Swordsman (1990)
Director - King Hu
DVD Released by : Celestial Pictures
Player reviewed with :Citizen JDVD 3820
Receiver reviewed with : N/A
 
Features:
Cantonese/Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese DTS and Mono 2.0 Soundtrack
English, Traditional and Simplified Chinese Subtitles
Enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs
Original and New Trailer
Photo Gallery, 2 Deleted Scenes, and Interviews with James Wong and Jackie Cheung
Running Time : 117 mins.
Region All
The next entry in Fortune Star's series of remastered DVDs is the classic Swordsman. Notable for ushering in the '90s wave of wu xia in Hong Kong cinema, Swordsman was a box office blockbuster that spawned two sequels and a number one hit song with James Wong's "Hero of Heroes." The critical acclaim and multiple awards was the happy ending to a troubled production. Although credited as the director, King Hu reportedly left the set permanently after only 2 weeks of production due either to creative differences or medical concerns, and was replaced with no less than 3 acting directors including producer Tsui Hark, Ching Siu-Tung and Raymond Lee.

Loosely based on the epic novel Smiling Proud Wanderer (AKA "The Hero of Heroes") by Louis Cha (Jin Yong ), the story follows the theft of the Sacred Volume, a powerful martial arts scroll from the East Securitate (Royal secret police). The Chief Eunuch discovers that it was taken by Lam Chun Nam, a retired government official. With his home quickly surrounded by royal guards, Lam calls upon his sworn brother, the head of Wah Mountain Sword School who sends his eldest disciple, Ling Wu Chong to help. To retrieve the scroll, the Eunuchs send in Zhor, the powerful Leader of the 5 Ranges who attacks without mercy and despite Ling's efforts decimates the Lam clan. Ling and his sidekick, Kiddo barely escapes with the knowledge of the scroll's hidden location and must report to his master about the Lam's demise. After much bloodshed and fearful of raising the attention of their political rivals in the West Securitate, the Eunuchs blame the deaths on a roving band of Miu Highlanders. Lost and alone with Kiddo fallen ill, Ling must elude the guards pursuing them, encounter a fascinating assortment of characters, learn a new song, and discover that perhaps even his own master may not be trusted …

This film has a great script that tightly weaves together action and political intrigue with themes of prejudice, social commentary, and the high price of fame, elements that often play strongly in King Hu's owns films, but don't be fooled. While the plot may sound serious and portions of it are, this is a Hark production through and through, and the fast pace and light-hearted humour is what makes the film such a joy.

A lot of the fun belongs to Sam Hui as Ling. Although some have expressed annoyance at his constant mugging and goofy smile, Hui's care-free nature as a casual ladies man is much more believable than that of Jet Li's subsequent portrayal. The film may be a period piece, but Hui's anachronistic performance is what gives life to his witty asides and sarcastic remarks and is typical of Tsui Hark's brand of comedy.

The female performers are no slouches either starting with a very cute Cecilia Yip as Ling's tomboy sidekick, Kiddo. Although she's unconvincing dressed up as a guy, her emotional struggle between being treated as a girl and acting as a boy isn't hard to believe. Cheung Man is imposing as the Highlander chief of the Sun and Moon Sect. While intrigued by Ling, she must protect her people first and foremost from the conniving mainlanders. And Fennie Yuen is a comic delight and makes a fine foil for Ling as the mischievous, but kind-hearted Blue Phoenix. She steals the show in every scene and perhaps that is why she alone reprises her role in the sequel.

Rounding out the cast is a wonderful group of nasty villains who truly make the film. Their very presence is what advances the plot and allows for so many tension-filled scenes. Zhor is a terrifying killing machine as played by Yuen Wah, and Lau Siu Ming gives the duplicitous Master Ngok an air of power over come by greed. Lau Shun dominates as the evil Chief Eunuch, but singing star Jacky Cheung surprises the most as the sly Au Yeung, a complete toady with plans of his own.

As befitting a wu xia martial arts-fantasy, the action scenes are an interesting combination of wire-work kung fu and primitive special effects. Those expecting Ching Siu-Tung style choreography will be surprised to find something quite different. New wave swordplay with an old fashioned sensibility, although Hui's stunt double is at times obvious and the blue screen animation never quite fits, the mixture makes for an unusual concoction. Jump cuts and fast editing highlights the movement of powerful sword strokes and lends the whole affair a feeling of otherworldliness.

Already available in a variety of import editions this remastered DVD, while not perfect puts all previous efforts shame. Except for a few minor specks, the print has been cleaned and exhibits strong colours. Peter Pau's golden hued cinematography is nicely rendered with contrast that leaves detail visible in the dark and bright areas. The picture is fairly sharp (to the point of revealing minor continuity errors!), but is not without its faults. Grain is still evident, not surprisingly from an older film and some will be annoyed by edge enhancement. Compression is handled well with only a little artifacting, this anamorphic transfer is the best the film has looked outside of a theatre.

Those wondering if the audio sync may be off in this release can be rest assured that the Cantonese dubbing has never matched despite the fact that Sam Hui voices himself! While the film sports a new Cantonese Dolby 5.1 and DTS sound mix, for the purist the original theatrical soundtrack is included in Dolby 2.0. Yay! The dialogue and music levels are mixed a little louder and the sound is a touch harsher with some minimal hiss, but this is the only way to enjoy the film. Why? Certainly the new remix sounds quite a bit cleaner and opens up the sound stage a lot more. Action scenes are more robust with the clangs and thumps hitting a lot harder, but along with them come more chirping birds! These new sound effects are added throughout the film (including the musical interludes!) and stick out like a sore thumb. As annoying as these new mixes are though, I applaud the fact that Fortune Star has included the original mono mix, something I hope they will continue.

The English subtitles are passable and translates most of the dialogue faithfully, although some of the poetry is lost. Grammatical errors pop up occasionally and on-screen writing is not subtitled.

As for extras, for once I'll mention the fancy packaging as the initial release comes with an over-sized picture book. Essentially a long panorama that's folded into pages, this photo album is pretty to look at and nice to have. The disc itself comes in a typical amaray with 2 slipcovers. The cardboard slip case has a clear plastic overlay that's printed with the logo and an image of Sam Hui lending it a 3-D look. Again pretty, but a little unwieldy to open.

On the disc we have an interview with celebrated musician James Wong. He is fun to listen to and has anecdotes about the creation of the theme song, talks about working with that tyrant Hark and singer-star Sam Hui, but at just over 8 minutes it's too short, I wish there was more! The second interview with Jacky Cheung is 13 minutes long and although a little boring at first gets better as he goes on to talking about working with the cast and crew and contrasting it with other directors such as Sammo Hung.

Also included are two short deleted scenes that are really just minor scene extensions. They are Mandarin only, but are subtitled and only clarify a few plot points.

The lengthy original trailer is included, as well as a new trailer. Personally, I don't know who's putting their new trailers together, but the ones for Swordsman, A Better Tomorrow, Once Upon a Time in China, and Fist of Fury are just terrible. Fortune Star really needs to do better if they want their product to look good.

Often billed as the first in a trilogy, Swordsman stands best on its own. The first sequel, Swordsman II may continue the story in its way, but the East is Red was completely fabricated by the filmmakers and unrelated to the original novel. Although fine films in their own right, Swordsman has a different, lighter tone that I've come to better appreciate over the years. Its gentle humour mixed with complex political and social maneuvering is more satisfying than the bombastic posturing of the other two. If you haven't already seen it, then this Hark classic gets an easy recommendation with a nice DVD, and if you already own it, it's still worth considering an upgrade.

copyright©2004 Leon Ho

Reviewed 09/9/2004