Rating: 
Summary: Must-Buy
Review: First of all, the movie. I started watching HK movies just a little under a year ago, and mostly because I was very impressed with Jet Li's performance in "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Black Mask," and thus wanted to see some of his earlier work. A year later, I have now watched over 80 HK movies since (all movies by Chow Yun Fat, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, as well as by those lesser-known (at least in the US) Brigitte Lin, Ekin Cheng, Aaron Kwok, etc.), and it was all because of this movie. Looking back, this movie was a terrific introduction to the HK swordfighting, fantasy genre. The fight scenes are spectacular and the cast is first rate (Brigitte Lin steals the show, though). The DVD? Yes, the subtitles are bad, but not distracting, and after a couple of viewings I followed the story easily (I absolutely HATE those VHS subtitles which are nearly impossible to read, especially against a white background). Plus, Director Tsui Hark's wonderful use of colors (contrasting blues, reds, yellows) can only be done justice by the DVD format. The sound is in Dolby 5.1, which helps, and the transfer is pretty good. The menus are also presented nicely, better than any other HK DVD made around the same time. Although this was the first HK DVD I purchased, it is still my favorite. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh my god, what a terrible movie!
Review: I almost think everyone else must be reviewing another movie. 38 reviewers, average of 4 stars? That is the reason I bought it. I assumed that this was a little known gem. It may be the worst movie I have ever seen. I really like Jet li a lot but this was worse than lame. The Arch villan never does anything but wave his/her arms invoking supernatural forces, making people explode etc. and fling some sewing needles...really! ... I usually do not review movies but this was sooo bad and almost everyone else cannot say enough good things about it, I felt obliged to at least put some doubt in the minds of a prospective buyer. I wish I had read a review like this before I made the mistake of getting it.
Rating: 
Summary: THIS DVD HAS DIALOGUES MISSING!!!
Review: I first saw the movie in its original version with english subtitle. Im a huge fan of Jet Li, and that movie was missing in my collection, so I bought the DVD on amazon... TOTALLY disapointing, there is a lot of dialogue that is cut, especially on fights scene, wich took out all the flavor of the storyline. For example when the ninja chief fights Master Wu (or sumthin), in the original version Master Wu asks the ninja why they not joinning him, and he wanswers because our chief (Asia) defeated u, then they start fighting. In others fight scene, the same Ninja guy says things like "Long live to japan!" And they also call shots during the fights, like "Twin Saber! or Lighting Saber!" a lil like in Japanese Anime. It might soud weird, but those lil things made the fighting scene a charm, SO DO NOT BUY THIS DVD!!! get the original one in cantonese with english subtitles... Rest is perfect, made me bought swordsman 1 and swordsman 3, check how Jet Li turns the blade around his hand, Kill Bill is a joke compare to Jet Li!!!
Rating:
Summary: Oh my god, what a terrible movie!
Review: I guess I have been lucky. I have enjoyed every Jet Li movie I have seen till this one. The villan never does more than move his/her arms around invoking the forces of nature and throwing some sewing needles...really. I would have given it no stars if possible. I received this movie yesterday, thinking it to be some not well known gem. I mean 38 reviews, average 4 stars. I listed mine for sale today. I do not want it befouling my collection. I am sure some people will think I am full of it but for god sakes buy it used and don't waste your money.
Rating: 
Summary: What happened?
Review: I just bought this DVD from Amazon on the strength of positive reviews all over the net and Chinese friends who recommend this film or have it in their movie collection. As a film, it looks beautiful and has some of the most intricate swordplay scenes and imaginative fantasy elements I've ever seen in a film. Among the long list of captivating characters/moments - ninjas flying through the air on giant shurikens, a character named Blue Phoenix who shoots snakes from her sleeves, sword fights where swords magically spin around and fight on their own, a male character who fights with hooks and has the ability to absorb the lifeforce of other humans, a sexually ambiguous enemy whose weapon of choice is a needle and thread - it's basically loaded with all the stuff that makes HK fantasy flicks such an trip to watch. Unfortuantely for English speakers, this movie has to have the worst subtitling job I've ever seen in my life. I just finished watching this one all the way through and I have no clue what just happened. The subtitles read like a nonsensical array of bad grammar and gibberish that appear for less than a second at a time. Basically the only thing you can get out of them without putting in major mental work are the characters names. The good thing is that the movie is exciting enough for me to want to watch it again and again. Maybe I'll understand a little bit more this time. But damn, I really want to kill the fool who wrote those subtitles.
Rating:
Summary: What a movie!! Really enjoyable.............................
Review: I just saw this movie (the past Sunday) and at the end I was completely stunned! I didn't read the storyline before watching it, so I just knew it was about a... swordsman. And of course that it was a Jet Li movie. The story seems to be not so origianl: the master betrayed by his brother, a cool guy hanging around with his pals and all the girls in the movie chasing him (well, not only girls...). In the end I found it very funny and that has some great action scenes (sometimes a bit confused). And YES, Jet Li is so cute... I'm Italian and sometimes watching a movie in English is a pain in the neck, but thanx got there are subtitles! Anyway, a movie in its original language is always the best in my opinion... even in Chinese...
Rating: 
Summary: Blech.
Review: I love Bridget Lin as much as the next person, but she was the only interesting thing in this movie. Fine, it was cute to see Jet Li boozing it up every other minute...I totally returned this DVD..the picture is not enhanced at all. While I thought the plot of Lin being a man turned woman was cute (We know how the HK films love to play with gender), the story was completely fantastical...the sword fighting wasn't that clear, absolutely no martial arts. And mostly unlikeable characters. I'm sure the only reason it made so much money in HK is that Bridget Lin was in it...her movies always make tons of money.
Rating:
Summary: Good MOVIE, average Martial Arts Film
Review: I really liked this film. It was very entertaining, had a solid story (that was hard to follow at times), but still very interesting. The characters were great, each and everyone. Brigitte Linn was badly under utilized, using Magic over her martial arts skills, that was disappointing. Actually, think back, Jet Li was the only character in the whole film that used martial arts, everyone else used magic. Jet Li's acting was extremely fun to watch. The interaction between him and his sister was great (though she was awful jealous for a sister). As a whole this movie is a joy to watch, the story and plot are great. But don't buy this movie thinking you are going to see a Kung Fu movie, or skilled martial arts, because you won't. As a movie I would give Swordsman II a B+
As a martial arts film I would give Swordsman II a C-
Rating:
Summary: Good MOVIE, average Martial Arts Film
Review: I really liked this film. It was very entertaining, had a solid story (that was hard to follow at times), but still very interesting. The characters were great, each and everyone. Brigitte Linn was badly under utilized, using Magic over her martial arts skills, that was disappointing. Actually, think back, Jet Li was the only character in the whole film that used martial arts, everyone else used magic. Jet Li's acting was extremely fun to watch. The interaction between him and his sister was great (though she was awful jealous for a sister). As a whole this movie is a joy to watch, the story and plot are great. But don't buy this movie thinking you are going to see a Kung Fu movie, or skilled martial arts, because you won't. As a movie I would give Swordsman II a B+
As a martial arts film I would give Swordsman II a C-
Rating:
Summary: What is the essence of love?
Review: I vividly remember watching this movie back in jr. high school. I absolutely fell in love with it back then because of awesome, i mean awesome sword-fighting scenes. If you thought the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the best sword-fighting movie, then this one might change your mind. I think Crouching Tiger is more geared toward 'proper, reasonable' sword-fighting, where swordman is much more geared toward fantasy-like/fast action, yet it was very believable, meaning the whole thing was done in such a perfection. If Crouching Tiger added the question/theme of finding one's self, discipline with the addition of romance and swordfighting, then Swordman's main theme, which becomes much more apparent toward the end, deals with the question of the essence of love. Of course, a Chinese action movie isn't complete without the breathtaking action and the essence of romance. But this movie does an excellent, excellent job on both department, especially in romance. It's not an ordinary love story and I don't want to give out the story here. But toward the end, Jet Li asks Brigitte Lin this one question: "Are you the one who stayed with me that night" It was very important for him to know the answer and he does that by saving Brigitte, holding onto this rope. However, Brigitte doesn't answer that question. and falls down again. And Jet Li, this time, throws that rope away to tell Brigitte something and Brigitte uses the last ounce of stregth to save him, still without answering his question. Why didn't she answer him, and why he didn't care about his life to tell her someting? why? Man, I'm telling you, Brigitte's last facial acting was just incredible, just incredible... This movie will be a much more meaningful experience if you ask yourself why Brigitte didn't answer his question, and why he threw away the rope of life he was holding onto to tell her something. This movie will throw this one question at you, "what is the essence of love" Pay close attention to their facial acting/change from the beginning of the last battle to Brigitte's unforgettable finale. Like all the great Chinese movies do, this one will leave you with this sense of 'unexplicable feeling', feelings you get from dejavu, or good memory. By the way, the title should've been "Dong Bang Bul Pae", literal meaning is undefeated in Eastside/Asia. And to add one more, Brigitte Lin was much more popular than Jet Li back then, and she still is! (and I watched with korean subtitle, done a good job there. But they need to work on english subtitle, since they don't explain certain part in detail or certain things sound cheap and funny)
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