Reviewed by: STSH Date: 01/28/2007 Summary: A blast I'm a sucker for this sort of film. Sword-fighting flying people frequently changing alliances, highly confusing plot whipped along at a cracking pace, big trouble working out who is who. The group of us who watched this were always arguing over what just happened and frequently rewound the tape to check (which usually didn't help !). You know a movie is confusing where there's trouble differentiating the delicious ChingMy Yau (even in thin disguise) from the actress playing her sister (or was it cousin ?). Don't even bother. Just sit back and gawk as the colour and manic movement whizz past. OVERALL : Not in the same class as, for instance, Chinese Ghost Story, but still great fun. Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: j.crawford Date: 07/15/2005 Summary: a light hearted, yet furious, fantasy fu film 1993 was a very good year for producer/director Wong Jing. Legend of the Liquid Sword is the first of four kung fu fantasy films made by Wong that year. Released in March, this is the first part of a trilogy that continues with Holy Weapon in June and concludes with Kung Fu Cult Master in December. The fourth film, released in April, is Last Hero in China starring Jet Li with action directed by Yuen Woo Ping. Legend Of the Liquid Sword is a light hearted, yet furious, fantasy fu film filled with flying people and strange imagery. Aaron Kwok plays Chu, a top swordsman, who is pitted against another top swordsman named Flowerless. Played by Chingmy Yau who was Wong Jing's girlfriend at the time, Ms. Yau also plays the role of Night Bloom, who is Flowerless' sister. Of course, Chu and Night Bloom/Flowerless fall in love while trying to defeat the evil, bloodsucking Batman [I'm not making this up!] who has stolen the Sacred Water from Jellyfish, the Master of Water, played by Sharla Cheung Man. The Sacred Water is the liquid sword of the title, a special effect which is something like silver paint that explodes after being thrown or splashed on an enemy. The martial arts segments, shot on a grand scale, are amazing. The sequence where Chu and his 3 sisters meet Flowerless for the first time is a visual tour-de-force. This film also has equal parts of that trademark Wong Jing humor about love and sex. The problem is two-fold. First, the humor doesn't translate well to the subtitles. Second, much of the comedy involves actress's who have horrible, shrill voices. I think that's supposed to be the funny part but it wears this viewer down. Look for Lee Siu Kei in a small role as a nasty guy with an eye patch in the brothel scene. Legend of the Liquid Sword has an abrupt and ambiguous ending, a precursor to the controversial ending of Kung Fu Cult Master. The final scene leaves open the chance of a sequel continuing the saga of Chu and his lover. This is the weakest of the trilogy for me. Move on to Holy Weapon. copyright 2000 J. Crawford Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: leh Date: 12/09/1999 Another swords-magic-and-comedy movie, but better than most.Worth a look.

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 In order the prove that he is the best swordsman around, a young man named Fragrant Chu (Aaron Kwok) and his three sisters (Gloria Yip, Anita Yuen, Winnie Lau) are going to a martial-arts tournament where Fragrant's goal will be to defeat Flowerless. This later is known to be the most experimented and lethal swordsman in China. But on his way to the competition, Fragrant will prematurely meet the famous swordsman and, in their way to the tournament, they will challenge themselves in several friendly duels. But after a while, Flowerless who is in fact a woman (Chingmy Yau), will reveal herself as a very good ally for Chu and her sisters. Together they will have to face several dangers during their journey, among them is the blood sucking Bat man who is ready to do anything to rule over the world of martial-arts. Like I said in the synopsis, I was too frustrated to watch the entire film so I did plenty of "fast forwarding" during the last hour. The main problem I had with this flick was that there was too many idiotic, crappy and stupid humorous set pieces which were constantly ruining some good action scenes (In case you didn't know, this is one of Wong Jing's unfamous trademark). From what I saw, the plot was alright although I though it was really insulting to know that we were suppose to believe that Flowerless was a man until she reveal herself (Anyone who know what Chingmy Yau look like will understand what I mean). Some of the fights were inventive but the acting was uneven (Both Gloria Yip and Chingmy Yau are very cute but their acting abilities are limited). Its still woth to be seen for the fights sequences, but be sure to have a remote control close by. To bad because in better hands it would have been an amazing film. [Reviewed by Martin Sauvageau]

Reviewed by: spinali Date: 12/08/1999 Summary: NULL Explosions, spark-storms, unprecedented quantities of flying fu, fast-motion fighting, and cute martial arts babes are the main attractions here, the tale of martial arts master whose sorcery includes a "liquid sword," a poison turns its victims to living human grenades. The weapon is being used for the usual reasons -- settling old vows of vengeance, and gaining primacy in the world of martial arts. Fragrant Chu (Aaron Kwok) has fallen for Flowerless (Chingmy Yau), an alluring Buddhist priestess cum kung-fu master, and they unite to end the reign of terror enforced by her brother, the current controller of the Liquid Sword who flies around in a Chinese Batman costume. In one of the more amusing bits, a Jesus figure drops from the sky on a cross to fight the enemy with "Jesus Punches." With the assistance of Cheung Man's court, they eliminate the bad guys, though Chingmy Yau will have to wait for a part two to regain her powers. (2.5/4) [Reviewed by Steve Spinali] Reviewer Score: 6