Dung Fong Bat Bai: Fung wan joi hei

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!

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!

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.

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.

...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.