User Reviews

I own this movie on DVD, have watched it several times, and still wouldn't even attempt to give a more in depth plot summary than "There are political factions. They seem to want something. They kill lots of people."

Who knows what this flick is about.

But with the glorious Michelle Yeoh looking especially radiantly beautiful and ripping heads out at the root through the unadulterated power of her fabulous costumes, who cares? Add in the always charming, greatly lamented Tony Leung as her innocuous-secret-identity-guy brother, a plot would almost get in the way.

If you can embrace the sacrifice of story in favor of pure action and character development in favor of raw screen power, you will have a great time watching this movie.

Had Butterfly and Sword had anything even remotely resembling a comprehensible plot, I would have no hesitation in awarding it 9 out of 10. There is loads to enjoy in this totally bonkers Wuxia tale; the cast is great and the martial arts set-pieces are completely mad. Unfortunately, from start to finish, I had absolutely no idea who was who, what was happening or why.

However lousy at telling a story it may be, Butterfly and Sword succeeds magnificently in presenting some of the craziest action ever seen on screen. In true Wuxia fashion, every character has the ability to fly, spin acrobatically through the air during fights, and survive all manner of blows that would be fatal to you or I; however, the protagonists in this movie go even further—one guy is even able to launch himself like an arrow, blasting his way straight through the enemy.

The volume of cartoon-style gore on show is also pretty impressive. Loads of baddies get hacked, beheaded and generally mutilated during the fights and in the obligatory bamboo forest scene, pretty much all of the enemy end up impaled on bamboo stalks! If as much time and effort had been spent on the narrative as on the creative martial arts choreography, Butterfly and Sword would be an almost perfect piece of entertainment. As it is, I can't bring myself to give this any more than 6 out of 10.

Emphatically not for kids, "Butterfly and Sword" is a strange amalgam of brutal and unusually bloody kung-fu, and a complex love triangle... make that parallelogram. Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung, and Donnie Yen are at their best, and Joey Wong is, as always, nice to look at. This film is infamous for the abruptly truncated ending in the version that was distributed in Hong Kong and on HK DVDs. For the original, which includes the end of the film that is apparently too shocking for HK audiences, look for the Taiwanese version, called "Comet Butterfly Sword."

I brought this movie as a fan of Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen films. I was not disappointed. The choreography was reasonably good. The storyline was also good. Michelle Yeoh delivered an outstanding performance as usual. The comedy provided was also reasonable although not hysterically funny. I don't particularly enjoy seeing blood in films, this film provided enough of it (though not entirely realistic). I enjoy listening to Chinese songs, the theme tune at the end credits was well performed by Yeoh.

My only criticism(s) are that the director Ching Siu-Tung could have taken care with the use of camera angles; the shots in some of the fight scenes seemed almost entirely random, the user becomes confused during the fight scenes. Furthermore, when I watched the end of this film, it seemed to end suddenly without even a proper ending...what happened as soon as Yeoh turned her back to the screen?

Butterfly And Sword is about some assassins and a drag queen with a red ball trying to get a scroll for a eunuch, I think. The movie is okay I guess. It does have extremely weird @$$ moments particularly the final fight which I thought was one of the best things I've ever seen in Chinese cinema. The pacing is a bit awkward as the movie will oscillate between love happy friendly romance and human interaction and brutal action filled with dismemberment and fast paced bloodier than a tampon sword play action. Argh! But I felt the whole romance and happy $#!+ was crowding the movie a bit making it hard to maintain interest especially when you don't really care about all the lovey-dovey garbage. Plus the story was a bit incomprehensible. But whatever. At least the crazy fights and the violence was enough to carry the movie through, so there.

I found this movie slightly disappointing.

It seems there are several different strains of HK Action Flicks. Jackie Chan does pure fist/leg martial arts with no wires. Jet Li tends to use more wires, but "Once Upon a Time in China" seemed to be more dependent on the action than the wires. This move depends so much on wires and magic powers that you really don't get very much in the way of good swordplay and kung-fu. It seemed pretty cheesy from the beginning, and I left it on only because I had nothing better to do. Then it started getting good. The plot gets pretty complicated, as you see hidden motivations and conflicting desires causing problems for the characters. Unfortunately, the movie never really capitalizes on some of the things the characters discover, and the ending reveals a mystery they really hadn't set up well, forcing the characters to reveal too much in their dialogue, as in, "You see, this was my plan all along! Now I shall kill you!" Not dull, exactly, but it never fulfills the potential of the plot developments to overcome a cheesy approach to martial arts.

A typically over the top, highly kinetic wuxia epic from Hong Kong. This one offers a middling budget and an all-star cast, although it's worth noting that story-wise it's much better when detailing larger-than-life characters than it is bringing to life the complexities of a muddled political script. In essence what you get are a number of main characters interacting and occasionally doing battle with some rival factions who have murder in mind.

Part of the film is an ultra-cheesy romance between Tony Leung and Joey Wang, which is quite fun with a lot of flying around in the woods and sweet moments. It's surprisingly old fashioned but genre fans will be more interested in the high energy action scenes, of which there are plenty. These possess extremely choppy choreography - so much so that it's hard to see what's going on at times - but make up for it by being inventively violent, with opponents literally exploding in two when struck by power sword strikes.

A lot of fun comes from seeing Michelle Yeoh as a striking femme fatale although she's slightly underutilised here which is no surprise given the amount of characters in the movie. Donnie Yen is also in the film but used even less although I was pleased to see that his character is a typical hard man even at this early stage of his career. Although the budget isn't high, the trappings of the wuxia genre - outlandish costumes, outdoor scenery, effective sets - are handled adroitly. Animal lovers should be aware of the real-life killing of a deer which may be unpalatable for some.

Noble Lady Michelle Yeoh is the greatest martial artist in the land. When an evil eunuch starts a revolt against the Emperor, she sends Tony Leung, whom she secretly loves, as a spy into his forces. Between battles, she makes fun of Leung's pregnant girlfriend, Joey Wang, and fails to notice that the grumpy emissary from the Emperor, Ka-Ting Lee loves her.

I came to enjoy Chinese martial arts films through the wonderful comedies of Jackie Chan, and later, Steven Chow. At first I thought that the unlikely stuntwork of the straight martial arts films was ridiculous, but I have come to appreciate the better ones for their fantastic, balletic fight choreography. Alas, the poorer fights are often stupid exercises in wire work. This one has some great, balletic sequences, like Miss Yeoh fighting the enemy forces in a bamboo forest, and some crude examples of wirework fights. The movie tries to offer a story of requited and unrequited love, but while the Miss Wang is quite funny, the capable Leung and Miss Yeoh are not given much to do in the way of acting.

This was a very good film, that bounced around a lot. There is a story or two buried under all the torn out by the root heads and body's that get sliced right in half! Basically this is a betrayal love story triangle and a tale of loyalty built on a political power play and deception platform ..Clear? The story is almost secondary to the barrage of action and violence.

The kungfu is mostly wire and magic based so if you like reality kungfu or sword work and really dislike far-fetched wire and magic, this won;'t be the movie for you. I love both styles so this was great! ( I am a huge gore fan too) The cast is great, some of the best and most beautiful hong-kong actors are in it. Tony Leung and Donnie Yen are near perfect. Joey Wong as butterfly is perfect and Michelle Yeoh is wonderful as the slightly evil plotting and driven sister Ko.

This is a very watchable movie...give it a go, not for under 15 years of age in-spite of the fact the violence is cartoon like in its degree of carnage.

Confusing at first. It was hard for me to figure out who was on whose side, and the English translations sometimes read as gibberish, but those are petty qualms. The film is really fun to watch. The wire action is cool and over the top. The fight scenes and gore are very indulgent.

The cast are great, especially Michelle Yeoh, Donnie Yen, and Jimmy Lin. This is a hilarious movie. For those into Martial Arts movies, this is worth a look-see.

An amazing movie which is amazingly under-appreciated and -rated. One of those rare multi-genre (fantasy, historical costume drama, comedy, romantic tragedy) movies for which Hong Kong is justly famous, with -- unusually for films from that movie production center -- a complex, multi-dimensional and -level plot. Beautifully filmed, well acted (Michelle Yeoh is NOT just an action stuntwoman though she is undoubtedly able in that regard), fast paced.

My only caveat is that it helps to read a plot synopsis (preferably Peter's from off the "Yes Madam" web site). Yes, the story-line is THAT complicated!

This is a movie that is a visual feast. The wire work is mesmerizing, the swordplay is intricate, and the photography is grand. However, other than that I was quite disappointed with this film.

The plot of the film is quite complex. It tells the story of some assassins who are trying to kill the leaders of Soul Heights(?) because they wish to destroy Happy Woods and be the leaders of the martial world. Also included is a web of love, a fake death, betrayal, and a whole lot of fighting.

The relationship between the characters is quite complex. Tony Leung and Joey Wang are lovers. However, Tony is loved by Michelle Yeoh who is in turn loved by Donnie Yen. The problem that exists with the characters is that I really didn't have any sympathy for them, except Donnie Yen. The characters are fairly well-defined but they seemed emotionally distant.

The battle scenes are done quite well. The movie has some good wire action choreographed by Ching Siu-Tung. Unfortunately, these scenes don't really show what Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen are capable of doing. That's a shame, because they are very talented. Nonetheless, the action scenes with Donnie Yen are quite good...especially him and Michelle in the forest.

One of the main drawbacks of this movie is the excess of gore. This film is very bloody and has many scenes of decapitation, torso splitting, and blood spurting in geysers.

In the end, this is a fair movie. Donnie Yen is probably the best thing about this film. He shines more than the two leads. Also, this movie has an arresting visual style. Other those two things, there isn't much going for this film.

My DVD box says this movie is "a film full of kung fu and love". I'll go with that because describing what this film is about is not so easy. While I am at odds trying to explain what this is about, I can honestly say I enjoy this a lot. Like many other wuxia(or swordsman films) the storyline is sporadic and constantly changing. This is quite normal for the genre and while much of the subtext can be lost in translation to western viewers like myself, I still found this to be entertaining regardless. Butterfly And Sword is a real beautiful and completely insane action packed martial arts/fantasy saga with an excellent cast that has Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, Joey Wang, Donnie Yen and Elvis Tsui. There are love triangles, eunuchs and vicious fighting among warring clans. The action is at an accelerated pace, choreographed with brutal efficiency with maintaining a sense of grace and beauty while our heroes rip through the bodies of evildoers with their superior kung fu skills. Butterfly And Sword may be a bit excessive for viewers that are not familiar with swordsman movies. However, for those more familiar with the genre will dig and appreciate this flick.

Butterfly and Sword is one of the most skilled fantasy/swordplay movie I have ever seen. The clothes they wore on the movie were tight. The villain had edward Scissor-hands type claws and also the ugliest villains throughout the movie. But this is a "must see" movie. The Three Swordsmen, kiss their butt!!!

You all don't really understand the synopsis of the movie, but the movie would tell right there what it's about. Michelle Yeoh looked very creative in this movie, she was really amazing. Including the bow and arrow part. Maybe, this is what I think, this is the best movie i've ever seen.

Once again I find people making crazy reviews about how good the action is in this film and how it's the best feature of the film, fight scenes which require 300 different shots and constant camera angle changes is not good. I love wire action and fantasy martial arts but this is dreadful the characters for some reason was the only thing that kept me watching, but they were not so good as to make you care about them.

Some one else said that it doesn't show off the capabilities of some of the actors, I would have to agree as the fight scenes are awful I don't know how people can say that they are good. I know everyone goes on about crouching tiger, hidden dragon and I agree I'm pretty sick of it to but there is a good reason for it just compare it to this film. The story line is fully explained you don't get a random scene and wonder what the hell is going on, you don't have to watch it 3 times to get a good understanding of whats going on and much of the fight scenes are not just constant changes in camera angles, the fight scenes are easy to follow no one wants to watch a fight scene made up of bits and pieces of different footage. I realise there is a big difference in budget but even the parts of the fight scenes when people are not flying around and are standing in one place, fighting is still just rapid changes in camera shots. There is one part near the end where they actually speed up the action so much it just looks fake and cheap. Once again as I have said before try and watch this film some other way than buying it so that you know what your getting yourself into if you do decide to buy even if it only costs £5.99 like my dvd did it's still not worth the money except for a good laugh at the film and those who rate this film highly on this site.

(1993) Comet Butterfly and Sword (In Chinese with English subtitles) FANTASY/ ACTION

Another folklore-like period piece and perhaps one of my all time favorite 'wire fu period pieces' at that where it's not serious providing a very happy ending which is how all folklores/ myths should end similar to like a Disney cartoon as opposed to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" when everything is all so serious. The movie stars Tony Leung Chi Wai, Michelle Yeoh, Joey Wong and Donnie Yen as brothers/ sisters (in name only but not by blood) who were once orphans always working together until they're older, and performing specific tasks only to find out later that they were only been used. This simplistic plot device was obviously been used before but not as ravishing and charismatic as this film portrays it's main characters most notably Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen. Very superficial with some graceful fighting stances. And excellent song sung by actress Michelle Yeoh at the end credits English translation "Love is Like A Shooting Star" or is it "Love is like a Meteor"!

How can you go wrong when Michelle is at the helm?

Movies that have hit the mainstream like So Close and Crouching Tiger owe it all to cult favorites like this one. This is line jumping and supernatural feats during the core creation. Besides, you'll go crazy trying to figure out how so many people can mistake a HOTTIE like Michelle for a man!

I dare ANYONE to say (and describe) how it was not better than Supercop 2!

Not her best work to date, but well worth the rental. WATCH IT!

I am sorry, I just can't get over the title of this movie. Apparently "Butterfly" is the name of a character, Joey Wang, but who is "Sword"? Why call someone "Sword"? I just don't get it. In all fairness to the movie, I've only watched it once and quite possibly wasn't paying enough attention.

On to the reviewing. I didn't really care for this film, for a few reasons. First, NOT ENOUGH MICHELLE YEOH. What scenes she had were incredible, but there just weren't enough of them. Second, ditto Donnie Yen. He's unbelievable, but only when the filmmakers let him do something. There is a bit of a love story, where he loves Michelle and she loves the guy I thought was her brother but wasn't. Tony Leung Chiu Wai (isn't there another guy with the same name?) and Joey Wang were the only people that loved each other. They didn't go around pining after everyone else. Confused? That's a minor problem with this, but who cares about the story when people are flying through the air, decapitating evil kung fu masters using only a volleyball? (Shaolin Volleyball, anyone?)

This film is essentially a bunch of fight scenes strung together. Most films in this genre are, and the fights in this one are way better than average. I don't suppose it's a film you'd want to make your children watch, as blood does gush liberally throughout most of the movie. Oh, and let's not forget the bad guy who continues to fight AFTER HIS HEAD HAS BEEN RIPPED OFF--now that's determination. You begin to get exasperated, wondering what it will take to just kill the man. Or at least hurt him. (I get the same exasperated feeling when video games hit you with constantly respawning bad guys. How are you supposed to win when your opponents refuse to expire?!?) I don't mind headless villains and blood gushing, especially when it's this attractive. Gore isn't usually eye candy, but Hong Kong just has a knack for this kind of thing. Donnie Yen does some great sword fighting with only one arm, but then he does great fighting all the time. (See "Dragon Inn" if you don't believe me.) I also happen to think that he's handsome, so maybe I'm prejudiced.

Highlight of the movie--Michelle Yeoh's entrance. I am a huge fan of hers, and it's nice to see her get such lavish treatment. She is carried in in one of those carts they use in Asia; I forget what they're called. Palonquins? At any rate, purple ribbons (seriously) fly through the air and attach to trees, leaving the cart suspended. Michelle Yeoh then flies out in a shower of gold glitter. (I guess they borrowed the gold glitter from Mothra, courtesy of Toho. They're big on gold glitter, for some reason.) Anyway, it's visually dazzling, and it also helps to soften the blow when you realize that her character is a huge jerk. I hated her so much it wasn't funny. I was beginning to feel sorry for Joey Wang, and that's saying something. She bothers me, usually, but she was okay in this movie. Her character was a little bit odd, with a habit of talking to a doll when no one else was around, but nevertheless. She wasn't as rotten as Michelle Yeoh's character. Here's an example of Michelle's character's rudeness. (Forgive me for using real names--it's very difficult for me to remember characters' names, for some reason.) Joey is "engaged" to Michelle's brother-figure Tony. When Joey learns she's pregnant, she makes some sort of dessert and rushes off to inform Michelle, and even give her something to eat. Not only does Michelle slam the food, she also asks if the baby is Tony's. That's just insulting. It seems that Michelle can destroy all sorts of tangible foes, but the green-eyed monster is beyond her capabilities. She surrenders completely to it. Not an admirable quality.

Isn't that Michelle singing the end credits song? I'm almost positive it is. She should have done a duet with Donnie Yen, if he is musically inclined. They'd make a formidable couple. The Iron Monkey and Supercop.