II is no exception. What is exceptional is the emotional power of the story, the superb performances, and the spectacular and hyperkinetic cinematography. Lin is completely magnetic and Li is at his buoyant, charismatic best. There's something so delightful and inviting about the special effects in Hong Kong films that it's simply more fun to believe them than not, even if they aren't realistic by Hollywood standards. At their best, Hong Kong fantasies (like A Chinese Ghost Story or Green Snake) become much more than camp. An epic of amazing scope and surprising richness, Swordsman II is quite possibly one of the greatest movies ever made. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Global action megastar Jet Li unleashes all of his devastating martial arts power in this thrilling tale of a reluctant warrior who becomes a timeless hero! A young swordsman, Ling Wei (Li), and other followers of the Sun Moon Sect are making a journey to the mountains to abandon the violent swordsman's life. But upon arrival, they find their people are at war! With their leader, Master Wu, captured and the clan pushed out of their village, Ling must lead a desperate counterattack in hopes of freeing Master Wu and ending the reign of the supernaturally powerful Master Asia and his Highlander clan before it's too late! Packed with incredible martial arts choreography, this endlessly hard-hitting epic is another exciting addition to the phenomenal Jet Li Collection

Customer Reviews:

A fantastic story of action and sacrifice but beware the terrible subtitles.......2007-02-09

Fans of Hong Kong cinema will definitely want this famous martial arts epic in their personal library. This was Jet Li's highest grossing HK film and it made Brigitte Lin a star. The martial arts are entirely of the supernatural wuxia variety here so don't expect something realistic like Li's "Fist of Legend". The visuals are eye-popping and you won't believe your eyes as you watch ninjas ride supersized airborne shurikans as though they were magic carpets, sexy Blue Phoenix shoot snakes out of her shirt sleeves, and Master Wu's "Essence Absorbing Stance".

In addition to the frenetic action, the plot and character development is interesting, although significantly hampered by the terrible subtitles. Rather than using the subs in the theatrical and laserdisc versions, new, incomprehensible subtitles have been added. A lot of the subtlety has been lost and I particularly was frustrated that villian "Asia the Invincible" was referred to simply as "Dawn" in the new subtitles. The whole point of the movie is that Asia has become seduced by his/her newfound power to the point that she starts referring to herself as "Invincible". "Dawn" just doesn't convey that sense of overconfidence.

Each character wrestles with their own conflicts. Jet Li wants to retreat from the world of martial arts with his "brothers" and do nothing more than drink wine, yet he gets pulled into an epic conflict. Kiddo can't decide whether she wants to be treated like a lady or one of the guys. The tribal leader wants to tell Jet Li that she loves him but feels her first duty is to protect her troupe and find her father. Blue Phoenix wants to be a loyal second-in-command but can't help but mouth off one too many times. And Asia the Invincible makes an incredible personal sacrifice to bring power to the oppressed Sun Moon Sect, but is ultimately seduced by the incredible power without realizing it.

This is one of my favorite HK films, but the awful subtitles kept me from granting it the full five stars it deserves. I have no idea why they got rid of the original theatrical subtitles, but that was clearly a mistake. Still, if you're a fan of over-the-top action and films where characters are trapped between their desires and their duties, this is a must-have movie.

Note nearly as good as my memory of it..........2007-02-02

I had fond, but vague memories of this movie from years back... then watched it again in this dubbed version and was apalled. Even beyond the dubbing, the movie itself is just so cheesily directed and cut that even the martial arts don't play well. It just doesn't hold up to the best of the genre, especially now that it's been taken to such a higher level with recent films like House of the Flying Daggers.

I liked the song.......2006-11-01

Hey Kiddo. Loyalty, and friendship. Swordsmanship and magic. I enjoyed the scenery. Interesting how a woman hides the fact she is a woman and her class mates do not know. Very much like the original Swordsman. La La la la la la, la la la la la. Listen to the singing of the Sun Sect. How two old men unite after many years and sing this song. Jet Li and Kiddo sing as well. How one takes possesion of a stringed instrument. Watch the movie. Makes you want to la la la.

the best of the JET LI COLLECTION DUBS, still sucks, but it is the best.......2006-03-08

I hate the fact that I have to review this movie AND the dubbing. I saw this on spike a year or so ago and thought the dubbing was the worst. I guess that I have been seasoned in watching this stupid Jet Li collection because after watching 10 or so of the american dubs of jet, I watched this again and whoever that guy is who always dubs Jet, puts on one of the better performances of his career.

Now that I got that out of the way I can talk about the movie. I watched this without seeing the first swordsman. But I'm pretty sure I'm gonna like Jet more than bucktooth from OUATIC. Even if the fole doesn't fit him very well, jet shows that he really is an actor in this movie. Good battle scenes. Also a good movie to watch with guys so that you can make comments about the always fabulous Bridgitte lin. She is so freaking hot I actually went on a major binge and bough ALL of her movies. So go ahead and check ou Fire Dragon, Bride With White Hairm and my fav. Deadful Melody. I haven't seen the 1st or 3rd movies, but after seeing this, I will seek them out nomatter what it takes.

Truly one of the greatest movies ever and it really makes you think.

EDITED

I got the Meieh version and it is the uncut version(108 minutes). If you are going to get this movie, make sure you buy the Mei-Eh/Tai Seng version under the title of Swordsman II.

LOL~!!!!.......2006-02-05

If you want UNCUT ORIGINAL version, ALWAYS look for ORIGINAL LICENSED Production. NOT US Release. Its a foreign film, it should not be US version to begin with~! HELLO!!!?? Why settle for LESS with US Version where they edit and cut so many excellent scenes especially with Jackie's Fighting Scenes. And US Release ruins the speed and sound as well. I have been collecting JET Li movies both HK and US Release Version for quite some time now. I found HK Version to be MUCH MORE in enjoyable, and HIGHER in Quality. American Market always like to "Americanize" and "Control". Regional Code Regulation thing is one of the example to CONTROL the Market. Why not let everyone enjoy the same HK Original Release move the same way REST OF THE WORLD enjoys it ?? No one makes Hollywood American movies to "French version" or "Chinese Version" ~! This what Americans are doing~! Well, enjoy the cheap "American version" then~! LOL

Average customer rating:

Jing Wong
the movie is good but this production is poor for english audiences
Very reminiscent of Zu
Where's Gordon?
Not A Gordon Liu Movie

Legend of the Liquid Sword
Starring: Siu-Lun Wan , Julian Cheung , Fennie Yuen , Loletta Lee , and Wan-Si Wong
Director: Jing Wong
Manufacturer: Xenon
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00009IAXS
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Customer Reviews:

Jing Wong.......2006-07-23

Probably the most prolific Hong Kong script writer ever. At least that I know of. But when he started out, he was an awesome kung fu writer. He has written and directed some of my favorite movies ever. Shaolin Pince, Prodigal Son, and Magnificent Butcher. To name a few newer ones-Last Hero in China and Royal Tramp part 1. But because he is so proilific he has written soem of the worst stuff ever-Raped by an Angel 4: The Raper's Union, Naked Killer 2 (aka Super Rape), City Hunter, Body Weapon...

But overall he is pretty good. I would say this is almost just as good as Evil Cult Master, or Last Hero in China (aka Claws of Steel), both movies that he directed.

Now this I have to say is easily one of the better new school kung fu movies ever. I figured this was another old school Gordon Liu flick and I heard he wasnt in it that much but was pleasantly surprised at how new it is. 1993 I believe, though you wouldn't be able to tell by the quality of the film transfer. It is about young fragrant sword(aaron kwok) who needs to go and defeat Shaolin. I think. It is a Jing Wong movie. You will see, but you have to try and follow along. Something that you will definitely notice is the unbelievable wire work going on. People don't realize how in movies like this they put people on wires to show how athletic they are. I don't know who the action director was, but he is certainly one of the greats. So the action is OHHHHHHH SOOOOOOO good but the child like humor just blends so perfectly with it. You still don't see what I mean, here is an example. Gordon Liu is praying at the Shaolin Temple and he notices someone is there. A guy comes out and is flyin around beautifully and Gordon asks when he comes face to face "who are you", "I am Batman" he replies. OMG I was rolling on the floor for a while. That wasn't one of the better fights of the movie, but the comedy more than makes up for it. Even though it is hard to decipher what is going on in some of the fights, the flying around and fighting overall is absolutely sublime and I highly recommend this SUPER weird flick. The ending looks like Kung Fu Hustle took a page from this(aaron kwok rising up) and while not great, it is a decent ending to a good kung fu movie. You'll see what I mean, it happens quite a bit. They just run out of time and money by the time they have to wrap up shooting and have to make the end as good as possible.

The dvd by Xenon proves again that they have to be the same company as Video asia, Groundzero, and Crash masters. Or AT LEAST ONE OF THEM!!!! They take absolutely no time in trasnferring this from the original film print it looks like. It is widescreened, but only about 90 some percent of course. The imbedded subtitles are impossible to read in the daytime scenes and then get this. When they break out into song(it's a Jing Wong movie), THEY PUT ON CHINESE SUBTITLES. HILARIOUS!!!!!!! The picture quality isn't all that bad, but I figure it's only becuase it's a newer movie and they didn't really have a chance to screw it up. So it is nice to see that there are better DVD companies coming out including Tarantino creating his own Asian Video distributing comapny. Now how does that sound? I don't think Tarantino would ever put out a release like this in this form!!

the movie is good but this production is poor for english audiences.......2006-01-12

i will go ahead and still give this movie a 5 star rating even though this particular version of it is very hard to follow for non-chinese speaking folks. the english subs are absolutely horrible on this film, and there is no english dub so it is at times hard to follow (especially during the daytime scenes where it is a white background against white subtitles) otherwise it has all the good (and stereotypical) elements of chinese cinema. gordon is barely in the film and that is just another attempt to sucker western audiences with a familiar face (kill bill). so if you want to see gordon dont buy this. if the production was better quality i believe the reviews would be better for this film, but since whoever "remastered" this didn't take anytime to make this easier for the average english speaking person to digest most will just feel like this is just another crappy kung fu movie...

Very reminiscent of Zu.......2005-07-15

This is one of the HOng Kong movies that breaks no new ground, does nothing original and has no overarching plot to contain the 4-5 stories contained therein. The Jesus joke at the end if funny, but if you want to get your friends as excited by Hong Kong movies as you are, this isn't the one to use.

However it's an enjoyable mess of a movie. The fight scenes are adequate. The pacing works. The weird motifs from Chinese opera are firmly in place. You can even forgive it for being marketed as a Gordon Liu movie when he's in it for five minutes at most (although one should note that the big name actor bait-and-switch is time honored tradition in movie marketing)

So buy it, watch it and give it to your friends. It's not great, but it's not bad either.

Where's Gordon?.......2005-07-08

One of the reasons for me purchasing the film was Gordon Liu's name on the cover. It turns out he is in very little of the movie. The English subtitles are poorly translated and at times very difficult to read. The story line is even worse, hard to follow and has a ridiculous "batman" vampire character.
Do yourself a favor and buy a better Kung Fu movie.

Not A Gordon Liu Movie.......2004-03-08

His name is on the top, and his face is there on the left and down again at the bottom, and he is in two scenes of the movie, but this is not a Gordon Liu movie. It is an Aaron Kwok movie.

The action is rediculous, sped up, and not very coordinated. The humor is poor, and mostly unfunny. The two male roles are played by very similar looking actors. One of them is introduced as being semi-powerful, but later on he doesn't use any of his power. There are subtitles over a Chinese audio track, but you can't turn them off. There are also two song number in it (I hate musicals).

This is one of very few DVDs that I wish that I hadn't bought. I own about 40 kung fu DVDs and this is in my bottom three. It is terrible, from the beginning to the end.

Average customer rating:
A Grand Collection of Swordsman II & III (2 Disc Set)
Director: Ching Siu Tung
Manufacturer: Mei Ah Entertainment (HK)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Product Features:

2 disc packahe (ALL region NTSC)

The Legend of the Swordsman (a.k.a. Swordsman II) DVD

East Is Red (a.k.a. Swordsman 3) DVD

Canvas-like-slip-case

Remastered Edition

ASIN: B000MHXPTE

Product Description

Jet Li's The Swordsman 2 & 3 (Remastered Edition) Disc Set

Average customer rating:

assassin swordsman
Good buy, but go for the long version
Good action/Poor dvd

The Assassin Swordsman
Starring: Zhao , Wu , and Shun
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000VJINE
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Description

From legendary action director Ching Siu Tung (Dragon Inn, The Duel) comes this dazzling martial arts/swordplay extravaganza starring Taiwanese pop idol Nicky Wu and Vicki Zhao (The Duel, Shaolin Soccer)! Whoever that retrieves the legendary Book Of Tai from the first Ming Emperor's tomb will conquer China. To get the book, however, one must first obtain the three keys that open the tomb. This leads to a battle between the Japanese Samurai and the evil East Chamber Eunuch Tsao, who trains his student into an assassin whose sole purpose is to get the keys and to kill those who are in his way. Filled with eye-popping fights and Ching's trademark knockout action!

Customer Reviews:

assassin swordsman.......2004-02-29

this movie sucked!!!! ITS IN THE TRASH CAN. DONT BUY THIS CHEAP MOVIE!!!!!!!!THIS WAS A 40 HOUR MOVIE SERIES EDITED TO ABOUT 90 MINUTES WHAT WERE THEY THINKING.WHAT A WASTE OF TIME.I COLLECT MARTIAL ART MOVIES AS AHOBBY.CHING SUI TUNG/YUEN WO PING MAKE SOME OF THE BEST MOVIES OUT THERE .. CHING SUI TUNG DID THE FIGHT SCENES FOR THIS MOVIE...DIDNT HELP....SEYA AT THE MOVIES

Good buy, but go for the long version.......2004-02-09

I thought this "movie" was good. However if you can find the 48 TV episode version of this "Adventures of Sword Girl" or "Treasure Venture" it'll be a lot better. I was hoping they'd keep the TV openning theme for this release, but that didn't happen. I was also disappointed when they left out the very end that the TV version had.

The story is good. The action was good, but I was hoping for more choices of subtitles and soundtracks.

Good action/Poor dvd.......2004-02-07

The case of this movie looked so good so I bought it. Well, when the first scene comes out it looks like someone grabbed a personal camcorder and started filming. What a big dissapointment. The action is great, but poor poor video quality. Rent it before u buy!

Average customer rating:

As bad as a movie gets
You have GOT to be kidding
hmmm
Lost Translation?
IT REALLY IS A DRAMA!!!!

The Legend of the Flying Swordsman
Starring: Sonny Chiba , Gigi Lai , and Dave Wong Kit
Director: Bosco Lam
Manufacturer: Tai Seng
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005B6LH
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Customer Reviews:

As bad as a movie gets.......2006-09-14

I wrote a long review explaining the extreme badness for this and it didn't show up AGAIN so I will give you the short version.

This kid gets slapped by his dad(for good reason). After this he is devasted. He decides to become a better man than him. Not all that bad of a thing to set as your goal except this is like his revenge. And he is taking revenge because his dad slapped him.

There is one fight scene in the movie and it is kind of fun to watch. It looks like the hero is just flyign around for a few minutes but it was exciting(compared to the rest of the movie).

So if you are looking for a good movie do not pick this up. If you are looking for a movie form the disciple fo Godfrey Ho, then this will be your flick.

You have GOT to be kidding.......2001-12-20

This is one of the worse film I seen and I have seen a LOT. Lot's of crying' lot's of whinning and the fight scene is about 5 min long but the rest of the movie is terrible.

hmmm.......2001-11-08

its an ok movie with horrible fighting scenes...but there are some SURPRISEs, .......watch it

Lost Translation?.......2001-09-28

There must of been something lost in the translation from canton to the english subtitles. This film made no sense and meant to keep it that way throughout the movie. I still am not sure why the main character behaves the way he does. They never reveal it. Things occur in the movie that contradict the plot. For example...a legendary warrior in the movie is killed by a small woman. I'll leave it at that to not ruin the plot for those intent on buying this. The only fight scene is a brief final battle which looks almost good. There's a lot of senseless violence in this movie. Even the psychotic will be asking "why'd he do that?" The title also is not fitting. There IS NO flying swordsman in the movie. Please, do not buy this movie, it is not worth your money. Last my biggest gripe (although it's funny and I watch it again with friends because of it) is the soundtrack. Whoever did the music knew nothing about fading in or fading out the musical score. Music comes blaring in at dramatic points for no reason and is the wrong type of music. It's entertaining nonetheless. You'll laugh as a heart touching moment is ruined by punk music.

IT REALLY IS A DRAMA!!!!.......2001-03-30

Now if you think this movie is going to be a sword fighting movie with lots of blood, DON'T look this way!! There is only ONE fight scene in this movie!!

Customer Reviews:

very gay but fun non the less.......2005-05-14

This is a funny movie! This movie is inspired by this anime that
no one has ever seen Sword For Truth! Sword For Truth was this
Ja-pornime with lots of sex and gruesome ninja and samurai
action! The story was about this Ronin who is hired by a samurai
clan to retrieve the kidnapped princess from some ninjas! But
what was upsetting about that film was it that it never was
completed! The anime finished with some guy makng a prophecy
about some white tiger dead and you never hear about a sequel!
Well for the few of you who ever saw that train wreck of a anime
and was discouraged about the ending, this movie may fill in the
blanks of Sword For Truth! This movie was fun! I was laughing so
hard at the part when this huge black guy (like 800 pounds huge)
comes walking through a Japanese village and terrorizing people!
It was so damn funny! I felt a bit dissapointed that this film
wasn't as gory or sexual like Sword for Truth but still this
film was fun! Nothing special but fun!

The DVD is released by Asian Pulp Cinema! Just to let you know,
these guys release mostly independent, b-movie style films! Like
$500 budget films! As far as I know their DVD's work and aren't
broken! I also got Ninja Dragon and that worked! Alot of their
stuff is either erotic, horror, or action! And picture quality
for Legend of the Devil is tip-top and widescreen!

DVD:

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