Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted September 29, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 29, 2012 Directed by: Michael Mak Choreographed by: Ching Siu Tung Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung, Donnie Yen, Joey Wong, Elvis Tsui, Jimmy Lin Another movie I've been sitting on for years finally made its debut into my DVD player last night. Made at the height of the early 90's new wave wuxia resurgence, more than any of the actors who are in it, 'Butterfly and Sword' is definitely choreographer Ching Siu Tung's show. One of the earliest wuxia movies I watched was 'Swordsman II' back when I was getting into the HK action movie scene as a whole, and I remember being completely blown away by the complicity of the wirework in the movie. This wasn't just wirework that anyone could do or that was being used to enhance a movement here and there, these were large scale set pieces involving multiple performers doing complex acrobatic movements complete with even the weapons taking on a life of their own. That movie wasn't just choreographed by Siu Tung but directed by him as well. In 'Butterfly and Sword' he's purely on choreography duty, but made only a year after 'Swordsman II' there are even more complex set pieces crammed into its under 90 minutes run time. Bodies literally explode as people tear through them, heads get kicked in two and faces get sliced off, floorboards get ripped up and thrown in every direction, and bamboo trees become weapons of death. From a wuxia choreography standpoint I haven't seen anything this good since the aforementioned 'Swordsman II' and the more recent 'Reign of Assassins', which also starred Michelle Yeoh. From an acting standpoint this is mostly Michelle Yeoh and Tony Leung's show, and they both do great jobs in their roles. Yen should really be billed equally based on the story, but he doesn't get as much screen time as the others. He does get to show off some drunken sword though which is a rarity and I don't recall seeing him do it in any other movie. The story itself should be relatively simple, however somehow director Michael Mak makes it seem much more complicated than it is, probably due to trying to fit too much into a runtime which doesn't even reach the 90 minute mark. Essentially it's a love triangle between Yeoh, Leung, & Yen...the only members of a clan dwelling in the Happy Forest (which obviously due to the triangle isn't so happy). Yeoh likes Leung, but Leung is in love with Joey Wong, & Yen likes Yeoh, but Yeoh doesn't really notice him. Oh, & there's a warlord who wants to run the martial world who wants all of them dead. That sums it up. While the way the story's told does manage to over complicate things, it's not really a detractor, and there's some good humor thrown in as well. The highlight for me is when Joey Wong tells Donnie Yen that he has to show some emotion, because no matter what he feels his facial expression never changes. Who ever though Donnie Yen would receive an acting lesson in one of his own movies? All in all 'Butterfly and Sword' is well worth a watch, here's a sampling of the action with Yeoh, Leung, & Yen all getting their licks in - z1S9Tz9CavM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted September 29, 2012 Member Share Posted September 29, 2012 Okay.....I'm torn.....'cause I typically hate wuxia films.....and I abhorred Swordsman 2....but I love Michelle Yeoh.....and some of that was laughably funny. Hmmm.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron_Leopard Posted January 3, 2018 Member Share Posted January 3, 2018 I love the soundtrack to this movie but not much else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted January 3, 2018 Member Share Posted January 3, 2018 I love this film, although it took no less than 4 viewings to understand the story. I learned how to sing the theme song, "Love is Like a Shooting Star." It's funny, because the lyrics frequently refer to "obsession" which is "ku" in Mandarin. The problem is that here in Brazil, the word "cu" (same pronunciation) means "asshole" (the body part, not the person). So if I sing it out loud, it might seem a bit odd. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted January 3, 2018 Member Share Posted January 3, 2018 I first saw this on the now-defunct International Channel and it was my first movie to see both Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen. I loved Tony Ching Siu-Tung's action, including Yeoh's human bow to Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's arrow move and the bamboo forest fight where Yeoh and Yen team up and Donnie shows some nice kicking. The finale was pure insanity, but I still enjoyed it. I also love Michelle Yeoh's ending theme "Love is Like a Shooting Star". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShaOW!linDude Posted January 3, 2018 Member Share Posted January 3, 2018 I nabbed this from @paimeifist when he had his sale last year, but have yet to watch it. I really have to be in the mood to sit through a wuxia flick, but I really like Michelle Yeoh. Ah, the pleasure and the pain. Maybe this year sometime. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted January 7, 2018 Author Moderator Share Posted January 7, 2018 On 1/4/2018 at 3:23 AM, ShaOW!linDude said: I really have to be in the mood to sit through a wuxia flick, but I really like Michelle Yeoh. Ah, the pleasure and the pain. I am convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that you'll hate 99% of this movie. It was released at the very peak of the early 90's new wave wuxia boom, and contains some of the most insanely creative uses of wire-work I've seen. Top drawer stuff if you're into that kind of thing...but I know you're not. It does however, contain the rare sight of Donnie Yen performing a drunken sword demonstration, which will give you your 1%. On 1/4/2018 at 1:49 AM, AlbertV said: I loved Tony Ching Siu-Tung's action, including Yeoh's human bow to Tony Leung Chiu-Wai's arrow move I believe that move is only available to be seen in the Cat III version. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted January 7, 2018 Member Share Posted January 7, 2018 4 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said: I believe that move is only available to be seen in the Cat III version. It was in the VHS version (international dub) that was available at Blockbuster back in the late 90s. You mean to say that there are DVD versions out there that are missing the human bow-and-arrow scene? What the crack? 4 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said: It does however, contain the rare sight of Donnie Yen performing a drunken sword demonstration, which will give you your 1% 2%...he also does his patented jumping back kick and jumping double back kick. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted January 7, 2018 Author Moderator Share Posted January 7, 2018 20 minutes ago, DrNgor said: It was in the VHS version (international dub) that was available at Blockbuster back in the late 90s. You mean to say that there are DVD versions out there that are missing the human bow-and-arrow scene? What the crack? Apologies, I will take my Cat III sexual innuendos to somewhere they're appreciated. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted January 8, 2018 Member Share Posted January 8, 2018 8 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said: Apologies, I will take my Cat III sexual innuendos to somewhere they're appreciated. I, for one, appreciate the Bramz' bawdy zingers. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted January 8, 2018 Member Share Posted January 8, 2018 23 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said: I believe that move is only available to be seen in the Cat III version. Even I got that @One Armed Boxer LOL so don't worry! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted January 8, 2018 Member Share Posted January 8, 2018 8 minutes ago, AlbertV said: Even I got that @One Armed Boxer LOL so don't worry! Okay, now I feel stupid. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Cognoscente Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 On 9/29/2012 at 3:23 PM, ShaOW!linDude said: Okay.....I'm torn.....'cause I typically hate wuxia films.....and I abhorred Swordsman 2....but I love Michelle Yeoh.....and some of that was laughably funny. Hmmm.... I detested Swordsman 2 as well. Ironically, what Hong Kong Digital's John Charles had to say about Swordsman 2 and Kung Fu Cult Master is completely opposite to how I feel on both counts... John on S2: "The action choreography in period fantasies is almost always exciting but the combat here features some of the most fluid and impressive wirework you will ever see and is an absolutely thrilling blend of mystical and traditional (i.e. earthbound) combat." John on KCFM: "The action scenes suffer from some jumbled, berserk editing which reduces the action choreography to a confusing barrage of soaring combatants and severed body parts." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted June 5, 2021 Member Share Posted June 5, 2021 4 hours ago, Cognoscente said: I detested Swordsman 2 as well. Ironically, what Hong Kong Digital's John Charles had to say about Swordsman 2 and Kung Fu Cult Master is completely opposite to how I feel on both counts... John on S2: "The action choreography in period fantasies is almost always exciting but the combat here features some of the most fluid and impressive wirework you will ever see and is an absolutely thrilling blend of mystical and traditional (i.e. earthbound) combat." John on KCFM: "The action scenes suffer from some jumbled, berserk editing which reduces the action choreography to a confusing barrage of soaring combatants and severed body parts." I'm on your side. I did not care for Swordsman II and think it's one of--if not *the*--most overrated MA/wuxia film of the 1990s. I like both Kung Fu Cult Master and Butterfly and Sword a lot. Similarly, I had watch both of them 3 or 4 times before I could make total sense of the plot. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DrNgor Posted February 13, 2023 Member Share Posted February 13, 2023 Well, here are my official thoughts on the film: https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2023/02/buttefly-and-sword-1993.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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