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Swordsman II

Swordsman II

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: You want "Swordsman II", not "Legend of the Swordsman"
Review: Most of the people in these reviews who are UNhappy with the DVD are so because they bought "Legend of the Swordsman", the one with the "Jet Li Collection" notation on the cover. DO NOT BUY THAT VERSION. These reviews are shared between "Swordsman II" and "Legend of the Swordsman", so some of the reviews that instruct you to buy the "other one", are erroneous, depending on which version you're already looking at. Make sure you look at 2 things which will tell you if you are buying the right one:
1) the title - just to reiterate, get "Swordsman II"
2) the DVD cover - It should by an orange/red, with Jet Li, Bridgitte Lin, Rosamund Kwan, and Michelle Reis on it, total of 4 people. It also spells "Swordsman" with only the first "s". You don't want the one that *only* has Jet Li on the cover.

Whew. That all said, this movie is epic. Even admittedly confusing at times. Some say it's unecessary to have seen the first one, but right at the beginning, they hit you with a lot of information about what sect is doing what, and how the japanese are interfering, etc... and the english translation isn't superb, so unless you're willing to pause and read the subtitles over a couple times, you will miss information. This is less so the case if you've seen "Swordsman".

Nonetheless, even if you don't understand everything, there is a plethora of things to enjoy in this movie. I first watched this movie when I was about 14. I only fully understood what was going on when I bought the DVD when I was 23. I watched the movie periodically throughout my life, and enjoyed it every time.

It's a skillfully done movie, excepting the translation. The subject of the transsexualism is treated VERY well. It is neither overly graphic and sensationalist about it, nor is it too prudish. The fighting is good, though if you're a martial arts fanatic, you might be dissapointed because the scenes are more about spectacle than display of kung fu skills. Flying and diversity of weapons and fighting methods play more than single-human prowess.

And one other thing - the translation isn't a good one at all, but I really don't think it should take the rating down more than one star. The movie is still great and exciting, and the poor translation doesn't prevent you from understanding the important drama when it happens.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: unless you like old Bruce Lee movies, this isn't for you
Review: It is decent, but somewhat ruined by the english voice-overs. If the original Cantonese or whatever had been subtitled, it would be better, but there is no subtitle option with the original audio. The feel of the movie seems tainted by this, along with 70's kung-fu style camera shots and quality. The average Westerner wouldn't like this and I only write for those expecting an earlier version of Crouching Tiger. These reviews seem a little too kind. It's basically cheese, something you'll watch and laugh at.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Another Miramax hackjob - Get "Swordman 2" instead
Review: ..."Swordman 2" is actually the 2nd film of a trilogy, and also the best one of the three. It is a delightful, hilarious, over the top, kung fu swordplay fantasy film. There are superpowered heroes and villains flying all over the place. If you like that sort of thing (as opposed to realistic martial arts) then "Swordman 2" can not be beat for sheer entertainment.

Unfortunately, Disney/Miramax has completely ruined this film. They have added an atrociously amateurish English dub. Where do they find these voiceover "actors"? They must all be infomercial rejects. Perhaps they are Harvey Wienstein's relatives. Who knows? In any case, they are bad. Bad.

And 9 minutes of footage have been cut from this movie. That is almost 9% of the movie. Imagine watching a movie and every ten minutes someone grabs the remote control and turns off the TV for the next 60 seconds. That's what Disney/Miramax has done with this DVD...

And of course, this DVD only has the horrible English dub track and the edited/censored/ruined version of the film even though it is easy to include multiple audio tracks and even multiple versions of films on DVDs...

Fortunately, the original "Swordman 2" is also available on DVD right here from Amazon for around the same price. Do yourself a favor: go up to the area of the "Product Details" area which says "Other Formats" and click on the link that says "DVD". This takes you to the listing for "Swordman 2" - the complete, unedited, original language, subtitled version of this film.

Please avoid this ... and instead buy his classic "Swordman 2".

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Cool Movie, [awful] DVD
Review: The Legend of the Swordsman (aka Swordsman 2) is one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen in my life. This version (The Legend of Swordsman) is missing 8 minutes of film--they cut 8 minutes of FREAKING FILM from the original movie. Also, these guys were sooo lazy, they didn't even bother to include the original language track on the DVD. Instead, you can only listen to a HORRIBLE dubbed version of this movie. The video transfer is on the mediocre side too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An Excellent Film
Review: The second Swordsman film is one of the best wuxia films I have ever seen. The action is incredible, the cinematography is beautiful, and the performances are strong. This movie is quite simply one of Jet Li's best and is far superior to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Do not miss it and buy it now!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This is great kung fu fantasy action. The non stop action will keep you grounded to your seat wanting to find out what's next! The story tells about a young swordsman Ling (Jet Li) who wants to get away from all the fighting taking place between two sects but how he and his clan gets pulled back into it. In his hurry to get away from it all he starts falling in love with the enemy who is really a man but has the power to change into a beautiful woman who likes drinking wine as much as Ling does.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cool!
Review: This movie has one of the nicest fighting stunts out of so many chinese kung fu shows. I feel that this show is the best out of this series trilogy. Brigitte Lin's superb cross dressing acting and Jet Li's nice fighting moves. Strongly remmended to buy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: classic...and you dont need to see swordsman 1...
Review: in swordsman1, which was actually a drama series. Ling( Jet Li, altho in the drama it was not jet li) has left his clan because of his master, and Asia the Invincible has captured the 'sacred document' in hand. This document is the highest and most deadliest martial art of all, and it is only to be taught to men with no testes...weird eh?
so anyway, Ling and his little brother( beautiful Michelle Reis), are just traveling the country looking for their bretheren. Ling's a heavy drinker who wants to get out of the JiangHu world, because it is useless.........

This movie is based on a novel written by a very highly respected writer. His book is like a textbook for all wuxia movies like ' dragon inn', ' swordsman' series, and so on.

brigette Lin is amazing as a *queer* asia the invincible

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome martial arts fantasy...
Review: There's not much I can say that others haven't, but I did want to tell you that you should watch this movie with the original language and the subtitles, otherwise it may not make any sense. I own the VCD version of this movie and I first watched it on my computer's DVD player. No subtitles, so I had no idea what was being said. A year later I pop it into my regular DVD player and suddenly I see subtitles. They made the difference with this movie. I now understand why one of the characters was laughing all the time and it made the movie much more enjoyable. That's why I always play chinese movies in original language and read subtitles. I've found that English dubbing can really botch the original dialogue with adlibbing and incorrect translations (perfect example is Wing Chun). This movie is one of my favorites. 5 stars, Brigitte Lin--need I say more?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great HK Epic
Review: This film is excellent. It has great action sequences, great actors, and great cinematography. So why only 4 stars?! The DVD is junk. The subtitles are messy (expect to watch the movie a couple of times before you know what is going on) and the sound is funky. The picture quality is pretty good. When I tried to start the movie from the very beginning, my DVD player was unable to read the disc, so I have to select the first chapter and rewind. I hope someone like Columbia Tri-Star buys the rights to this movie, redoes the subtitles, and puts out a DVD.


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