SYNOPSICS
Siu ngo gong woo (1990) is a Cantonese,Mandarin movie. Siu-Tung Ching,King Hu,4 more credits has directed this movie. Samuel Hui,Cecilia Yip,Jacky Cheung,Man Cheung are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1990. Siu ngo gong woo (1990) is considered one of the best Action,History movie in India and around the world.
When a scroll containing valuable martial arts secrets is stolen from the Emperor, an army detachment is sent to recover it. Blademaster, a young martial arts expert, accidentally ends up in possession, but the plot grows complex as Japanese samurai, an illegal Chinese sect, a tribe of snake-wielding women warriors, a rival martial arts school and the leader of his own martial arts school vie for the scroll. Romantic complications also ensue, involving him with his longtime chum, daughter of the leader of his school, a Japanese woman, and two of the snake- wielding tribeswomen (Blue Phoenix and their leader, Princess Yin-Yin).
Siu ngo gong woo (1990) Trailers
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Siu ngo gong woo (1990) Reviews
First class ingredients make a first class movie
This movie has all the ingredients needed for a great martial arts movie: The base for this movie is that a powerful martial arts scroll has gone missing and everyone and their eunuch is out to find it. Throw in several clans, each with their own unique martial arts style. Stir in a shifty official with an even shiftier underling. Add several dashes of mistaken identity. Several betrayals and double crosses add a touch of spice to the film. Quickly add an old martial arts master, snake throwing poisoners, and a mysterious birthmark. To top off add a song bellowed by two old men that will never leave your head, and you have the best movie in all the Five Ranges! If none of these things made sense, then watch the movie as soon as you can, it will all be very clear.
This is not a kungfu film
THE SWORDSMAN is a movie very much in the style of the classically-influenced Wuxia movies of the 1960s, like DRAGON GATE INN (1966) and A TOUCH OF ZEN (1969), which was based in turn on a Qing Dynasty (17th Century) story by Songling Pu. These sword movies were at their most popular in the years running up to the earliest kungfu movies like Chinese BOXER (1970) and THE BIG BOSS (1971), but are not to be confused with the more familiar martial arts movies, as they have conventions and rules all their own. Wuxia movies are typified by the spectacular sword battles where antagonists fly through the air in prodigious leaps as they cross swords. This kind of spectacle may have reached its pinnacle in the stunning sword battles seen IN CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON or HERO, but it can trace its roots back to the earliest swordplay movies of King Hu and the first New Wave movies like Tsui Hark's ZU: WARRIORS OF THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. But Wuxia films are also about honour and the code of the warrior, and in this respect resemble Samurai movies more than kungfu films. In THE SWORDSMAN, the students of the Hua Mountain style of sword fencing have developed their Chi (internal power) to such a high degree that they are able to quite literally float through the air during their sword battles. Most powerful of all the Hua Mountain practitioners is Sifu Ngok, teacher to the young hero of the story Ling Wu Chung. Or so it seems. Early in the film, Wu Chung meeting an elder of the Hua Mountain Clan, Fung Ching Yeung, who'd gone into hiding so his enemies wouldn't try to control him by harming his family. Fung recognises Wu Chung as one of his own clan and teaches him the deadly "Nine Solitary Swordplays" and it is these techniques he uses against his own traitorous sifu. As other reviewers have noted, "The Song" does get a bit of a caning in this movie, and I defy anyone who's heard it once to get it out of their heads in less than five days. And it should be pointed out that Celia Yip is fooling no one with that boy disguise. Though in all fairness, this "girl disguised (badly) as boy" routine crops up a lot in Chinese stories. Anyone remember the equally gorgeous Kara Hui (Hui Ying-Hung) in EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER searching for brother Gordon Liu disguised as a man? Wuxia have to be accepted on their own terms. There is a prevailing belief in China that the Chi abilities of martial artists in historical times were far superior to what contemporary kungfu experts are capable of. This is no different to the belief in the West that ancient seers were able to predict the future. Neither set of beliefs have any real credibility, but it makes for fun storytelling. THE SWORDSMAN is a pretty good example of the genre, but to be honest, the sequel, SWORDSMAN II, is the better movie.
A classic, nearly as good as Swordsman 2
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.
Assume Movie Enjoyment Stance!!!
The above title will make no sense to you until you see this wildly entertaining movie. There's no point in summarizing the plot, since it's so convoluted that it's futile to try to follow it. The film takes place in the past, and involves a scroll which describes how to obtain secret powers. Not surprisingly, various martial arts clans vie for its ownership. This sets up various great martial arts sequences, cheesy jokes, and the codesong (as opposed to codeword) which will get stuck in your head no matter how much you try to fight it. Besides the fact that it's just plain fun, I appreciated the fact that the film includes several strong female characters. It would be great if Hollywood could learn from this and other martial arts films that women who can kick serious butt can still be feminine and smart. If you enjoy this film, check out its sequel (Swordsman II), and also check out "The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk," with Jet Li. You'll enjoy them as well.
Not less epic than Star Wars!
The first part of the Swordsman trilogy can be compared to a wuxiapian version of "Star Wars": it boasts paladins of the sword and virtue, leaders of sects being deranged by thirst of power and ambition, plus a musical score no less epic than the Lucas movie soundtrack. The story centers on the theft of the "Sacred Book of Power", a scroll which can bestow invincibility on the bearer and which everyone wants to attain for themselves. The only one unaffected by the hypocrisy and egotism that such search generate seems protagonist Lin "of the Wah Mountain", who regards swordsmanship as an art rather than as a means of dominating the rivals and who would prefer a quiet life of wine and singing, but unwittingly is thrown into the turmoil of the clash between sects. Besides the epic tone, a couple of other factors contribute to the success of the movie: