Set in the Ming dynasty, the plot follows Ling Wu-chung (Li), a swordsman from the Wah Mountain school, who travels the Chinese countryside with his female sidekick Kiddo (Reid) who secretly loves him. Caught in the war between the invading Japanese and the Sun Moon Sect, they discover that Master Asia (Lin), the evil Sun Moon leader, has located the Sacred Scroll, which has transformed him into a woman while allowing him a near invincible array of magical powers. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
Linghu Chong, Yue Lingshan and members of the Mount Hua School are planning to retire from the jianghu (martial artists' community). They learn that Dongfang Bubai has seized control of the Sun Moon Holy Cult and is secretly plotting with some Japanese rōnin to rebel against the Ming Empire and dominate China. Dongfang Bubai had castrated himself in order to master the skills in the Sunflower Manual, and his appearance has become more feminine, even though he is now a formidable martial artist.
Linghu Chong meets Dongfang Bubai by chance without knowing his true identity, mistakes him for a beautiful young woman, and falls in love with "her". Dongfang Bubai knocks out Linghu Chong while he is not looking and imprisons him in an underground dungeon. In the dungeon, by coincidence, Linghu Chong meets Ren Woxing, Ren Yingying's father and the former leader of the Sun Moon Holy Cult. They escape from captivity together. One night, while Linghu Chong is distracted by Dongfang Bubai's lover Shishi, Dongfang tracks down his Mount Hua School fellows and kills them.
Linghu Chong brings Yue Lingshan, Ren Yingying, Ren Woxing and Xiang Wentian with him to confront Dongfang Bubai at Black Woods Cliff. In the ensuing battle, Dongfang Bubai apparently dies after refusing Linghu Chong's help and falling off the cliff. Ren Woxing regains control of the cult and starts killing the traitors who defected to Dongfang Bubai. Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan secretly escape with help from Xiang Wentian and Ren Yingying because they know that Ren Woxing cannot tolerate them.
The United States version has nine minutes of the original film cut and was released under the title Legend of the Swordsman. It is dubbed in English and retains the original music score.
The Hong Kong version is in Cantonese and it retains the nine minutes of extended footage and gory violence.
The Taiwanese version, which is dubbed in Mandarin, contains an additional four minutes of rare extended and gory footage that was removed in the United States and Hong Kong releases, bringing the total runtime to 112 minutes. It has some different music scores and features Jet Li's original voice. It has aired on Chinese Television System many times.
The original soundtrack album for the film, "Ching Hsia Lin/ Swordsman 2" (traditional Chinese: 東方不敗 － 林青霞 電影音樂紀實; simplified Chinese: 东方不败 －林青霞 电影音乐纪实; pinyin: Dōngfāng bù bài - línqīngxiá diànyǐng yīnyuè jìshí) was released by BMG Music Taiwan in 1992. It contains 20 tracks with 3 sound recordings at the scene.
Ending theme; Cantonese version (vocals by Rosanne Lui).
3
退隱
退隐
Tuìyǐn
Retirement
4
斷弦（粵語）
断弦（粤语）
Duànxián
Broken string
Cantonese version (vocals by 周小君).
5
"原來是你"
"原来是你"
Yuánlái shì nǐ
"It's you"
Sound recording at the scene.
6
伏擊
伏击
Fújí
Ambush
7
邂逅
邂逅
Xièhòu
Encounter
8
燒寶典
烧宝典
Shāo bǎodiǎn
Burning the scroll
9
濃情
浓情
Nóng qíng
Passion
10
天地醉（音樂版）
天地醉（音乐版）
Tiāndì zuì
Drunkenness of heaven and earth
11
"望青霞"
"望青霞"
Wàng qīng xiá
"Looking at Brigitte"
Sound recording at the scene.
12
天地醉（國語）
天地醉（国语）
Tiāndì zuì
Drunkenness of heaven and earth
Mandarin version performed by Brigitte Lin (not in the film).
13
告別
告别
Gàobié
Biding farewell
14
比劍
比剑
Bǐ jiàn
Sword match
15
只記今朝笑（國語）
只记今朝笑（国语）
Zhǐ jì jīnzhāo xiào
Only remember the smile today
Ending theme; Mandarin version performed by Brigitte Lin.
16
圍攻
围攻
Wéigōng
Laying siege
17
傾心
倾心
Qīngxīn
Admiration
18
曲諧
曲谐
Qū xié
Harmonic tune
19
斷弦（國語）
断弦（国语）
Duànxián
Broken string
Mandarin version
20
只記今朝笑（音樂版）
只记今朝笑（音乐版）
Zhǐ jì jīnzhāo xiào
Only remember the smile today
Music version
The theme song from The Swordsman, Chong Hoi Yat Sing Siu (traditional Chinese:滄海一聲笑; simplified Chinese:沧海一声笑; pinyin:Cānghǎi Yī Shēng Xiào; Jyutping:Cong1-hoi2 Jat1 Sing1 Siu3; lit.'A Sound of Laughter in the Vast Sea'), performed in Cantonese by Samuel Hui in the first film, was played in a few scenes in Swordsman II.
Reception
Critical reception
Brigitte Lin's performance was listed as one of the "Great Performances" by Richard Corliss under TIME magazine's "All-TIME 100 Movies".[3] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 71% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 6.79/10.[4]
Box office
The film grossed HK$34,462,861 at the Hong Kong box office and remains Jet Li's highest-grossing film in Hong Kong to date.
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