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Several decades after the goings-on of Swordsman
II:
All over China, cults devoted to Asia have sprung which committ
atrocities in her name - so General Koo (Yu Rongguang) has set out to find
the real Asia (Brigitte Lin), who now lives the life of a hermit, to put
an end to all the bloodshed. Asia lets herself be persuaded and even
promises Koo that she will refrain from killing ... but even when she
meets the first Asia cult, she forgets her promise and turns a cult
ceremony into a bloodbath. Appalled, Koo parts ways with Asia ...
Soon enough, Koo finds himself prisoner of the Sun-Moon Cult, which is
led by Snow (the wonderful Joey Wong) in Asia's place, as Snow was
formerly a lover of Asia who only awaits her return to hand over command
of the cult. Returning asia does, but by now she is so blinded by hate
that she tries to kill Snow, ony for leading the cult in her way. It's
only thanks to Koo that Snow gets away, but the encounter with Asia has
left both of them heavily wounded, and only with luck they can make it to
general Teng's fort, where Koo gradually discovers his love for Snow, but
she only longs for Asia.
Asia meanwhile makes her (bloody) way through the countryside,
eventually finding new headquarters in a brothel, and eventually forming
an alliance with general Chong, a dwarf in impressive armour who commands
a submarine (centuries before the first submarines were actually built).
Eventually, Koo realizes the only way to beat Asia is to become just as
ruthless as her, and eventually he does, killing both General Teng,
for wanting to get into Snow's panties, and his trusted sidekick
Teng (Eddy Ko), for critisizing him. But he is still humane enough to send
Snow away before his final confrontation with Asia.
The final battle takes place on the sea, with Koo commandeering a boat
versus Asia's submarine, and it involves everything the heart of a fan of
off-beat fights could desire: characters throwing ships at each other,
using oversized cannons as handheld weaponry, flying to and fro using ship
sails and the like.
In the end, Koo is blown up on his ship and Asia wins the fight ... but
does she ? Despite her better knowledge, Snow has come to observe the
fight, and was killed as a collateral damage ... which breaks Asia's
heart, as she has just discovered she has human feelings after all ...
In style, Swordsman III is a direct continuation of Swordsman
II, even if the two films share only one character and their
stories are not necessarily linked. But what makes the film, rather than
its (rather weak) story is its over-the-top approach to the
fantasy/martial arts genre. The laws of nature (like the law of gravity)
do not necessarily apply to the film's many outrageous setpieces, the many
fightscenes are so off-beat they will leave your mouth agape, and crazy
ideas like the wooden submarine are just the icing of the cake.
In all, Swordsman III is not a great film, but due to its
out-of-this-world ideas and sequences, it's still immensely enjoyable.
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eThaiCD.com
find Swordsman III: East is Red at adultvideouniverse.com
