The Swordsman Trilogy: Hong Kong Cinema Classics – Shout! Factory (UHD/Blu-ray Combo)
Theatrical Release Dates: Hong Kong, 1990 (Swordsman), Hong Kong, 1992 (Swordsman II), Hong Kong, 1993 (Swordsman III: The East Is Red)
Directors: King Hu (Swordsman), Ching Siu-tung (Swordsman, Swordsman II, Swordsman III: The East Is Red), Tsui Hark (Swordsman), Raymond Lee (Swordsman, Swordsman III: The East Is Red)
Cast: Samuel Hui, Cecilia Yip, Jacky Cheung, Sharla Cheung, Fennie Yuen, Lau Siu-ming (Swordsman), Jet Li, Brigitte Lin, Rosamund Kwan, Michelle Reis, Waise Lee, Fennie Yuen (Swordsman II), Brigitte Lin, Joey Wong, Yu Rongguang, Wang Ching-ying, Eddy Ko, Lau Shun, Kingdom Yuen, Lam Ching-ying, Lee Ka-ding (Swordsman III: The East Is Red)
Release Date: March 3rd, 2026
Approximate Running Times: 117 Minutes 46 Seconds (Swordsman), 108 Minutes 48 Seconds (Swordsman II), 97 Minute 26 Seconds (Swordsman III: The East Is Red)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10 Dolby Vision (Swordsman), 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Cantonese (All Films), DTS-HD Mono English (Swordsman, Swordsman II)
Subtitles: English (All Films), English SDH (Swordsman, Swordsman II)
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $64.99
Swordsman: "A kung fu manual known as the sacred scroll is stolen from the Emperor's library. An army detachment is sent to recover it. Meanwhile, a young swordsman and his fellow disciple are accidentally drawn into the chaos." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Swordsman II: "Ling Wu Chung (Jet Li) decides to hide from the chaotic world. Before leaving, he visits his friends, a tribe of snake-wielding women warriors. However, he finds that the tribe have been attacked, and their leader Yam Ying Ying, has been abducted." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Swordsman III: The East is Red: "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. As Invincible Asia seeks to destroy all they deem "imposters," the Portuguese sailors, a mysterious Japanese warlord, and others search for them in turn." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Video: 5/5 (Swordsman - 4K UHD), 4.5/5 (Swordsman - Blu-ray), 4/5 (Swordsman II, Swordsman III: The East Is Red)
Here’s the information provided about Swordsman's transfer, "4K Scan from the Original Camera Negative."
Swordsman comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.
Disc Size: 78.1 GB
Feature: 77.8 GB
This is a solid restoration; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.
Swordsman comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 45.7 GB
Feature: 32.3 GB
This Blu-ray uses the same master that is used for the 4K UHD disc.
Here’s the information provided about Swordsman II and Swordsman III: The East is Red transfers, "1080p high definition widescreen (1.85:1)."
Swordsman II comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 32.2 GB
Feature: 29.9 GB
Swordsman III: The East is Red comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 29 GB
Feature: 25.4 GB
Although the sources look better than these two films' previous home media releases, there is still room for improvement. That said, flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, and there are no issues with compression.
Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Cantonese), 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)
Swordsman and Swordsman II come with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono Cantonese and a DTS-HD mono English. Subtitle options include non-removable English subtitles for the Cantonese language track, non-removable English SDH for the English language track, and non-removable English subtitles for Cantonese text displayed during the English language track. Swordsman III: The East Is Red comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles. All of the tracks are in excellent shape; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and action sequences sound appropriately robust.
Extras:
Extras on Swordsman’s blu-ray include a theatrical trailer (5 minutes 22 seconds, DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), an interview with author Grady Hendrix titled Hong Kong Confidential: Inside Wuxia (18 minutes 1 second, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with general manager/executive producer Terence Chang titled Hark's Dynasty: The Early Years of Film Workshop (11 minutes 1 second, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), a career retrospective with editor David Wu titled David Wu: Proud Wanderer (14 minutes 52 seconds, DTS-HD stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Fennie Yuen titled Cult of Personality (6 minutes 49 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles), and an interview with co-director Raymond Lee titled A Time of Legends (10 minutes 36 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles).
Extras for Swordsman II include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 52 seconds, DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles) and an interview with actress Fennie Yuen titled Phoenix Rising (6 minutes 39 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles).
Extras for Swordsman III: The East Is Red include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 46 seconds, DTS-HD mono Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles) and an interview with Raymond Lee titled A Return to Wuxia (11 minutes 13 seconds, DTS-HD stereo Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles).
Summary:
There are two constants throughout the Swordsman trilogy: director Ching Siu-tung (Duel to the Death) and producer Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues). Besides Ching Siu-tung, there were three other filmmakers who are credited as directors: King Hu (Come Drink with Me) and Tsui Hark contributed to Swordsman, while Raymond Lee (Dragon Inn) contributed to Swordsman and Swordsman III: The East Is Red. Although Ching Siu-tung and producer Tsui Hark are the only two who worked on all three films, it is the latter whose creative imprint can be felt throughout.
Swordsman: A kung fu manual known as the Sacred Scroll is stolen from the emperor's library and an army detachment is sent to recover it. Besides the emperor's men, there are others who seek to obtain the manual, which accidentally ends up in the hands of Ling-wu Chung, a gifted young martial artist.
Swordsman II: Ling-wu Chung is drawn back into the fold when a princess is abducted after withdrawing from the martial world.
Swordsman III: The East Is Red: A martial artist who's obtained supernatural powers comes out of hiding to eliminate all of those who have been impersonating them, as these impersonators threaten the balance of power in the martial world and endanger innocent lives.
Swordsman is an adaptation of Jin Yong's novel The Smiling Proud Wanderer, while its predecessors are loose adaptations of said novel, which mostly use characters from it. Swordsman and the two films that followed it are credited with reviving the wuxia film, a genre that is Hong Kong’s most resilient. King Hu, the original director of Swordsman, is a key figure in the evolution of the wuxia film, making his hiring an obvious choice. That said, it is unfortunate that he left the film midway, since the end result lacks his spirit.
Although there is a linear thread that connects each film to the next, besides directors, there were many cast changes throughout the series. The first two films were centered on Ling-wu Chung and have a stronger connection to Jin Yong's novel, while Dongfang Bubai, aka Invincible Dawn, the protagonist of Swordsman III: The East Is Red, is a minor character in the novel. That said, Invincible Dawn is an interesting character who castrates himself, a prerequisite for studying the Sunflower manual. Where the source novel clearly portrays Dongfang Bubai as a man, in Swordsman II they evolve from a man into a woman through their studying of the Sunflower manual.
Throughout the trilogy, each film was able to draw significant names of Hong Kong cinema, like Jacky Cheung (Bullet in the Head), Sharla Cheung (God of Gamblers), Jet Li (Tai Chi Master), Brigitte Lin (The Bride with White Hair), Rosamund Kwan (Once Upon a Time in China), Michelle Reis (Fallen Angels), Joey Wong (My Heart Is That Eternal Rose), Yu Rongguang (Iron Monkey) and Lam Ching-ying (Mr. Vampire). All around, the cast are excellent in their roles, especially Brigitte Lin’s portrayal of the androgynous Invincible Dawn.
While each film has a strong story that quickly draws you in and holds your attention, the main draw of these three films is their exemplary swordplay and impressive stunt work. There are an abundance of elaborate action set pieces, and each film saves its best for its finales. While Swordsman takes on a serious tone, its two predecessors are very effective when it comes to throwing humor into the mix. There are no issues with pacing or building momentum as each film perfectly balances exposition and action set pieces.
Out of these three films, Swordsman II is the most recognizable because it stars Jet Li, while Swordsman is often regarded as the strongest narrative of the three, which is not surprising since it is the film that remains closest to the source novel. Some may say Swordsman III: The East Red is the odd film among the three; in my opinion, it is the most entertaining of the trio. That said, when considered as a whole, each film offers something uniquely distinct.
The Swordsman Trilogy gets a solid release from Shout Factory that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras. Highly recommended.
Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.
Blu-ray Screenshots.
