Swordsman (1990)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

best movie i've ever seen.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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 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...

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)

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.