Swordsman (1990)
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In the 16th century in Chosun dynasty, HWANG Jung-hak and LEE Mong-hak create the âGrand Allianceâ with the united dream of a better world. While the new leader LEE dreams of eradicating this world of all its corruption and becoming king himself, the legendary blind swordsman HWANG who had once been his comrade goes after him with the loss of his good friend at the hands of LEE. Just as the king abandoned his kingdom from Japanese invasion, the two come face-to-face inside the empty palace and begin their last battle they were destined to fight.
Lei Li lost his right-arm in a sword duel with the master of a martial arts school, long ago. Now, he is able to defend himself well with just his left arm, and kung fu techniques. That he proves with just the help of his friend Chung-Chieng, when he crosses his path with a beautiful girl in need, Pao Chiao. Even against impossible odds, he will prove a great warrior.
The famous showdown at Kagiya corner has been told many times, but never before with the realism and intensity of this version scripted by Kurosawa Akira and starring Mifune Toshiro as the famed swordsman who must face his best friend as they are forced to take opposite sides in a vendetta caused by the murder of a family member. Told mostly in flashback as the avengers await the arrival of their quarry, this film displays true heroism in the face of fear as most of the combatants, while of the samurai class are not skilled swordsmen. They contrast sharply with the true warriors involved in this battle. Araki Mataemon (Mifune), who was not only a direct student of Yagyu Munenori, but the founder of his own sword style under the Yagyu name is a powerful force ready to assist his brother-in-law against the murderer's allies that include not only another noted sword teacher, but the deadly spear of Katsumi no Hanbei.
Kanichiro Yoshimura is a Samurai and Family man who can no longer support his wife and children on the the low pay he receives from his small town clan, he is forced by the love for his family to leave for the city in search of higher pay to support them.
A humble and simple Takezo abandons his life as a knight errant. He's sought as a teacher and vassal by Shogun, Japan's most powerful clan leader. He's also challenged to fight by the supremely confident and skilful Sasaki Kojiro. Takezo agrees to fight Kojiro in a year's time but rejects Shogun's patronage, choosing instead to live on the edge of a village, raising vegetables. He's followed there by Otsu and later by Akemi, both in love with him. The year ends as Takezo assists the villagers against a band of brigands. He seeks Otsu's forgiveness and accepts her love, then sets off across the water to Ganryu Island for his final contest.
Ichi is a blind entertainer that travels the countryside with her traditional Japanese guitar and walking stick. Sheâs in search for the kind man that brought her up as a child, but because of her beauty she encounters problems every step of the way. Fortunately for Ichi, she is also a gifted swordswoman and carries a lethal blade within her walking stick.
A royal official accompanies a Portuguese warship to the Black Cliffs to see the site of the defeat of the evil Invincible Asia, who attained supernatural abilities by following the sacred scroll and castrating himself.
Due to his own extreme ideals, famed swordsman Li has lost everyone dear to him. After his life is saved by a rival swordsman, Li's overwhelming pride means he forsakes the woman he loves and lets her marry his saviour. Li's only comfort is alcohol and the simple life he has now accepted. On one such journey, the lonely swordsman befriends the exceptionally skilled, yet secretive Fei who has his own pressures to contend with. The person behind Li's troubles proves to be elusive, though all the clues seem to point to the legendary 'Plum Blossom Bandit', a disguised figure whose identity has long proved elusive to the martial world.
Blind swordsman/masseuse Zatoichi befriends a young woman returning home with her baby. When gangsters mistake her for Zatoichi and kill her, Zatoichi determines to escort the baby to its father. He gains the reluctant help of a young pick pocket and together they travel to find the baby's father. But they do not reckon on the father's reaction to their arrival, nor on their own growing feelings for the child.
In this thrilling martial arts twist on the tale of Robin Hood, a charismatic highwayman (Death Duel and Shaolin Temple's David Chiang) with formidable sword skills decides to help the poor by robbing from thieves and distributing the wealth. This plan doesn't sit well with the criminals, who band together to stop him. Fortunately, our hero has a powerful blade on his side, not to mention popular beauty Lily Li (Black Magic) at his side. A high-spirited blend of action, romance, and comedy, this Shaw Brothers classic from fearless director Chang Cheh (Five Deadly Venoms) is a timeless example of pure high-voltage entertainment.
The adventures of a blind, gambling masseur and master swordsman. Zatoichi targets a yakuza-controlled village, because war with a neighbouring town's smaller gang is brewing.
Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Goshaâs Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogunâs gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.
Blind masseur and master swordsman Zatoichi finds a robbed and fatally wounded pregnant woman, whose baby he delivers before she dies. He takes the baby in search of its father and finds the child's aunt, who is about to be forced into prostitution for want of a payment the dead mother was bringing. Zatoichi determines to save the woman from her cruel fate.
As two rival clans vie for dominance in a martial world where loyalty and honor can be bought and friends become enemies, a peerless swordsman (Chung Wa) discovers that the only thing truly worth fighting for is love.
Blind swordsman Zatoichi, jailed briefly, is implored by another prisoner to aid him in proving his innocence of a crime for which he is sentenced to death. Zatoichi is reluctant to get involved, because he knows how often such involvement has led to trouble in the past. But events conspire to thrust him repeatedly into involvement, and gradually he comes to believe in the man's innocence and determines to free him.
Zatoichi, the famed blind swordsman, returns to his home village for the first time in many years. He is befriended by Omiyo, who had the same wet-nurse as Zatoichi. He also encounters a boyhood friend, Shinbei, who now is wealthy and appears not to remember Zatoichi. Shinbei seems to be interested in repaying the villagers' debts, but is in reality manipulating the ownership of a now-valuable rock quarry. Zatoichi learns of the subterfuge and confronts his old friend, who has a score of yakuza swordsmen backing his play.
A noble swordsman and a one-armed swordswoman go up against the vicious Crimson Charm gang of thieves and cutthroats. The lovely and lethal Ivy Ling Po teams with the amazing Chang I for a classic tale of good versus evil in which the best man and one-armed woman wins.
Through his unconscionable actions against others, a sociopath samurai builds a trail of vendettas that follow him closely.
As a valiant Chinese general and his men battle Tartar invaders, patriot swordsmen attempt to stop the delivery of 12 medallions sent by a traitor that could spell the doom of the Sung Dynasty. When a powerful kung fu master assumes responsibility for the deliveries, his daughter and a former student turn against him in order to save China.
The Medieval and Renaissance blade, a profound and beautiful object handcrafted by master artisans of old. An object of great complexity, yet one with a singular use in mind- it is designed to kill. The truth of the sword has been shrouded in antiquity, and the Renaissance martial arts that brought it to being are long forgotten. The ancient practitioners lent us all they knew through their manuscripts. As gunslingers of the Renaissance they were western heroes with swords, and they lived and died by them. Yet today their history remains cloaked under a shadow of legend.
The hectic adventures of D'Artagnan, a young provincial noble who just comes to Paris to enter the musketeers. He will meet action, love, hate, the king and the queen as his impetuousness gets him involved in political plots... and of course virile and indestructible friendship with the three musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis. Written by Yepok
The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawaâs visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade twice, by Sergio Leone and Walter Hill, this exhilarating genre-twister remains one of the most influential and entertaining films of all time.
Carl Hamilton manage to infiltrate an international gang that had stolen advanced Swedish GPS-guided missile. But the league is subjected to a sudden deadly attack by a väldrillad group of mercenaries of unknown clients. Hamilton escapes the massacre, but the rockets are disappeared without a trace.
Zatoichi makes friends with a dangerous chess player, while fending off angry yakuza and bloodthirsty relatives out for revenge, and trying to save a sick child. Meanwhile, his luck with dice is turning.
Edmund Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac, transplanted to Japan. A poet-warrior with an oversized nose (matched only by his great heart) loves a lady. But she sees him only as a friend, so he helps another man to woo her by giving him the poetry of his own heart.
Oichi the Blind helps a woman escape the clutches of a high government official to go off with the man she loves. The official puts a reward on her head of fifty gold pieces and soon a menagerie of bounty hunters are after her skin. Three of them band together to accomplish this, one an expert swordsman, another a huge judo master and the third is deadly with a chain. To escape, she heads for the fishing town of Itso but soon comes face to face with Sankuro, the swordsman...
Following "Clans Of Intrigue"'s success, director Chu Yuan, novelist Ku Lung, and superstar Ti Lung re-teamed for another adventure featuring sexy knight Chu Liu-Hsiang. This time, he travels to the mysterious Island Of The Bats, where he encounters treacherous monks, beautiful women, and a strange Prince. The movie is also a significant milestone in the amount of female flesh revealed on screen, proving that Shaw movies can balance the yin of cheesecake with the yang of beefcake.
Kao has purchased a new wife, but an enemy has paid her more money to kill him. Kao must recruit a pair of swordsmen to help defend himself and his family from his ruthless enemy. But Kao has his dark side as well. A complex early action film from master director Woo.
Zatoichi is a blind massage therapist and swordsman who finds out that something troubling is taking place on the outskirts of town. After discovering who the guilty parties are -- an accomplished Chinese martial artist named Wang Kang and his youthful attendant -- Zatoichi finds them and discovers that the pair's mixed up with a dangerous bunch of terrorist samurai who murdered the boy's parents. Now, Zatoichi must step in to save the day.
The sensitive swordsman Cho Yi-Hang is tired of his life. He is the unwilling successor to the Wu-Tang clan throne and the unsure commander of the clan's forces in a war against foreign tribes and an evil cult. One day, he meets the beautiful Lien, a killer for the evil cult who is equally unsatisfied with her situation, but their love angers both the Wu-Tang clan and the evil cult.
The film is set in five parts, five seasons that are part of the Chinese almanac. The story takes place in the jianghu, the world of the martial arts. Ouyang Feng has lived in the western desert for some years. He left his home in White Camel Mountain when the woman he loved chose to marry his elder brother rather than him. Instead of seeking glory, he ends up as an agent. When people come to him with a wish to eliminate someone who has wronged them, he puts them in touch with a swordsman who can do the job.
Zatôichi is a 19th century blind nomad who makes his living as a gambler and masseur. However, behind this humble facade, he is a master swordsman gifted with a lightning-fast draw and breathtaking precision. While wandering, Zatôichi discovers a remote mountain village at the mercy of Ginzo, a ruthless gang-leader. Ginzo disposes of anyone who gets in his way, especially after hiring the mighty samurai ronin, Hattori, as a bodyguard. After a raucous night of gambling in town, Zatôichi encounters a pair of geishas--as dangerous as they are beautiful--who've come to avenge their parents' murder. As the paths of these and other colorful characters intertwine, Ginzo's henchmen are soon after Zatôichi. With his legendary cane sword at his side, the stage is set for a riveting showdown.
After years on the road establishing his reputation as Japan's greatest fencer, Takezo returns to Kyoto. Otsu waits for him, yet he has come not for her but to challenge the leader of the region's finest school of fencing. To prove his valor and skill, he walks deliberately into ambushes set up by the school's followers. While Otsu waits, Akemi also seeks him, expressing her desires directly. Meanwhile, Takezo is observed by Sasaki Kojiro, a brilliant young fighter, confident he can dethrone Takezo. After leaving Kyoto in triumph, Takezo declares his love for Otsu, but in a way that dishonors her and shames him. Once again, he leaves alone.
In the year of 2039, after World Wars destroy much of the civilization as we know it, territories are no longer run by governments, but by corporations; the mightiest of which is the Mishima Zaibatsu. In order to placate the seething masses of this dystopia, Mishima sponsors Tekken, a tournament in which fighters battle until only one is left standing.
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
The year is 1919. German troops retreat from Ukraine. The Directory, the Ukrainian national government lead by Symon Petliura, takes control of Kyiv. Meanwhile, the Bolshevik division commanded by Mykola Shchors is marching on the capital. The Bolsheviks capture the cities of Vinnytsia, Zhmerynka, and others one by one, but lose Berdychiv to Petliuraâs forces. They are demoralized by the defeat. By his personal example of courage and military skill, Shchors inspires the retreating Red troops and leads them to victory over the enemy.
José Ferrer won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portayal of the swordsman-poet using his silver tongue to woo the woman he loves for another man. Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play is a fictionalization of his life that follows the broad outlines of it. The entire play is written in verse, in rhyming couplets of twelve syllables per line, very close to the Alexandrine format, but the verses sometimes lack a caesura. It is also meticulously researched, down to the names of the members of the Académie française and the dames précieuses glimpsed before the performance in the first scene. The play has been translated and performed many times, and is responsible for introducing the word "panache" into the English language.
Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.
A 17th century Hungarian countess embarks on a murderous undertaking, with the belief that bathing in the blood of virgins will preserve her beauty.
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering around a handsome young samurai named Sozaburo Kano. The school's stern master can choose to intervene, or to let Kano decide his own path.
Shiro Amasuka, dead leader of the Shimbara Revolt is resurrected from hell with the desire of overthrowing the shogunate for killing his companions. To do this , he resurrects an army od living dead swordsmen. Between him and his goal, only Yagyu Jubei stands.....
The notorious âOne-Armed Swordsmanâ who has spent the last two years retired from the martial world as a simple farmer with his wife. Of course this idyllic life is about to be sliced to ribbons by Changâs wicked imagination. He concocts a savory setup when he introduces, not one, but eight unique villains known as the Eight Kings of Swords and their sword-wielding entourage for Wang Yu to eventually chop his way through.
A tale of revenge, honor and greed follows a group of misfits that gets involved with a kitchen cleaver made from the top five swords of the martial arts world in this wild and brash action comedy.
Traveling swordsman Shen Sheng-yi (Ti Lung) and his lady friend match wits and swords with the last surviving member of the once great Murung family who is determined to rule the martial world by stealing plans to crafting firearms.
Returning to the village where a year before he had killed Hirate, a much-admired opponent, Zatoichi encounters another swordsman and former rival in love: his own brother. He must face in combat not only the pursuing retainers but his own flesh-and-blood.
Yun Fei Yang is the viciously bullied orphan who takes on the unpleasant tasks at a formidable kung-fu school. Constantly mocked by the other students of the school, Yen counts as his only friend the daughter of the resident master. Any internal wrangling between the various members is put to one side when a swordsman from a rival clan reminds the master of the duel he must take part in once a decade. Unfortunately the defending clan chief is well aware that his rival is more powerful than himself. The expected defeat is further complicated when a wandering swordsman arrives on the scene and joins himself to the injured party, immediately adding to Yen's woes.
Chu Liu-hsiang, the charming, capable, and, yes, sentimental, swordsman is back in action for this extremely well-named third in the hit box-office series. The titanic team of director Chu Yuan and novelist Ku Lung wisely choose to give their hero a whole new, non-stop, cliffhanger-fraught adventure featuring a mystery swordsman, a sensual swordswoman, an imperial assassin, a Ghost Mansion, the Bat Island, a booby-trapped tunnel, double crosses, and secret missions. And there are no fewer than three martial arts choreographers on hand to guide the amazing mayhem.
A rampaging swordsman slices and dices his way across China on a bloody mission to cut down every warrior in his way, and claim the blade of the legendary Supreme Swordsman in this Shaw Brothers classic starring Derek Yee and Jason Pai Piao, and directed by Keith Li Baak Ling. But when the son of a slain sword maker emerges as an unexpected challenger, the ruthless killer realizes that he may have finally met his match.
An evil gang attacks the Chi school of Golden Sword Kung Fu. One student sacrifices his life to save his teacher and his school, his dying wish is that his son be taken in as a student. Young Fang Kang grows up in the school and treasures his father's broken sword and the memory of his father's sacrifice. The other students (including the teacher's daughter) resent him and try to drive him away. The teacher's daughter challenges him to a fight and when he refuses she becomes enraged and recklessly chops off his arm! He retreats, broken and bloody, and is found by a young poor girl living alone who nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, the evil gang who originally attacked the Golden Sword school develops a weapon that renders the Golden Sword useless and starts killing off all of the schools students. Fang Kang eventually recovers with the girl's help but must now face a life with only one arm. Will he be able to recover and live to defend the school as his father did?
Lone swordsman Jiang Dan-Feng (Wong Chung-Shun) is ambushed by a pair of bandits and quickly despatches them. One of them, as he is dying, asks Jiang to take his personal effects to his sister. This being a Wuxia film, our hero is bound by a strict code of honour, and he agrees. The banditâs sister, Xiu Xiu (Shu Pei-Pei), is surprisingly forgiving and tells him that he got mixed up in a bad crowd of robbers before he died. As it happens, these self-same bandits are threatening to tear up the village at any moment, and Jiang prepares to defend it despite being despised by the town folk for killing Xiu Xiuâs brother.
Jet Li plays Ling, a student from the Blue Mountain school of martial arts, who, along with fellow students and Kiddo, find themselves embroiled in a country-wide political/clan war with the Highlander clan in the forefront of the battle.
Golden Swallow revolves around the further adventures of its title character. This time around, she is forced into violence when a figure from her mysterious past goes on a killing rampage while leaving evidence that holds her responsible. Golden Swallow also makes room for a love triangle involving a mad, but righteous, swordsman named Silver Roc and a gentle warrior named Golden Whip. The three team up to conquer the evil forces of the martial world, but their joint venture only lasts so long, due to the two men's egos. Ultimately, a duel to the death is planned between them, leaving Golden Swallow caught between two men, both of whom she admires.
Dutch colonial army in West Java holds a martial arts tournament to select the best warrior to confront local warrior-freedom fighter Parmin (nicknamed Jaka Sembung). The winner is an obscure blind swordsman and the Dutch commander De Mandes (Gino Makasutji) commissions him. However, the swordsman is sympathetic with Jaka Sembung's cause and things get more complicated when magician seductress Dewi Magi as well as her guru (W. D. Mochtar) intervene on behalf of the Dutch.
The swordsman Zhang Zhen is injured in a misadventure and rescued by Eldest Sister of Changchun Sect, who has a crush on him. However, Zhang falls in love with the maid Yuenu instead, and conceives twins with her. The couple are killed by a group of evil pugilists later. The Eldest Sister is angry with Zhang Zhen for not accepting her and plans to make Zhang's children kill each other as revenge. The baby girl (Xiaolu'er) is saved by Zhang's friend, Lian Lanyan, while the male infant (Hua Yuchun) is taken away by the Eldest Sister. Lian Lanyan encounters the Ten Villains when he passes through Villains' Valley. He is overwhelmed by them and knocked out in a fight. The baby Xiaolu'er is taken away by the Villains, who surprisingly do not harm her, and instead intend to groom her to become the greatest villain ever. Eighteen years later, the twins meet each other by coincidence.
Ti Lung is the Nameless Swordsman bent on defeating the faceless King of Swords to claim the title, and the glory, for himself. Hordes of fighters lunge from the shadows to cut down the mysterious challenger. Even a cunning seductress takes a stab at him in a revealing bath house assassination. It is said that a man's weapon reflects his utmost dreams, desires and fears. A warrior with no name and one motive has a soul as merciless as cold steel.
A duel between two master swordsmen for the hand of a beautiful young maiden leads to a 20-year-old grudge that proves deadly. One of the swordsmenâs, Pai Fukuoâs, son is kidnapped and raised by the rival swordsman, who tell him his real parents were murdered by Pai Fukuo. The child grows up and seeks revenge on Pai Fukuo, whom he believes has murdered his ârealâ parents, not knowing that Pai Fukuo is his true father. A modern swordplay reinterpretation of the Wang Yu classic One-Armed Swordsman.
The ever versatile Kazuki Kitamura stars as masterless samurai Kyutaro Madarame, a feared swordsman who has fallen on hard times in old Edo. Caught between two warring gangs in an epic battle of cat lovers and dog lovers, he begrudgingly accepts the canine faction's offer to assassinate the opposite leader's beloved pet: an adorable white cat. Yet upon raising his lethal sword, he cannot bring himself to go through with the act, and the cat melts his ronin heart. But before finding peace as a newly minted cat person, the still fearsome Madarame will have to take on both gangs in a classic samurai street brawl.
The star in Mad Mad Mad swords is a common man with numerous weaknesses and a complete worthless student of a prestigious school. To the suprise of all, however, he manages to defeat a string of renowned swordsmen, including the one-armed swordsman and the blind swordsman, by tricks and luck.
Ying Ke-Feng, head of Peerless Manor, is an expert swordsman whose escort business transports 200,000 taels of silver to the capital each year. This year, however, he is afflicted with an infirmity that renders him unable to use his sword. Rather than give up this important commission and let the martial world know of his precarious health he means to entrust the consignment to two young knights in his manor, Hsiang Ting and Yun Piao-Piao. As it happens, these two are also betrothed; clearly they have their swordsmanship in common. At Peerless Manor, everyone is suspicious of malevolent strangers who may be sniffing around the silver transport. So when Le I appears astride a high-quality charger but otherwise clearly down on his luck, Hsiang Ting thinks Le I may be a spy for the bad guys in the Flying Tiger Manor. It doesn't help that Le I and Yun Piao-Piao hit it off right away. Even or especially when Le I saves Yun Piao-Piao from a Flying Tiger thug.
This film focuses on Okatsu; the adopted daughter of a master swordsman. She is a master with a sword herself and her talents far overshadow that of her brother, and real child of the man who adopted her. Her brother unfortunately has a gambling habit, and it plunges the family into trouble when he loses a lot of money in a crooked dice game. After releasing he is unable to pay the debt he owes; the blame is shouldered by the father, who is killed, leading Okatsu on a path of revenge.
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