The Swordsman (1990)

A retired warrior comes to see his former lord and learns that someone is making indestructible swords from some unknown metal. He is sent together with a swordsman to investigate the source. Along the way they meet a young girl working as a beekeeper. She is later witness to the appearance of three strange females from another dimension.

A retired warrior comes to see his former lord and learns that someone is making indestructible swords from some unknown metal. He is sent together with a swordsman to investigate the source. Along the way they meet a young girl working as a beekeeper. She is later witness to the appearance of three strange females from another dimension. They are searching for a lost weapon that has landed on earth and as one of them lay dying she enlists the girl to help them control the strange beast/weapon. Meanwhile the warrior and the swordsman learn that an old nemesis has created the swords from the shell that surrounded the alien weapon. Soon the alien beast/weapon is awakened and battle for control ensues.

Another film from the director of the legendary Super Infra Man, Hua Shan gives us this odd mish-mash of several HK genres of the early 80's.
An expert swordsman is suspected of being the thief of a treasure sent to Emperor. The swordsman who has nothing to do with the theft investigates and is led on the trail of the supernatural "Bloody Parrot". This leads to the "Parrot Brothel" and the star prostitute who walks around half naked. Strange things happen including a demonic possession, witches casting poison spells, disgusting autopsies and numerous sword fights. Then a dead constable turns into a vampire! This is all in the first 30 minutes!

Director: David Lai, Corey Yuen
A graying black-clad swordsman slays palace guards, as he flies through the air to an uncertain purpose. Centuries (or is it days?) later, gun-toting, Armani-clad super policemen – Hong Kong's Saviours – are devastated by a cloaked assassin. Kinetic medieval fantasy; overstructured, outgunned urban nightmare. And that's only the first ten minutes! A highly entertaining, eye-popping genre bender in every way.

Director: Jing Wong
Because of his ability to "melt in with nature," swordsman Chu has been chosen to duel with selected members of the Shaolin Monk Flowerless in LEGEND OF THE LIQUID SWORD.

In an ancient land called Tag-Mur, two sisters fight over control of two magic swords known as the Eye of the Serpent. The evil sister, Corva, rules viciously and violently from a dark and cold castle. The other sister, Neema, valiantly tries to raise an army to take back her father's castle. Neema's daughter is caught in between believing in the great magic and trusting that peace will return to her land. Corva's daughter is a hedonist who believes in achieving her own sado-masochistic pleasure. Into this web of women arrives the Lancelot-like Galen, proving himself a great swordsman. Soon Neema and her daughter enlist Galen's help in raising and training an army.

Zatoichi (座頭市, Zatōichi) is a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The enduring popularity of the character has been likened to that of James Bond in Western countries. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist Kan Shimozawa (子母澤 寛, Shimozawa Kan). This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios (now Kadokawa Pictures) and actor Shintaro Katsu, who created the screen version. A total of 26 films were made from 1962 to 1989.
Film number 17 of the original series was remade in America in 1990 (by TriStar Pictures) as Blind Fury, an action movie starring Rutger Hauer.

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 明治剣客浪漫譚, Rurō ni Kenshin Meiji Kenkaku Romantan), also known as Rurouni Kenshin and Samurai X, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The fictional setting takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. The story is about a fictional assassin named Himura Kenshin, from the Bakumatsu who becomes a wanderer to protect the people of Japan. Watsuki wrote this series upon his desire of making a shōnen manga different from the other ones that were published in that time, with Kenshin being a former assassin and the story taking a more serious tone as it continued. Although the tragic tone was highly expanded as the manga advanced, Watsuki became determined to give it a happy ending as it was aimed at teenagers.

The series has been highly popular in Japan, the United States and Europe. The manga has sold over 47 million copies in Japan as of 2007 while the anime has ranked between the 100 most watched series in Japan multiple times. The anime and manga have received praise and criticism from various publications for anime, manga and other media, with both having received good response on the characters' designs and the historical setting. The OVAs have also received praise due to their animation and music.