Swordsman II

Swordsman II
Theatrical poster
笑傲江湖之東方不敗
Directed byChing Siu-tung
Screenplay by
Based onThe Smiling, Proud Wanderer
by Jin Yong
Produced byTsui Hark
Starring
CinematographyTom Lau
Edited byMarco Mak
Music byRichard Yuen
Production
companies
Distributed byGolden Princess Amusement
Release dates
  • 24 January 1992 (1992-01-24) (Taiwan)
  • 25 March 1992 (1992-03-25) (South Korea)
  • 26 June 1992 (1992-06-26) (HK)
Running time
  • 107 minutes (Hong Kong)
  • 99 minutes (United States)
  • 112 minutes (Taiwan)
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeHK$34,462,861

Swordsman II (笑傲江湖之東方不敗), also known as The Legend of the Swordsman, is a 1992 Hong Kong wuxia film loosely adapted from the novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jin Yong. It was the second part of a trilogy: preceded by The Swordsman (1990) and followed by The East Is Red (1993). Directed by Ching Siu-tung, Swordsman II starred Jet Li, Brigitte Lin, Rosamund Kwan and Michelle Reis in the leading roles. None of the original cast from the previous film return except Fennie Yuen.

Set in Ming dynasty China, the plot follows Linghu Chong, a swordsman from the Mount Hua Sect, who travels the countryside with Yue Lingshan, who secretly loves him. Caught in the war between the invading Japanese and the Sun Moon Cult, they discover that Dongfang Bubai, the evil leader of the Sun Moon Cult, has located the Sacred Scroll, which has transformed him into a woman while improving his martial arts prowess to near-invincibility. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.