escapism

what makes a good swordfighting show?

fundamentals:

• effortless flying through the air. which is why the samurai genre, the karate shows, wong fei hoong a la jet li, bruce lee, star wars and middle earth will never cut it.
• a clear good/evil divide, with good the final victor. no ambiguity, ambivalence or angst.

the characters:

1. a good looking supremely skilled hero. please, no anti-hero type who scores because of his innate goodness, or cunning, or serendipity. and no average joe either. this guy must eventually be unbeatable.

2. a beautiful, equally skilled heroine who becomes hero's partner in love and life.

3. the villain(s), who must be superlatively evil and just a shade less adept than the hero, thereby setting up the denouement where the hero will ultimately triumph.

4. a couple of swordsmen/women missing limbs or eyes who nevertheless rise above their disability to attain great mastery, on either side of the good/evil divide.

• forty episodes minimum.

for the record, these are my all time favorites:

hero: andy lau (yang guo)

heroines: idy chan (little dragon girl), michelle yim (one-armed nun)

villain: that ouyang fellow in the first condor story