Swordsman III: The East Is Red (1993) User Reviews

Allegories of modernity (ho hum)

[winner55 · 6/10 · 25 June 2006]

I like everyone connected with this movie, cast and crew - but I don't like the movie.

It's not that I can't follow the plot. The problem is that the whole story is symbolic fantasy - or what they called in the Middle ages 'allegory' (i.e., an allegory for the loss of Chinese inner power with the arrival of foreign colonialists). They only recent film that comes close to this in structure is from Japan, Toyko: the Last Metropolis. The most recent western film to approach this kind of story is, possibly, Terry Gilliam's ill-conceived Baron Munchhausen movie. But I liked the characters in those two movies; I don't like any of the characters in this one. Which may be the point, but not any reason to watch the movie again.

I should remark that these three movies are all extremely well-made, and all dishwater dull.

I'm afraid film is not a medium conducive to allegory. Film seems to work best when the characters remind us of people we've met - or are likely to meet - even if we don't like them much. When actors stand in for metaphors, they can't stand in for people. In which case, why should we care?

terrible

[abbiewu · 5/10 · 22 August 2006]

I wanna rate it 1. but I gave it 5 stars. Only because the soundtrack is great. actually one of the best that year. Sarah Chen sings a great song here (The Mundane World aka Xiao Hong Chen). She sang two theme songs for Hong Kong movies that year. actually both Hark Tsui's movies. this one and Green Snake (Dance of Sunlight aka Liu Guang Fei Wu). both songs are classics. you could still hear the music for these two movies featured in many TV serial nowadays. Brigitte Lin is OK in this movie, and has some memorable scenes. but Rongguang Yu is such a terrible actor, you just wanna hit him on his face~ and the script is really bad, no one could rescue it from that. of course, if you just wanna see some action, it's a OK movie for you. buy it on sale or just go buy the soundtrack.

Crazy film that nearly hits the mark

[bornenasty · 7/10 · 15 December 2006]

Having missed any preceding films, I knew from the genre that this was going to make little to no sense to me at points, but right from the off I was confused...

Making no attempts to explain itself, it gets straight into the action. Fantastical fighting and some incredible wire work really do make this film a visual spectacle, but the absence of continuity at times does hinder it.

Certain scenes appear to have been either cut completely, or just parts of them left in, which again doesn't help the mix. If you watch the trailer you'll see that Jet Li is in it... but when you watch the film, you realise he has been left on the cutting room floor...! Overall it makes for a very enjoyable, if not inexplicably odd/hard to follow film - but it's certainly made me want to watch the earlier instalments!!

Insane action, intrigue, and magic

[flecky · 23 February 2001]

This movie picks up where Swordsman II left off: the Magnificent Asia completes the transformation from a mortal man to a woman with incredible magic martial arts powers and continues her ruthless quest for power, revenge and love.

It's almost impossible to follow the plot, but the whole movie is so packed with supernatural action, intrigue, ambition, revenge, and amazing costumes and scenery it doesn't matter. Add English subtitles that are inadvertently hysterically funny and you have a truly bizarre and entertaining movie. Some people will find it boring, and martial arts buffs might be disappointed, but I thought it was a scream.

So Badly Made Its A Case Of Third Time Unlucky!

[silicontourist · 1/10 · 9 April 2022]

As the 3rd film of the Swordsman trilogy I found that I wondered why they bothered to make it at all; as it did nothing to compliment the first 2 in the trilogy! I have been watching Chinese films, for over 35 years now, and this is top of my worst Chinese films ever made (and that is really saying something when you consider the copious amounts of sheer lying rubbish in propaganda films they put out)! As I do not speak any Chinese whatsoever I had to rely upon English subtitles (all that are available on the internet are absolutely terrible) and, I could find only one translation which was utterly terrible (it was like a broke broken mistranslated gobbledygook); it was not translated by a person who could speak both languages but more likely machine based etc. So it made the film even worse to view.

It continues from where the 2nd film left off (the actors being Brigitte Lin- once again - and the superb Jet Li) but is completely confusing, badly edited and a lousy story-line/script etc. It jumped all over the place with far too much fantasy action thrown in; which was in fact so stupid/bad in its look on the screen. It was like the director and co didn't have a clue what to do with the story, actors roles, action and continuity of the first 2 films. The films of this era (and 20 plus years before) used Hi-wire and off screen equipment - trampolines etc - for special FX; the CGI of the era you could say. The problem is it is vastly overused and looks terrible in every shot! As a long time viewer of Chinese martial Arts films I am used to the special FX used at the time and that's how I know that these were cheap looking and just terrible!

One of the reviewers tries to entice you to watch it by saying that there is a fantastic lesbian love scene...what a click-baiting liar! The scene is between the goddess, Brigitte Lin, and her concubine, Snow (who turns out to be a demon in disguise) who are fully clothed in a scene that lasts about 4 seconds.

I surprised there are so many likes for this film by the reviewers because the film to me played out as though it had been made by a clueless teenager...a young one at that! Its gotten a 1 star from me, only because I have too give it mark of some level, but the only nice thing about this film is looking at the beautiful Brigitte Lin!

For beauty

[z-59713 · 5/10 · 6 May 2020]

The plot of the movie is very dead, but the rival of Lin Wang's two beauties is really classic, and the color is not pornographic. I like it very much.

Mindbending action, cross-dressing, extreme violence...

[sadie_thompson · 9/10 · 13 December 2004]

...and that's just in this review!!! Seriously though, this movie is warped. There wasn't a minute where I wasn't completed floored at something or other.

I watched this after watching "Swordman II." I am a huge Brigitte Lin fan, and this movie was made to capitalize on the success of her character, the freaky Master Asia the Invincible. (That is the most pompous name any character has endured. Catchy though, ain't it?) Master Asia, as we learned from "Swordman II," is a man that has become a woman (sort of) as a side effect from studying a sacred martial arts scroll. Pro--Asia can decimate whole armies by making simple hand gestures. Con--Serious gender-bending. You're never really sure what Asia is. He looks and sounds like a woman, but acts like both depending on the situation. For example, in "Swordman II" he developed an unfortunate crush on Jet Li's character. In this film, we are treated to a confusing sex scene. I must elaborate on this one, because it deserves the attention. Bear with me.

Snow, a former lover of Asia's, has decided to carry on the tradition by dressing up as Asia and killing people. One night she/he decides to sleep with a concubine that we would assume is a woman. So that's two women--something is missing. This isn't the sort of thing shown in this type of movie, so you automatically wonder what's up. This movie must have some ulterior motive in showing two women making love. Anyway, they start by indulging in some opium to heighten the mood, I suppose, and all of a sudden we are whooshed (for lack of a better word) into a flashback. Now we have Snow and some person kissing. There is no warning that there's been a time shift--it just happens. The other person is Asia himself of course, played by Brigitte Lin. So, if you're keeping score, that a sex scene with three women. One is a woman pretending to be a man, one is a man pretending to be a woman, and one is a man that is becoming a woman. Confused? Good--you'll be in that bewildered state for the rest of the movie.

This movie defines the phrase "over the top." You know you're in for a wild ride when people start using cannons as hand-held weapons. (The guy just picks it up and fires it off, just like a regular cannon, only he's holding it like a battering ram. That would knock the bewhickers out of any normal person, you know.) Another great sequence is the ninja that hides by holding a fake moon up in front of the real one and hiding behind it. Upon his being discovered, a pigeon flies out of his mouth. Brigitte Lin enters one scene riding a swordfish, sings a song while disguised as a lethal gambling prostitute in a Japanese camp and later appears as a samurai dressed in red. Sewing needles are common weaponry to those endowed with supernatural wonderfulness, and people are used as bloody marionettes. (Devil May Cry, anyone?) This movie is everywhere all the time. I was constantly floored by the sheer insanity of it. Add a large volume of blood and the needle on the weirdo meter goes wild.

In short, I enjoyed this movie, simply because of its marvelous ability to entertain. You may not be awed by the scenery, or moved by the plot, but you should be entertained.

Simply great

[Reezon · 9/10 · 12 March 2005]

First disregard all negative comments, written by people who couldn't even follow the story.

This movie is perfect example of movies created during the golden age of Hong Kong. It's an amazing combination of romance, action, comedy and drama and it features beautiful women as deadly fighters. What more could you want? Koo - a Chinese officer risks his life to meet Asia the Invincible (a man turned woman, played by a woman - Brigitte Lin) the greatest fighter alive, who has retired from the world of martial arts. He wants her to stop other "Asia the Invincible" imposter's. She decides to help him at first, then to claim back her lost power. Now Koo has to stop her. But that's not all, there's also a love triangle involving Koo, Asia the Invincible and Snow (a woman pretending to be a man, played by a beautiful woman - Joey Wang).

The action is very over the top, it's unlike anything you've seen before, with people wielding cannons and throwing ships around, killing people with just their chi. There are lots of romantic, even erotic, moments, some of them involving two women, and the end is very dramatic.

Don't miss this great movie!

Swordsman 3: Hate is stronger than love

[unbrokenmetal · 8/10 · 30 January 2009]

Since Asia the Invincible (Brigitte Lin) seemingly died at the end of part 2, several impersonators try to rule in her name. When a Spanish conquistador and a masked Japanese warlord attempt to conquer the land during this chaos and confusion, the real Asia returns with a vengeance. It seems at first that a villain of the previous part turned hero for this sequel, but Asia's rage is not under control, she says love is gone and hate is all that remained.

"Swordsman III" is - even more than "Swordsman II" - a celebration of Brigitte Lin, larger than life, a goddess of war. You find less sense of humor than before in the final part of the trilogy, but a stunning lesbian love scene involving Joey Wang from "Chinese Ghost Story" - actually it's about a woman pretending to be a man with a man pretending to be a woman... read that twice - is thrown in for compensation. The European version is about 10 minutes shorter than the Asian one, and probably one scene was cut for blasphemy when Asia humiliates the Spanish priest, forcing him to worship her instead of their catholic god. I voted 8 of 10 for each part of the trilogy, because on one hand, they all have too many little narrative flaws to get near a perfect 10, but on the other hand, they are all highly entertaining and equally recommendable.

Outrageous action

[crypto88 · 9/10 · 1 December 1999]

This is one of the most outrageous, totally hyper-kinetic stylish and bizarre (kung-fu fantasy) films I've ever seen. Brigitte Lin is stunning as Asia the Invincible. This is a really beautiful action film. It is unabashedly fantastical. If you haven't seen any modern kung-fu fantasy films from Hong Kong, this will leave your jaw scraping the floor. Super cool.

Great but not greater

[jusfeel · 8/10 · 21 February 2021]

This as the 3rd in a sequel is not as great as the first 2. You must 3 film in order or you miss many points.

These movies born out of the golden era in HongKong movies about Gongfu without CG. So if it is your plate you will love it. Sting over CG.

Staring in this one is the 2 women who is deemed as true beauty then and now. Comparing to the so called female actors, they are real deal both face and skill.

The 3rd one on the level of fighting is blown out of proportion of realism bit. They know the end is coming and make a blast of everything. But for this sequel , it is more for nostalgia, not really for story. I mean the guy Lin played.

Anyways, if you are new, watch the first 2 first.