Watch the great Wuxia romance film that Michelle Yeoh made 7 years before Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Published Feb 20, 2026, 10:00 PM EST

Nicholas Raymond is an author and journalist based in Alabama, where he is a proud member of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. A graduate of the University of Montevallo, he holds a degree in mass communications with a concentration in journalism.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon This may be Michelle Yoeh’s greatest contribution to the world of wuxia, but it wasn’t the only interesting entry in the martial arts subgenre in which the famous actress played a major role, or even the first. In addition to the many martial arts films directed by Yeoh In the 1980s and 1990s, she starred in the 1993 Wuxia romance film, Butterfly and sword.

Directed by Michael Mak, Butterfly and sword was built around a strong cast of recognizable actors from the Hong Kong film industry, including Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Donnie Yen, Elvis Tsui and Joey Wong. Similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonIt is classified as Wuxiaa medium defined by a strong emphasis on swordplay and martial arts and an ancient Chinese setting infused with fantasy elements.

Butterfly And Sword is a fun Wuxia romance with wild martial arts action

Butterfly and sword weaves a complex story about four assassins from two rival clans in a dispute over a letter in the possession of a eunuch. Amidst all the arguments over the letter comes an equally complicated romantic dynamic involving four characters and the theme of unrequited love.

Butterfly and sword is the second film adaptation of Gu Long’s 1973 wuxia novel, Meteor, Butterfly, Sword. The first dates from 1976 Shaw Brothers kung fu movie, Killer clans.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Michelle Yeoh’s characters, Sing and Sister Ko, are a duo of assassins who disguise themselves as a married couple. However, only one has romantic feelings for the other, as Sing is more interested in the other female protagonist, Joey Wong’s Butterfly. Meanwhile, Donnie Yen’s Ye Xiang is clinging to Sister Ko.

Here, Michelle Yeoh delivers a memorable performance as Sister Ko, whose love for the main character adds a sense of humanity to what would otherwise be a calculating and malicious assassin. This aspect of his character draws on another key facet of Butterfly and Sword (and perhaps Wuxia in general), which is its unpredictability.

Betrayal is a common trope in wuxia films, and it’s a theme that Butterfly and sword uses it effectively in its story, keeping the viewer guessing where certain characters’ true loyalties lie or when they might change. This paves the way for interesting twists and turns, which are typical of the wuxia genre.

As Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonbutterfly and sword navigates her romantic relationships wonderfully, while paying plenty of attention to the action. Butterfly and sword doesn’t hold back when it comes to the over-the-top action sequences that have become a hallmark of Wuxia films, with Yeoh’s Sister Ko building up an impressive kill count – and with her scarf, no less.