Swordsman

Rating:
Summary: Hong kong's THE GREATEST movie!!!!!!!!
Review: 5 stars = duty I like it! I love it! NO doubt!! This is the GRATEST action movie!!! The story, the action, the music...everything GREAT! I'm sorry...I'don't need American action movies anymore. I can't explain why this is so good. At first WATCH IT!!!! Thank you Great creators, actors and actress!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Why all the negative opinions?
Review: For some reason, this movie has always seemed to polarize opinion (when people could actually find a copy-- it's been notoriously hard to find until now). People either love it or hate it. After recently viewing the DVD, I'm leaning toward the former camp.

The plot revolves around various parties attempting to recover a scroll that contains a powerful martial arts technique. It's as simple as that, really, and the complexity of the plot stems from the fact that there isn't always a clear line between the good guys and the bad guys-- with the exception of the aptly-named "Laughing Swordsman," the central character of a series of novels upon which this film was based. And I always considered depth of character to be a GOOD thing in a movie.

All told, there really isn't a lot to distinguish this from a typical (typically solid, that is) Hong Kong actioner. However, the notable feature is that it involved no fewer than four directors. Getting top billing is the legendary King Hu, although the better-known Tsui Hark has made an obvious mark. While too many cooks usually spell disaster for a movie, this feels like a genuinely cooperative effort. Hu's eye for atmosphere, color and photography is apparent, while Hark keeps the action sequences looking dynamic and tense. It adds up, amazingly, to an admirable directorial job.

Another asset of the film is its willingness to be dark. Some of the most memorable Hong Kong films feature villains that are really worthy of the viewer's hatred (The Heroic Trio, for one), and there are some vicious scenes in this film. To me, that added to the overall effect.

No, it's not a slapdash story. No, it isn't the mess it could have been, and no, it isn't non-stop wirework and fake action. Swordsman might not earn itself a place as a genuine classic of Hong Kong cinema, but it's a strong effort that's well worth a look-- not only for its historical pairing of several famous directors (let's not forget Ching Siu Tung), but because it's genuinely entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Why all the negative opinions?
Review: For some reason, this movie has always seemed to polarize opinion (when people could actually find a copy-- it's been notoriously hard to find until now). People either love it or hate it. After recently viewing the DVD, I'm leaning toward the former camp.

The plot revolves around various parties attempting to recover a scroll that contains a powerful martial arts technique. It's as simple as that, really, and the complexity of the plot stems from the fact that there isn't always a clear line between the good guys and the bad guys-- with the exception of the aptly-named "Laughing Swordsman," the central character of a series of novels upon which this film was based. And I always considered depth of character to be a GOOD thing in a movie.

All told, there really isn't a lot to distinguish this from a typical (typically solid, that is) Hong Kong actioner. However, the notable feature is that it involved no fewer than four directors. Getting top billing is the legendary King Hu, although the better-known Tsui Hark has made an obvious mark. While too many cooks usually spell disaster for a movie, this feels like a genuinely cooperative effort. Hu's eye for atmosphere, color and photography is apparent, while Hark keeps the action sequences looking dynamic and tense. It adds up, amazingly, to an admirable directorial job.

Another asset of the film is its willingness to be dark. Some of the most memorable Hong Kong films feature villains that are really worthy of the viewer's hatred (The Heroic Trio, for one), and there are some vicious scenes in this film. To me, that added to the overall effect.

No, it's not a slapdash story. No, it isn't the mess it could have been, and no, it isn't non-stop wirework and fake action. Swordsman might not earn itself a place as a genuine classic of Hong Kong cinema, but it's a strong effort that's well worth a look-- not only for its historical pairing of several famous directors (let's not forget Ching Siu Tung), but because it's genuinely entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: Disapointed...
Review: I had very high expectations from this movie. First its the reason why I signed up to amazon, couldnt find Swordsman I anywhere after falling in love with Swordsman II. Plus Iv'read all the feedback in here and people are saying things like "action every 15 minutes" hmmm... maybe quantity is good, but quality is much better. Anyway, not enough swordsfight, and when one happens its too short.

Like another viewer says, this movie helps u understand SwordsmanII better, might be the only valuable reason to see it.. and i miss jet Li :(

Rating:
Summary: Great for people trying to learn Cantonese
Review: Note to Tai Seng - maybe you wouldn't have to put your "REPORT ALL BOOTLEGGERS" notice on all of your videos if you could actually perform a decent video transfer that actually keeps all the subtitles on the screen. Maybe then people wouldn't be clamoring to buy bootlegged copies of laser disks and the work of people sitting in movie theaters with camcorders.

This is the Worst and I mean the WORST example of video transfer coming out of Tai Seng video. They should hang their heads in shame, but they aren't doing that because they know that you aren't going to get Hong Kong movies anywhere else. So you suffer through this billage. The screen is murky, the colors are not sharp, you can't make out the faces, a scope movie is made into pan and scan, and THE SUBTITLES GET LOST. I know that there is a real clamoring for hearing the language, but I want to know what they are saying. This would be great if I was taking a Cantonese class, but since I am NOT trying to learn Cantonese (I'm having enough trouble with Hebrew, thank you) I just want to read the subtitles every so often. It's even worse than you think since the subtitles inevitably come on for that Hero of Heroes song that just won't stop being played. EVER.

Ok, the movie itself.

It's not bad. It's not great, but it's ok. A drunken swordsman who can't stop playing that same stupid song over and over again. There is a eunuch trying to find Secret Scrolls and a lot of flying sword fights. Really a fun little movie, but it doesn't measure up to the sequel. But then again the sequel had Brigitte Lin and Jet Li and some one actually did something with those scrolls.

So if they ever remaster this movie (or if it is playing at your local Hong Kong movie festival), consider this to be a three star review or even a four star one. But as it stands now, it's a very very irritating video transfer and I would personally recommend buying the bootleg made by the guy with the camcorder over this version, just because Tai Seng deserves the grief.

Rating:
Summary: Great for people trying to learn Cantonese
Review: Note to Tai Seng - maybe you wouldn't have to put your "REPORT ALL BOOTLEGGERS" notice on all of your videos if you could actually perform a decent video transfer that actually keeps all the subtitles on the screen. Maybe then people wouldn't be clamoring to buy bootlegged copies of laser disks and the work of people sitting in movie theaters with camcorders.

This is the Worst and I mean the WORST example of video transfer coming out of Tai Seng video. They should hang their heads in shame, but they aren't doing that because they know that you aren't going to get Hong Kong movies anywhere else. So you suffer through this billage. The screen is murky, the colors are not sharp, you can't make out the faces, a scope movie is made into pan and scan, and THE SUBTITLES GET LOST. I know that there is a real clamoring for hearing the language, but I want to know what they are saying. This would be great if I was taking a Cantonese class, but since I am NOT trying to learn Cantonese (I'm having enough trouble with Hebrew, thank you) I just want to read the subtitles every so often. It's even worse than you think since the subtitles inevitably come on for that Hero of Heroes song that just won't stop being played. EVER.

Ok, the movie itself.

It's not bad. It's not great, but it's ok. A drunken swordsman who can't stop playing that same stupid song over and over again. There is a eunuch trying to find Secret Scrolls and a lot of flying sword fights. Really a fun little movie, but it doesn't measure up to the sequel. But then again the sequel had Brigitte Lin and Jet Li and some one actually did something with those scrolls.

So if they ever remaster this movie (or if it is playing at your local Hong Kong movie festival), consider this to be a three star review or even a four star one. But as it stands now, it's a very very irritating video transfer and I would personally recommend buying the bootleg made by the guy with the camcorder over this version, just because Tai Seng deserves the grief.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best adventure/fantasy films ever made.
Review: Swordsman has to be the most under-rated film in the history of modern-day cinema. It is arguably superior to Swordsman 2 and it's beyond me why this film isn't hyped up more than it is.

Rating:
Summary: Good background for Swordsman II
Review: This is the first in a series of at least 3 movies about warrior clans in China, based on the novels of Jin Yong. This film has the most coherent plot of the three (which is not saying much), and gives a lot of useful background information for Swordsman II.

The second film, however, is by far the best in the series, with Jet Li taking on the lead role. If you want to understand what's going on in Swordsman II, watch this one first (or read Jin Yong's novels). If you just want to get straight to the "essence absorbing stance" and Brigitte Lin blowing people up using sewing needles, you can safely skip this one. It's still an enjoyable movie in its own right, falling somewhere between 3 and 4 stars from my perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Good background for Swordsman II
Review: This is the first in a series of at least 3 movies about warrior clans in China, based on the novels of Jin Yong. This film has the most coherent plot of the three (which is not saying much), and gives a lot of useful background information for Swordsman II.

The second film, however, is by far the best in the series, with Jet Li taking on the lead role. If you want to understand what's going on in Swordsman II, watch this one first (or read Jin Yong's novels). If you just want to get straight to the "essence absorbing stance" and Brigitte Lin blowing people up using sewing needles, you can safely skip this one. It's still an enjoyable movie in its own right, falling somewhere between 3 and 4 stars from my perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Yauk Lee
Review: This was a pretty cheesy movie. The actors aren't that great and the filmography is bad. I can't think of any other reason of buying this than to understand part II --- which is a much better movie.