Swordsman III: The East Is RedMovies like Swordsman III: The East Is Red
- Key Features:
- Wuxia, Martial arts, Political intrigue, Rebellion, Supernatural powers, Revenge, Betrayal, Cult leader, Action-high, Hong Kong cinema, Swords and sorcery
- Tone:
- stylized, dramatic, suspense-driven
- Target Audience:
- Martial arts fans, Action movie enthusiasts, Asian cinema aficionados, Wuxia genre enthusiasts
- Emotional Arc:
- Intrigue → Chaos
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.
Swordsman III: The East Is Red
During the Ming Dynasty, Tso Siu Yan, a power-crazed eunuch who rules his desert region of China as if he were the Emperor, ruthlessly thwarts plots against him and sets a trap for one of his enemies at the Dragon Gate Inn.

After the death of her father, a woman is forced to take over as empress and fight to save her kingdom.

When a scroll containing valuable martial arts secrets is stolen from the Emperor, an army detachment is sent to recover it. It is based on the novel The Smiling, Proud Wanderer by Jinyong.

Wealthy Sai Moon-Kin works hard to please as many women as he possibly can. When marrying off his mentally handicapped son, he finds himself attracted to his new daughter in law, so he takes her for his own, unaware that she is the evil Mirage Woman, who wields fantastical "sucking" abilities.

The reputation of the Four constables survives, but since Emotionless’s departure, there have been changes at the Divine Constabulary. The four Coldblood, Iron Hands, Life Snatcher, rescue Zhuge Zhengwo from An Yunshan’s mountain fortress, then with the Emperor and Di armies, they attack. But An Yunshan absorbs their power, which means the constables and their allies now face their most lethal opponent yet, a nearly invincible kung fu master who won’t stop until he has absolute power...

Ling Wu Chung 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.

Commander Qinglong is the loyal leader of the assassin group that serves the emperor. But when his allies plan a rebellion against the ruler, he finds himself in danger.

China, year 1457. The Minister of Defense is executed, and his children are sentenced to exile by order of the tyrannical Tsao. Fearful of future revenge from the young people, Tsao sends cruel soldiers to murder them, but a brave group of swordsmen can change the course of the battle at the Dragon Inn.

Weary of the bloodshed and violence from the martial arts world, a powerful swordsman banishes himself to the humble life a vagrant, wandering the fringes of society. But his violent past refuses to let him go quietly. The master swordsman must regain the ability to wield his sword and fight those disrupting the peace he so desperately craves.

Epic adventure set during a tumultuous time in China, when left without a leader, the cavalry is attacked by the powerful allies and pirate bands. A martial arts master, Wong Fei-Hong and Aunt Yee return to do battle against these evil forces.

Master Wong and his disciples enroll in the 'Dancing Lion Competition' to stop an assassination plot and to battle an arrogant, deceitful opponent.

A noble swordsman, whose arm had been chopped off, returns to his former teacher to defend him from a villainous gang of rival swordsmen.

The Tang emperor is betrayed by one of his generals, who installs himself as emperor in the East Capital. The son of one of his slave workers escapes to the Shaolin Temple, learns kung fu, and sets out to kill the traitor who killed his father.

An assassin who is fresh from his latest kill becomes stranded in an island, when he inadvertently befriends a female police officer. As the night progresses, the unspoken truth honored by the two sides of the law is broken. After the remains of a body that belonged to a drug lord and syndicate crime leader are found, chaos ensues and criminals ravage the once peaceful streets in a race against time to find the mysterious murderer that's loose and out for blood.

When a band of brutal gangsters led by a crooked property developer make a play to take over the city, Master Ip is forced to take a stand.

In the 17th century, seven swordsmen join their forces to save the villagers from a manipulating General who bans martial arts.

A Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.

The sensitive swordsman Cho Yi-Hang is tired of his life. He is the unwilling successor to the Wu-Tang clan throne and the unsure commander of the clan's forces in a war against foreign tribes and an evil cult. One day, he meets the beautiful Lien, a killer for the evil cult who is equally unsatisfied with her situation, but their love angers both the Wu-Tang clan and the evil cult.

When a series of martial misunderstandings spirals into an international incident, a Chinese martial arts student struggling to relate to his new Japanese wife is forced to take on seven of Japan's most powerful martial arts masters, each an expert in a different discipline, ranging from karate to samurai to ninjitsu.

A young man adopted by a renowned swordsmith, discovers that his real father was killed by a powerful bandit called Lung. Leaving to seek revenge, he runs foul of a group of vicious desert scum, losing his right arm in the process. After being nursed back to health, he eventually learns to compensate for his loss and returns to confront the man who murdered his father.

The aging Zhao embarks on his final and greatest campaign, a road to adventure that will crown his name in glory for all time.

While Yeung Kam Wing is trying to remove all connections between the mob and him, his actions are being carefully observed by Lau Kin Ming, who bears a personal grudge against him.

In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king's cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering.

Eight demon swordsmen and their gang have spread menace across many sword teaching schools. The students seek the help of Fang who alone can combat them. Will Fang take up the challenge.

In the time of the Qing Dynasty, the Emperor Yongzheng created a secret army known as the Guillotines. It was the job of the Guillotines to protect the Emperor by killing anyone who posed a threat to him or his rule. After 348 successful missions to eliminate their target, the 349th assignment proves to be their last.

The hero Fong Sai Yuk becomes involved in the secret brotherhood "The Red Flower", who are trying to overthrow the Manchurian emperor and re-establishing the Ming dynasty. The social upheaval is combined with Sai Yuk's personal moral conflict about how to conform to the rigid regime of the brotherhood and on top of that sort out his difficult love life, saddled with two presumptive wives.

In this Hong Kong variation of Robin Hood, corrupt officials of a Chinese village are robbed by a masked bandit known as "Iron Monkey", named after a benevolent deity. When all else fails, the Governor forces a traveling physician into finding the bandit.

In this installment of a phenomenal saga of the super natural, four young people are caught in a tug-o-war of evil between an Imperial Wizard and a corrupt General. Outrageous special effects galore.

After being blinded in a coup against the king, Joseon's greatest swordsman goes into hiding, far removed from his city's anguish. But when traffickers kidnap his daughter, he has no choice but to unsheathe his sword once more.

During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

King Sky, the sole disciple of the Kun Lun Sect, falls in love with his master Dawn. Dawn is killed when Insomnia destroys the Kin Lun Mountain. King Sky waits for two hundred years and meets Enigma, who is the reincarnation of Dawn, and in love with her again. However, Insomnia's Blood Clouds is ready to destroy Zu...

Starts off in the 15th century, with Connor McLeod training with another immortal swordsman, the Japanese sorcerer Nakano. When an evil immortal named Kane kills the old wizard, the resulting battle leaves him buried in an underground cave. When Kane resurfaces in the 20th century to create havoc, it's up to McLeod to stop him.

After discovering that the Empress is actually Lung Erh, a member of the St Dragon Sect, and that she imprisoned the real empress. Lung Erh, is bent on eliminating the person who disclosed her true identity, Wai Siu Bo. But more complications ensues when Lung Erh is assigned to protect the Prince, whose servant is none other than Wai Siu Bo.

Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.

The hunt is on to gain the fabulous super-strength of ninja sorcery, after three top students of the Ninja Empire each steals one of the sections of the Golden Ninja Warrior statuette. On the case is interpol agent, Jaguar Wong, who must make sure that whoever re-unites the pieces uses the power for doing good not evil.

When a former actor moves into an apartment building with the intention of commiting suicide, he is saved by a Taoist priest who used to specialize in hunting Chinese hopping vampires: or Jiāngshī. Elsewhere in the building, a woman turns to a specialist in black magic to bring her husband back to life.

When the future empress Wu Zetian's two courtiers die in a mysterious fire, she gets Di Renjie, a former detective and rebel, released from prison to solve the mystery of the fire.

Legendary Weapons of China is a martial arts fantasy film taking place during the late Qing Dynasty when Empress Dowager Cixi dispatches her agents to various factions of the Boxer Rebellion in order find supernatural martial artists that are invulnerable to western bullets. When one of the leaders of these groups disbands his forces, assassins from the remaining factions are sent out to kill him.

In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.

A power struggle between the Queen's treasonous lover and a princess occurs amid musical numbers, slapstick battles, and martial arts acrobatics.

The Monkey King and his friends try to break free from a ruler that takes them hostage. However, their exploits provoke the anger of a deity that decides to punish them for their actions.

In the twilight of the Ming Dynasty, the Imperial court is plagued by corruption as tyrants rule over the land. With the Manchurians preying on a weakened empire, war is imminent. To save the victims from their suffering, sorceress Jade Raksha fights the soldiers that oppress people for their own gain. As payback, local government officials decide to pin the murder of Governor Zhuo Zhonglian on Jade, turning her and the members of her cult into wanted fugitives for a crime they didn't commit.

A one-armed martial arts master is being stalked by an Imperial assassin, the master of two fighters killed in the previous film. When the One-Armed Boxer is invited to attend a martial arts tournament, his efforts to lay low are unsuccessful, and the assassin soon tracks him down with the help of his three subordinates: a Thai boxer, a yoga master, and a kobojutsu user.

A motley group of Chinese prisoners held in the US is sent on a covert mission with the promise of a pardon: to go deep into Vietnam and destroy a secret depot of missiles that the US left behind during the pull-out.

After the planned reburial of a village elder goes awry and the corpse resurrects into a hopping vampire, a Taoist priest and his two disciples attempt to stop him.

When the Ronin Gang robs an armored car, three cops — Chan, Fong and Wai — go on the warpath. Each has a personal interest in bringing down Ronin leader Tien: he killed Chan's fiancée, humiliated Fong and kidnapped Wai's brother.

While one tough woman with an invisible robe has stolen 18 babies for her powerful master, two other tough women and the cops try to stop her.

A monk turned body-builder, with the gift to see into people's lives, befriends a female cop, and uses his gift to change the force of Karma and her destiny.

During the 16th century, pirates rule the Chinese coastline, pillaging the small villages and terrorizing the citizens. When maverick leader Commander Yu enlists the help of a sharp young general, they devise a plan to defeat the pirates. A violent clash of wit and weapons will decide who will rule the land.

Realising that he will be defeated in no time during a police showdown, a thug shoots himself to force the cops to cease fire and take him to the hospital. In the hospital, he claims human rights to refuse immediate treatment in order to buy time for his underlings to rescue him. The detective in charge sees through his scheme but decides to play along so as to capture his whole gang once and for all.

An evil Duke attempts to kill and collect the blood of a royal family of European vampires in order to become all powerful. The only surviving member of the family travels to Hong Kong, only to complicate his struggle by falling in love with a mortal girl who just happens to have a vampire hunter for a brother.

In 16th century, during the Ming dynasty era, every ten years the greatest swordsman from Japan faces the greatest swordsman from China in a duel to the death for their nation's honor. As a duel approaches, Chinese champion Bo Ching-Wan and Japanese champion Miyamoto uncover a plot to rig the fight.

Set in late 19th century Canton, this martial arts film depicts the stance taken by the legendary martial arts hero Wong Fei-Hung against foreign forces' plundering of China.

Jason Chan, a Hong Kong lawyer, is angry at the way the law protects criminals and decides to take the law into his own hands, dishing out vigilante justice when a key witness and his entire family are murdered. But hotshot cop Cindy Si is soon on Chan's case, and the situation unravels into a fight that only a few will survive.

An imperial guard and his three traitorous childhood friends ordered to hunt him down get accidentally buried and kept frozen in time. 400 years later, they are defrosted continuing the battle they left behind.

Dragon is now transferred to be the police head of Sai Wan district, and has to contend with a gangster kingpin, anti-Manchu revolutionaries, some runaway pirates, Manchu Loyalists and a corrupt police superintendent.

Chan, an articulate senior detective nearing the end of his career, is taking care of the daughter of a witness killed by ruthless crime lord Po. Martial arts expert Ma is set to take over as head of the crime unit, replacing Chan who wants an early retirement.

Shishio sets sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the government. In order to stop him, Kenshin trains with his old master to learn his final technique.

Wong Fei-Hung faces the White Lotus Society, a fanatical cult seeking to drive the Europeans out of China through violence, even attacking Chinese who follow Western ways. Wong must also defend Dr. Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary, from the military.

During World War II, a secret agent must seduce and assassinate an official who works for the Japanese puppet government in Shanghai.

When a private eye, a jilted bride and a mysterious stranger join forces to track down an elusive mobster, there's more than trouble in the air.

The battle of Red Cliff continues and the alliance between Xu and East Wu is fracturing. With Cao Cao's massive forces on their doorstep, will the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu survive?

Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.

927 AD. The Killer-Blade Army has toppled the ruling dynasty, plunging the kingdom into chaos. The only remaining heir, Prince Jung-Hyun is living in exile, unaware of his family's dark fate. Still loyal to the dynasty, the beautiful and deadly warrior Soha sets out to find Jung-Hyun and guide him to become the great leader he was born to be. But with the Army's greatest assassins and the criminal underworld hunting them, Soha and Jung-Hyun are swept into an explosive, non-stop battle of swords, wits and bloodshed as they fight to reclaim the fallen throne.

A French chef swears revenge after a violent attack on his daughter's family in Macau, during which her husband and her two children are murdered. To help him find the killers, he hires three local hit-men working for the mafia.

In the turbulent late Eastern Han Dynasty, ambitious Dong Zhuo controls the court and the commonalty, and heroes from all over the country begin to rise.

A Chinese emissary is sent to the Gobi desert to execute a renegade soldier. When a caravan transporting a Buddhist monk and a valuable treasure is threatened by thieves, however, the two warriors might unite to protect the travelers.

Lei Li lost his right-arm in a sword duel with the master of a martial arts school, long ago. Now, he is able to defend himself well with just his left arm, and kung fu techniques. That he proves with just the help of his friend Chung-Chieng, when he crosses his path with a beautiful girl in need, Pao Chiao. Even against impossible odds, he will prove a great warrior.

A young scholar named Yangsheng who gets married to the beautiful daughter of a local merchant. When their sex life proves unsatisfactory, Yangsheng leaves home and journeys to the Pavilion of Ultimate Bliss.

The tyrant Gedren seeks the total power in a world of barbarism. She raids the city Hablac and kills the keeper of a talisman that gives her great power. Red Sonja, sister of the keeper, sets out with her magic sword to overthrow Gedren.

Su Qi-Er, a wealthy man living during the Qing Dynasty who loses his fortune and reputation as a result of a conspiracy against him. After being forced out onto the streets, Su dedicates his life to martial arts and reemerges as a patriotic hero known as the "King of Beggars."

Qiao Feng is the respected leader of a roving band of martial artists. After he is wrongfully accused of murder and subsequently exiled, Qiao Feng goes on the run in search of answers about his own mysterious origin story—and the unknown enemies working to destroy him from the shadows.

A mysterious woman, known as Madame M, kidnaps forty pre-teen girls and transports them to a remote island to train them as the most deadly assassins. CIA operative Jack Chen follows the case for 6 years with no leads, but when a series of assassinations begin to occur, Jack suspects that Madame M is back in business.

Set in Flower Capital, a land ruled by an Evil Queen. All men in the kingdom are slaves to women. However, a prophecy foretells that one day, the Star of Rex will find and wield a mythical sword, rise to power, overthrow the queen, and restore the balance of the two sexes.

In the fifth century, constant civil war scars western China. To escape death, Ti, a young scout, jumps through a crevice in the Zu mountains where he gets entangled in a great battle against the Blood Demon, a supernatural entity seeking to wreak havoc upon the world.

Cheung Sung-bong is a highly respected cop with a long history of success in dangerous cases. However, his past soon comes back to haunt him when a former protégé resurfaces, seeking revenge.

Professional assassin O has resided in an isolated world of killing and loneliness. But his life begins to change once he meets the innocent Chin; hired to clean O's apartment. However, soon the flamboyent and reckless Tok enters Chin's life with a mission to unveil O's identity and usurp his place as the number one sharp-shooting assassin in the game.

Ip Man’s promising career as a Policeman is ruined after he is framed for murder and targeted by a mob boss’s daughter.

Features an anthology centred on the experiences of a witch doctor, a film-maker and a disgruntled extra determined to take revenge on him, and a novelist as well as her twin sister.

A giant rebelled against the heavens. It was declared a devil and defeated. The immortal heart evolved into Sun Wukong. The heavens found him, and ravaged his home. He enters the heavenly kingdom, disguised as a human, seeking retribution.

In the late Ming Dynasty, three sworn brothers who serve as the imperial secret police are dispatched to hunt down Wei Zhongxian, a eunuch politician who had been forced to resign from his influential post and exiled from Beijing. The brothers return successfully from their quest, only to find that their task was but the beginning of a strange conspiracy.

A wild and rollicking martial arts fantasy extravaganza that features prized swords and swordsmen, a crazy monk attached to a rolling boulder, serious clan and cult rivalries, and lots of magic and flying.

A young girl rises from the ashes of tragedy to become the most feared warrior woman of all time: the She-Devil with a Sword.

Set during the days of the Roman Empire. A simple village is raided by Roman troops, and most of the people are whisked off to be slaves or killed. Three women survive and set off to liberate their people. When they arrive at the Roman city, they team up with the local underground to seek vengeance and liberation of the slaves

Tsui escapes from a super soldier project and plans to lead a peaceful life. However, when his former comrades go on a violent crime spree, he takes it upon himself to end their reign of terror.

A mysterious warrior teams up with the daughter and son of a deposed Chinese Emperor to defeat their cruel brother, who seeks their deaths.

When a fellow scientist asks for Jack's help in locating the mausoleum of China's first emperor, the past collides violently with the present as Jack discovers his amazing visions are based in fact.

Sunny is a naïve circus performer who dreams of inheriting his father's knife-throwing skills. However, his hostile colleagues continue to bully him, relegating him to a lowly clown. On a tour to Malaysia, Cheung and other performers discover a cave occupied by the Japanese army during World War II. Instead of finding treasure, the performers - including Sunny - are sprayed with a mysterious chemical that turns them into superhuman mutants...

The story of Wai Siu Bo, a pimp who after saving Chan Kan Nam, the leader of the Heaven and Earth society, a revolutionary group, is made a member. After a botched first assignment for the group, he is made a servant to the Prince, the very person the Heaven and Earth society want to overthrow. What follows is plenty of mayhem and laughter.

After losing an election to become chairman of the Wo Lin Shing triad, a gang leader lashes out and tries to seize the dragon-head baton, the official symbol of a chairman's authority.

The secret Red Lotus Flower Society is committed to the overthrow of the evil Manchu Emperor and his minions. One of his Governors is sent on a mission to retrieve a list of members of that secret society. Meanwhile, Canton kung fu practitioner Fong Sai-Yuk falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a rich merchant.

Tien is captured and almost beaten to death before he is saved and brought back to the Kana Khone villagers. There he is taught meditation and how to deal with his Karma, but very soon his arch rival returns challenging Tien for a final duel.

A recently married scholar goes on a quest for knowledge of other people's wives, based on his philosophical differences with the Sack Monk. He encounters the Flying Thief, who agrees to help him find women, but only if he attains a penis as big as a horse's. The scholar has a surgeon attach said unit, and he's off and running on his mission, only to find that there are obstacles to his new lifestyle, such as jealous husbands and treacherous females.

After his brother was crippled in the ring by a cheating Thai boxer, Chan Hung goes to Thailand to avenge his brother, and finds the key to an omen which may release their family from an ancient curse. He is then caught up in a spiraling web of fate, Buddhist curses, and black magic.

Crown Prince Wu Luan is in love with Little Wan but left heartbroken when she marries his father, the emperor. The emperor's brother, Li, kills him and Wu Luan tries to avenge his father's death.

During the reign of King Zhou, an official enters his bedchamber, and is devoured by the monstrous tails of Daji, his concubine. Outside their city, several warriors within a metal wagon discuss their strategies to free the Invisible People and their Chief, when Jiang Ziya appears to them. He tells them that when King Zhou was younger, he let himself become possessed by the Black Dragon for his quest for power.

A story of lost love, young love, a legendary sword and one last opportunity at redemption.

A naïve young tax collector for the imperial government winds up spending the night in a haunted temple. There he falls in love with a beautiful woman who, unfortunately, is dead. With the aid of a powerful Daoist Swordsman, he must defeat undead hordes, overcome a sinister Tree Demoness, and descend to the pits of hell, to fight for the spirit he loves.
