Swordsman III


Reviewed by: spcnet

May 25, 2004

Rating: three

The final verse to the Saber Song trilogy is not perhaps the best but is the most plot-focused. It starts off a story and ends a story without getting entangled in too many distractions deviating from the progress of the plot.

The general story is about how the head of "Hui Dao" Clan destroyed the whole clan of "Suerng Yang" in order to get back the woman (Kitty Lai Mei Han) he loves from Yuen Yun Ging (Jiu Yun Chun). In his path of destruction, he kills Yuen and Yuen's god-brother, leaving both their wives widows and children fatherless. Though happily married to Yuen Yun Ging and with their infant son, Yuen Lim Cho (also played by Jiu Yun Chun), Yuen's wife agrees to marry the murderer of her husband for the sake of the child's safety. The god-brother's pregnant wife, on the other hand, flees and gives birth to a daughter, Yip Suerng Yee (Alyssa Chia Jing Wen), who vows to have revenge. Yuen Lim Cho grows up in a sheltered lifestyle and acknowleding the slayer of his real father as his own father.

The plot, at first, did not seem too original as it is strikingly similar to Jin Yong's "Legend of the Condor Heroes", where Yuen Gon Hong Lit also orders an attack to get the woman, Bao Sik Yuerk, he wants. In the process, the god-brother of Bao's husband was also killed, leaving his wife fleeing and giving birth to Gwok Jing. Bao also decides to follow Yuen and her son, Yueng Hong, growing up thinking that Yuen is his real father. However, the similarities do end here. Saber III has to spin a new tale since it is not about two males but one male and one female, also arranged to marry by their parents before birth if they were of different genders. Of course, Jiu Yun Chun is also the main character and has to be "good" unlike Yueng Hong.

Notable roles and performances include Kitty Lai's role of protective mother, though she seemed quite young to be the mother of Jiu Yun Chun. Yip Suerng Yee's character, whose mother made her dress and act as a boy her whole life, was also played well by a Taiwanese actress, Alyssa Chia. Ho Mei Tin's role was rather unimpressive in this series though in comparison to her character of Lin Sin in Saber Song II. Jiu Yun Chun is also a good performer, as always, in ancient costume series.

The fighting choreography in "Saber III" is done too extravagantly at times--especially the ending scenes which are quite artificial looking and even cheesy to a degree. The love relationships in the series are also not ideal as the women split Yuen Lim Cho between themselves. The series seems a bit too long--as a matter of fact, it is the longest series out of the Saber Song trilogy--and could have been cut to leave out some irrelevant scenes.


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