House of Flying Daggers

[chris_kfo]

Anyone seen it yet? Review?

[Suntzu]

it's NOT Hero 2.....

[chris_kfo]

Well, it's out on DVD and I saw it. It was good, but IMO not as good as Hero.

[SanSoo Student]

I think Zhang Xiyie (sp?) was hot in this movie... and again I would bone her just like the Japanese/Chinese actor did.

[GeneChing]

It's unfair to compare it to Hero since it didn't have a fraction of the budget. But as the third CMA art film, it was very entertaining. Sort of Zatoichi meets Legolas, a martial arts homage done by none martial artists, a bamboo grove fight ala CTHD, a spy love story, an opulant film like one expects from Zhang Yimou. If you're lusting for Zhang Ziyi's naked shoulder, this movie is for you.

Personally, I liked the film. It's not that ambitious really, even long-winded at times, the fight scenes are unspectacular, and finale didn't resolve everything to my satisfaction. But the film still has merit for it's style. The whole idea of art martial arts films is a new genre that I like to encourage. Zhang can still direct some fine moments and compose shots in some of the most beautiful locations, mostly autumn groves in this film.

I hear that Zhang is working on his third martial arts film now. That's great. What martial arts movies need now is more art directors and less music video directors.

[David Jamieson]

oooooo, naked shoulders!

wait a minute...

too much clam in teh viewing these days I guess, but a shoulder doesn't get me there anymore. What next? Heroin?

[GeneChing]

Yeah, the naked shoulder thing was a bit gratuitous. If you see the film, you'll know what I mean.

[Losttrak]

I watched the film, and in my opinion... it was total b@lls. Zhang Yimou is simply Oscar hunting in his neverending quest to outdo Ang Lee, since CTHD. I will admit that the camera work and set design is pretty d@mned good due to his background. However, some aspects of it are just soo melodramatic and cheesy in an obvious attempt to jerk the tears. Bah.

I believe he even said (before the opening), "If this movie doesn't make you cry, call me" or some BS. lol I imagine his phone was busy as hell after that.

The part I hated the most was when his favorite diva, Zhang Ziyi, gets killed all to h3ll, and the warriors battle it out. Apparently, they command soo much chi, or they fight for soo long that the season changes to winter... Finally, as the battle is starting to wind down a bit... Zhang jumps up after having been dead since at least mid-June, and bids for that final tear-jerker.

Yimou needs to learn to make movies for the sake of creating art and the craft itself, instead of trying to create formulaic pap to beat a rival. I mean, after all... Asia (among others) seems to be one of the last wellsprings of original plot lines and stories. The last thing he wants to do is start to emulate the crap coming out of Hollywood nowadays. /rant off

[doug maverick]

i thought it was way better then hero as it had one consistant story not the same story told three times, i thought the fights were much better(except of course donnie vs jet) and there were more of them, hero was good but, i can't stand to watch it twice and thats seize alot to me about a movie, i 've already seen house of flying daggers twice!!!!! thats just my opinion thou

[GeneChing]

Here's our new e-zine article on House of Flying Daggers (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=560) :cool:

[norther practitioner]

I'm looking forward to seeing it....

[ngokfei]

Entertaining.

Hard to compare the two as the story line dictated the action sequences.

hero was much more a thinker's movie.
My wife hated it because she couldn't understand all the time line stuff. I've seen her filipino movies and she has the nerve to complain!!!!

Man when I saw Hero on VCD I had to watch it a few times, subtitles and all that.

What I really like about the two movies is the scenary. Wow

[chris_kfo]

Yes, the cinematography was awesome.

[Ben Gash]

The cinematography was excellent. Sadly the plot was predictable and cliched. The ending was such a cliche that most of the theatre actually laughed (not good in high tragedy). I can forgive bad plot in a kung fu movie, and I can forgive bad kung fu in an art movie, but bad plot and bad kung fu? :mad:

[mickey]

Greetings,

I really did not like this movie. It seemed more interested in look than with story. What are Gurka knives doing in this movie?

I like Andy Lau and this movie was a poor vehicle for his introduction to the West. The guy is a excellent actor who carries a depth of seriousness that is reminiscent of the late Anita Mui. I hope he chooses a better movie next time. He would also be one of my picks for the next James Bond: the others being Jet Lee and Michael Jai White.

mickey

[Judge Pen]

I just saw this movie, and I liked it for what it was. Then again it has Zhang Ziyi in it, so at least it has good scenery.

The end. . . . Well it was over-the-top melodramatic, but you can expect this from this director. Hero was just as over the top imo. I actually liked the fact that the wire work was minimized to a degree and the themes of forgone love, jealously, envy, and longing rang more resonately to me then the messages of Hero. Not the greatest movie, but worth a look for the cinematography alone.

[@PLUGO]

I enjoyed it mre than I expected to...

sure the story was a bit over the top but it certainly seemed to be reaching for that mythic feel.

Loved those Bullet... er Dagger Time visuals as well.

[GeneChing]

What are Gurka knives doing in this movie? The weapons carried by gurkhas are known as Kukri. You see variations of this design throughout Asian small cold arms, not so much in China itself, but a lot in the surrounding areas like Tibet or Mongolia. It's a great weapon and great weapon designs thrive.

[SPJ]

Have anyone seen the movie?

It is Zhang Yi Mou production in 2004.

I saw it on VCD.

I like the scenes of pebbles and ribbon hitting drums.

Comment?

[FngSaiYuk]

I've seen it... I like all the green parts and the snow parts - very pretty.

Neat action, too, as far as wire-fu movies go.

[firepalm]

Have the VCD, liked it a great deal. Zhang Zhiyi was yummy, love some of her subtle expressions ;)

Concur with SPJ enjoyed the drum dance.

Very nicely shot film.

[unkokusai]

Anything with Zhang Zinyi is worth watching!

[SanSoo Student]

I agree, I think she is hot ;)

[Judge Pen]

http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32449

[Kymus]

Like everyone else, I saw it on VCD. I loved it, really. I thought that the story and the action were great and I loved the daggger throwing that went on. I am anxious for it to come to the big screen (and to get the soundtrack as well!)

[GeneChing]

Check out our e-zine reveiw from Dr. Craig Reid (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=560)

[FngSaiYuk]

For those of you that saw it on VCD, definately check it out on the bigscreen or on DVD... The background is just GORGEOUS!

[Kymus]

thanks for the link, that was interesting :)

[Ray Pina]

When does it hit theaters in the US?

I'll go and I know I'll like it like I liked Hero but these movies miss something to me, they don't have the reverence of those old movies, like 5 Deadly .... that grainy, back in the day feel, the subtle plots. I can't really put my finger on it, but 5 Deadly has it, Golden Arm, Flying Guillotein has it.

These movies just don't do it for me. The last one that I really liked was Fist of Legend, especialy the showdown with the leaves blowing, etc.

[FngSaiYuk]

Originally posted by EvolutionFist
These movies just don't do it for me. The last one that I really liked was Fist of Legend, especialy the showdown with the leaves blowing, etc.

I know what ya mean... I think it's 'cuz these current set of films are all artsy and less martially.

The last fun MA movie I saw was Ong Bak.

[SPJ]

OOPS.

I should have checked the media forum.

I usually hang out in the Kung Fu and Tai Ji forums.

:D

[SPJ]

Jing Yong is 80 years old.

He wrote numerous MA novels from 1960's to 1972.

He worked as an editor for the newspaper.

One of my favorite is Ce Diao Yin Xiong Zuan.

He now worked or semi retired in Hong Kong.

He is the head of department of Chinese literature in Ze Jiang University.

Anyhoo;

He listed Zhang Yi Mou is the best, then An Lee, then Hak Shiu.

However, Jing Yong did not like the story of Hero.

Qin Si Huang was depicted as the good guy.

QSH was though as the bad guy for 2000 years by many.

Jing Yong said if MA novels or movies have political motivations. Then they lost values.

[SPJ]

Why so many love Jing Yong's MA novels including moi?

He said his stories are within reasonal bounds of human emotions and just. Qing Li Zi Zhong.

Nobody is all bad or all good.

There are bad sides from good people.

There are also good sides from bad people.

And his endings have to be in suspension till the end. Yi Liao Zi Wai.

Otherwise, people will not read further.

If the stories are not within reasonal bounds, people will not read, either. Qing Li Zi Wai.

According to him.

[Kristoffer]

Originally posted by FngSaiYuk
I know what ya mean... I think it's 'cuz these current set of films are all artsy and less martially.

The last fun MA movie I saw was Ong Bak.


****ing word

[chris_kfo]

Originally posted by Kymus
Like everyone else, I saw it on VCD.

LOL, I thought everyone else saw the DVD-RIP torrent? ;)

[Odin of Wei]

Originally posted by unkokusai
Anything with Zhang Zinyi is worth watching!
Simmer, shes not all that great. :rolleyes:

[norther practitioner]

I saw it on the big screen this weekend. Like most movies out of China in the last 4 years that I've seen, I really enjoyed the scenery that they shot. I think it is absolutely georgous. However, the movie itself, was merely OK. I think the ending stunk, really really stunk. The opening was good, the middle had a couple of corn starch caliber plot thickeners in the twists, but still the ending was blech. I really enjoyed seeing a different bamboo forest fight scene. The beginning scene with the drums, pebbles and such, that was cool as ish. The fight scene in the flower field was sort of cool too, however, I had a hard time understanding why if wazherface was letting the troops get the best of her in every battle... it was a bit weird.

cinematography..... 8
plot ....................... 5 (7 except for the ending)
fighting .................. 7

[couch]

I agree with NP. The ending was not too great. It dragged on for quite a bit, not resolving too much. Good movie, good visual work too.

[SPJ]

Acutually;

The ending is very good.

It is all out of love.

Since nobody leaves the Gang of Flying Daggers, Liu De Hua was instructed to terminate Zhang Zi Yi.

Out of love, Liu sacrificed all the way from the very beginning to the very end. However, Zhang loves the other guy.

Obligations, favors, Li or Yi, Zhang owed a lot to Liu. Zhang chose his love for the other.

Liu gave all he can give including his life. People may say Liu is a sucker all the way. But Liu truly loves a girl that has no feelings for him.

Sometimes, true love is about giving and caring for another person without taking anything back.

On the other hand, romance may be at the moment or chemistry. No favors or generosity may replace that.

So let us ask what is love?

Qin Si He Wu?

:D

[PangQuan]

I saw this at the theater this weekend and I, in my opinion, though that this was one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life. Twist upon twist keeps you going the whole way. I especially love that at the end no one kills anyone yet they all die anyway. It was great. Beautifull camera work, excellent story, great choreography. I truly love this new era of Hong Kong cinema we have been blessed with over the last few years.

[SPJ]

I think only Zhang Zi Yi died. She pulled out the dagger and lost a lot of blood. She would die for saving Jing Cheng Wu.

The Army of Tang Dynasty is closing on the bamboo house in the woods where the gang of flying daggers gathered.

Nowadays, the movie is made internationally and distributed so.

The producer Zhang Yi Mou and Zhang Zi Yi are from China.

Liu De Hua is from Hongkong.

Jing Cheng Wu is from Taiwan and yet more popular in Japan and also Korea.

The woods of fallen leaves indicate fall.

The story ended with the first snow of the winter. The blood on white snow.

The blood indicates love and warmth.

The snow indicates purity and coldness of facts.

Liu De Hua may be rescued or buried in the snow.

Since the Army of Tang is nearby. He may be rescued.

Jing is the "winner" for the love of Zhang which brought her death. Jing is not fatally wounded.

Personally, they should resolve the issue on a personal level. Since they all know one another more than enough.

Love is sort of in the nature. And the nature can not be "enforced".

Out of greater love, Liu should let them go and disappear. Liu goes back to be underground in the government.

Love is about giving and not taking something back or expecting something in return.

At the moment, Zhang likes Jing, since he saved her life in a fake fight.

Actually, Liu saved both Jing and Zhang several times in real fights.

So both Jing and Zhang owe their lives to Liu. And Liu's MA is above both of them.

By the way, there are many and many pretty girls in Chang An; the capital of Tang.

Why only in favor of a single flower?

So the big twist is what is real and what is fake.

Maybe true love?


:D

[kyklos]

thought this movie was wretched and very dissapointing.

I had high hopes for it since i loved most of his other movies... and it was goin great until the end. Felt like they changed writers halfway through or something. I thought it started out great and had potential to be another great martial artsy flick but it fell flat on it's face at the end .... immaturely.

I mean seriously how much does it take to kill the poor girl. I was cracking up by the end.

Totally rediculous attempt at wrapping up a great starter plot.

i would give it a 2 out of 10. bla

watch ong bak

[SPJ]

The original story is called "hidden danger or ambushes from 10 fronts". Shi Mian Mai Fu.

It was a thriller. Or nonstop fightings and near escapes.

Zhang Zi Yi being the daughter of the former head of Fei Dao Men (flying dagger gang).

She will be hunted by the emperor's Army.

As the daughter of the leader in the leading resistence organization.

She has more important things to do than running away with no known police head.

Liu De Hua should have protected her all the way as loyalty to the gang and his former boss.

And yes Zhang did not kill Jing as instructed to. So Liu will kill Jing to protect Zhang.

The ending is quite good and reasonable in those days or over 1000 years ago.

My 2 cents.

[norther practitioner]

It's funny to see people praise the whole movie, 'it was awsome up until the end' then be like it sucked.. worst movie ever, because they didn't like the ending.. I didn't like the ending, but the rest of the movie was great.

[kyklos]

last time i checked the end of the movie is when all the conflicts are resolved and the plot comes to a climax relaying some basic message or moral. Any movie can be pretty and total eye candy but its overall success is measured by how strong an ending it has. So if the ending is total garbage than essentially the whole movie is

Its funny to see people totally disregard how important an ending is to the story of a movie. But then again maybe thats just me and my measilly education in film :rolleyes: guess its worth nothing in the end if mass apeal is all that really matters:(

[norther practitioner]

no ****.. yeah the ending did resovle everything.. but, it wasn't what you were used to, I didn't like it, but it was still entertaining (which is, last I checked at least why people go to the movies).

So, to me, because 5% of something is bad, I'm not going to discredit the other 95%


****ing art snobs.

[kyklos]

wow.... its good to know that when I give a simple opinion on these forums I can always count on some unattentive simple minded twit to bark at me and refer to me in plural. :).

So before you keep frothing at the mouth why don't you try re-reading my first post a couple times and then maybe you'll realize its not an attack on anybody here but just an opinion. :rolleyes:

and last time i checked i never said it was the "worst movie ever"

art snob or not i'm entitled to my opinion so you can **tch all you want.
:) :)

[SPJ]

Typical MA movies always end with that the big villain falls.

If you know how it ends, nobody will read the novel or see movie anymore.

See my previous post with Jing Yong.

There are many forums and websites about novels and movies based on Jing Yong's novels.

The "good" ending has to be within reasonal bounds and but not as expected.

Both Jing Cheng Wu and Liu De Hua are fighting. Actually Liu was injured more. Because Liu was emotionally disturbed. Jing was not as good in MA. Jing was fighting with love or hatred. He was not hurt as bad.

Zhang and every one knew if she pulls the dagger, she would die out of loss of blood.

Zhang chose to end her life to save Jing's life out of returning favor that Jing saved her life in previous fake fights in the woods.

Do not place the western eyeglass of romance or love above everything.

These are 10 turns in the minds of these 3 people.

These are fights or ambushes in 10 fronts or many fronts in their minds.

If you only see physical fights, you miss the whole movie.

There are also excellent "fights" in their minds.

Excuse me, this is NOT Disney style that prince and princess live happily thereafter. The Grummy sour loser falls. Gaston in Beauty and the best. on and on.

If you want that, go to see Disney movies.

My 2 cents.

You do not have to agree with me.

And yet many more people will agree with me.



:D

[norther practitioner]

Originally posted by kyklos
wow.... its good to know that when I give a simple opinion on these forums I can always count on some unattentive simple minded twit to bark at me and refer to me in plural. :).

So before you keep frothing at the mouth why don't you try re-reading my first post a couple times and then maybe you'll realize its not an attack on anybody here but just an opinion. :rolleyes:

and last time i checked i never said it was the "worst movie ever"

art snob or not i'm entitled to my opinion so you can **tch all you want.
:) :)


lol, thanks, you proved my point.:D

[Judge Pen]

Things aren't resolved so neatly in real life, so why should we complain if a great movie has some loose ends at the end? Apocalypse Now is a great example. The ending is somewhat anti-climatic and unresolved, but yet it's still one of the greatest movies ever made.

I liked the movie, better than Hero, and yet I don't think I grasped it in its entirity. SPJ's posts are enlightening and I'm looking forward to seeing the movie again with his insights in mind.

[PangQuan]

JP,

Im with you on that one, SPJ has some good insight. Ill go watch it this weekend again with some of my classmates who have not yet seen it. It may be just a few of us, but personally I really enjoy something that I could not have produced or directed myself. Im with those of you who dont judge something based on its small faults but on the entire picture as a whole, doing so this was a great flick. I have alway been in love with HK film, and with the budgets available to the directors now we are seeing a large contendor against Hollywood.

[SimonM]

I liked the ending. Tragedy is a refreshing change from "hollywood happy ending" movies.

I also was really impressed with the movie all-around. The plot was slightly hokey. ;)

Action: 8/10
Plot: 7/10
Cinematography: 10/10

[kyklos]

I agree with you guys things don't have to be all neat and resolved in the end of a movie and sometimes it works to the benefit of the story. Most of the time its actually annoying for me when i see a movie and it ends perfectly because thats unrealistic. (course they mostly use this for like sci-fi or fantasy or childrens movies).

But anyway my point was that it was "rediculous". The whole movie has a great sense of a serious drama. Deception, romance, honor etc these motifs when used together are almost always for dramatic and thrilling purposes. If not then they are played with in comedies and such.

So when i'm watching this movie and the final battle comes along between the two I don't think i should be laughing, i should probably have an anxious feeling of "oh wow whats gonna happen next".

I was more like "this girl got stabbed pretty much in the heart and she then falls on it from a horse so its pushed in deeper then she collapses 'dead'. Ok wow that sucked lets see what happens with the two guys now. Ok they are fighting, one from anger one from love , a nice symbolic ending. But ....o wait whats this SHE's STILL ALIVE. (but wait its been snowing all this time and shes covered in snow, so ddarn it must have been snowing a while). How the he** is she still alive this is just rediculous now hahahaha"

Thats how i feal. Not that endings need to be perfect but just basically SHE SHOULD HAVE DIED AND NOW ITS SO REDICLOUS THAT SHES ALIVE ITS FUNNY.:D

Just wanted to clear it up a bit.

Judge Pen
He**s ya Apocalypse now IS swEET:)

[Judge Pen]

She was frozen before she died and that preserved her? She didn't die becasue the knife kept her from bleeding to death? She cam back to life to save the life of her true love? It was a dream before she actually died? Who knows?

[JuJitsuJoe]

Heh, very few chinese films end very happy. Hero and Crouching tiger hidden dragon for sure. I still liked them though.

Im looking forward to seeing this one also.
Anyone watch Zatoichi? or GoJoe? I am going crazy waiting on Ong Bak to hit the theaters here.

[SPJ]

To go deeper;

Zhang Yi Mou made good movies. This is his 2nd attempt at MA movie.

"Hero", to a lot of people, carries political messages or propaganda.

Jet Li sacrificed himself to complete the bigger me which is Tian Xia, the whole world or whole China. Qin Shi Huang was burdened with this debt. Or he owed his life to his assassins. He has to complete the mission of uniting China and putting an end to wars among states for 1000 years due to weak Zhou emperors.

To redeem himself (Zhang Yi Mou) in this movie, he placed personal decisions above the group decisions. He made a romantic movie among the intricacies of friendships, loyalty to the Gang and causes to overthrow Tang etc.

Both wanted to be free like wind. Make personal decisions above the other causes or purposes of their lives.

Right or wrong is too difficult to say. That is the mind game in the movie.

This is more in line with Zhang Yi Mou's previous movie making.

[Judge Pen]

Originally posted by SPJ

"Hero", to a lot of people, carries political messages or propaganda.


I liked HFD better for this very reason. Plus I'm more of a romantic than a political activist.

[PangQuan]

I think also alot of people forget that these movies are Chinese, not Hollywood. Totaly different style and not to mention mind set, seeing as how one is in china (east) and one is in usa (west) I had thought this was pretty obvious but I guess not. Hong Kong cinema is getting bigger and so the films are looking better, hollywood better almost, but we cant forget that although it may look as good as hollywood, its not, its hong kong. Different likes different dislikes and different humor. This has to be taken into account when we critique the hong kong film. I personally enjoy chinese style films better then most usa films. But thats just how some people like their movies, Some like sugar in their coffee and some like it straight up.

[Zenshiite]

Originally posted by kyklos
last time i checked the end of the movie is when all the conflicts are resolved and the plot comes to a climax relaying some basic message or moral. Any movie can be pretty and total eye candy but its overall success is measured by how strong an ending it has. So if the ending is total garbage than essentially the whole movie is

Its funny to see people totally disregard how important an ending is to the story of a movie. But then again maybe thats just me and my measilly education in film :rolleyes: guess its worth nothing in the end if mass apeal is all that really matters:(

From eveything you've said up to this post i take it that you don't have much experience with wu xia pien...

Peace.

[SimonM]

Originally posted by PangQuan
I think also alot of people forget that these movies are Chinese, not Hollywood. Totaly different style and not to mention mind set, seeing as how one is in china (east) and one is in usa (west) I had thought this was pretty obvious but I guess not. Hong Kong cinema is getting bigger and so the films are looking better, hollywood better almost, but we cant forget that although it may look as good as hollywood, its not, its hong kong. Different likes different dislikes and different humor. This has to be taken into account when we critique the hong kong film. I personally enjoy chinese style films better then most usa films. But thats just how some people like their movies, Some like sugar in their coffee and some like it straight up.

I hate the hollywood happy ending!

I always found that Shakespeare's tragedies (especially Hamlet and King Lear) are much more moving and interesting work than any of his vacuous comedies (especially [shudder] Midsummer Night's Dream) but Hollywood almost never does a tragic film.
Fortunately - as Pang Quan pointed out, China is not Hollywood and Chinese movies are not Hollywood movies.

A toast: To Chinese cinema and the resurrection of tragedy!

[SPJ]

It has serious ending.

In "Hero", Jet Li will die no matter the outcome. He succeeded in assassination or not. He will not survive 6000 guards.

Qin has the strickest laws of all and that contributed to its success and downfall.

The law said that he who tries to assassinate the king shall die.

This is the rule in Qin when Qin is a family and then a small state. This is also the law when Qin is bigger. Qin unified the languages, the measurements on and on in China.

Jet Li did not expect to live. He successful made a gesture of assassination. So that he did not fail the death of his family and friends. So that Qin Shi Huang will remember the talk.

The meaning of death can be as light as a feather or as heavy as the Tai mountain.

Out of greater love for the whole China, Jet Li's revenge for his family and friend is not as "important". Said in the movie.

[SPJ]

In HFD;

Zhang gave up her life to save Jing as Jing did so many times for her before. There is a return of favor in addition to romantic love. But more so for returning the life saving favors.

That is why Liu cried. "You know you will die for this. Why did you still do it?" "You may not love me. But you may not leave HFD. " It is an organization bonded to overthrow the Tang. It is a blood bond.

Zhang knew Liu or any other member of HFD will kill her, because she did not kyll Jing and ran away with him.

Zhang still did it.

Zhang would die for Jing. She did.

There are more meanings than just a fling.

These are CMA novels and CMA movies.

Sorry go too deep again.

[SPJ]

Well, it is just a movie.

More fruits for thoughts.

But relax, it is only a movie.

[red5angel]

This movie sucked ass.

Plot - sucked
Action - sucked
Acting - sorta sucked
TnA - sucked
Action - still sucked

[FngSaiYuk]

Originally posted by red5angel
This movie sucked ass.

Plot - sucked
Action - sucked
Acting - sorta sucked
TnA - sucked
Action - still sucked
y'gotta admit tho', the bamboo forest scenes were preeeety... at least from the DVD...

[Starchaser107]

movie didn't suck, it was better than hero imo.
red5 i think u suck
seriously,
house of the flying daggers was a great movie you guys have no taste.

[red5angel]

NO WAY was it better then Hero!!!! You're out of your mind!

Seriously though dude, check yo' self! It was horribly slow and dull, my wife almost walked out on it. She said if she could have left she would have but I was there. I wished she sould have asked me to leave, maybe we could have sneaked into a better movie!

There was one cool scene, when the camera pans over and all those chicks are standing there in green. Other then that it was horrible.

[Starchaser107]

nonsense

plus all the fight scenes were better and more realistic than hero.

even the echo game is better than the best fight scene in hero.

plus the plot was 100 times better.

hero got a bit redundant.

hfd, was a deep and enjoyable movie.

[SPJ]

Red;

If you read the novel first, you may like it better.

I already knew the story for years.

It was fun for me to see it on a big screen.

Every movie is in its own category.

Everything is relative.

You have to put yourself into one of the characters.

Then the actions and the suspense will make sense to you.

But everyone has his or her own taste.

Imagine you are in love with your enemy, what would you do?

If you are ordered to end your love one due to --

What would you do?

What is love? What is the friendship, loyalty?

If you owe somebody your life and more, how do you return your favor?

On and on.

[SPJ]

I like Hero, too.

But for over 2000 years, every one said Qin Shi Huang is a tyrannt.

Only Zhang Yi Mou said he is the good guy. That is why he is politically isolated in the movie.

Remember, QSH had so many enemies that he even made earth or stone soldiers and horses to guard him in his afterlife.

If QSH is a good king, why any soldiers needed in afterlife.

So QSH thought he himself has done many bad things, or too much bloodshed on his hands.

Then who is to say that he is not?

[Starchaser107]

there is the premise that leaders assume a role of amorality. to them there is no good or bad, just decisions. Some people will view thier actions as good some as bad.
Qin could have been conscious that his actions might have offended others , therefore the need for protection. However this does not necessarily indicate that Qin thought his actions were evil.

[SPJ]

Yes.

He did end 1000 years of wars among states and unify China under one ruler.

However, he decided to build the Great Walls and mobilize 2/3 of the populace for labors.

Many died of hunger and thirst.

There is a famous story that a wife, Meng Jiang cried and made the Great Walls tumble. Her husband was conscripted for labor for over 10 years.

He was thinking to build an empire for a thousand year for his descendants, hence the Walls.

He built superhighways for horse carriages across China.

He built many and many things for military purposes.

His laws were very strick. If you break the laws, there is no mercy for ultimate penalty.

The yokes of his ruling on the people were with no comparison thruout history.

[Li Kao]

SPJ,

This is getting a bit off topic, but just because Qin Shi Huang put replicas of soldiers in his tomb doesn't mean he necessarily considered himself evil -- this was actually a common practice among leaders of other cultures than just the Chinese -- look at the Pharoahs of Egypt, who would even seal living servants in the tomb so they could serve their master in the afterlife. Obviously, people were much more superstitious in their rituals back in these days ...

[Li Kao]

I looked at the numbers so far as this movie has finally started hitting the major theaters here in Phoenix. So far, the numbers are fair but nothing impressive, which is disappointing as I think it was as good as Hero. The domestic gross after about 9 weeks is just under $9 million. Consider that Hero doubled that number in its opening weekend alone, though to be fair, it was playing in roughly twice the amount of theaters. Of course, Jet Li is a MUCH bigger draw here than Andy Lau, who is one of my favorite HK stars but basically still unknown to the general public here. And I know it bothered a lot of people in this forum, but you also have to consider that a backing by Tarrantino at least accounted for some of Hero's success in the U.S. markets.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=houseofflyingdaggers.htm
http://movies.yahoo.com/boxoffice/latest/rank.html

Hopefully, this movie still has some staying power at the box office. I still think it is at least equal to Hero. I know there has been much discussion about the political overtones of Hero, but I have to say that I related Jet's sacrifice in that movie on a more personal level and didn't necessarily associate it with communism, but perhaps that's because I'm just a gwailo ;)

[GeneChing]

House of Flying Daggers just got nominated for Best Cinematography (http://www.oscar.com/nominees/nom_34000.html). :cool:

[Judge Pen]

100% Agree Starchaser!

[Li Kao]

Too bad HOFD didn't also get a nomination for Best Foreign Language film :(

[herb ox]

Just say HoFD on the big screen up here in Santa Rosa, CA. Drove as fast as I could from the south bay to make it with just 10 minutes to spare... it was worth the drive to see it on big screen. many of my cohorts said: ":too much romance", "too long an ending" but I say "dang, that was well done!" It made more of an impact on me than Crouching Tiger.

Ms. Red Bean really liked it too... although even SHE said there was too much romance... toward the end, we see soldiers approaching the HoFD hideaway, but it never comes to onscreen fruition, so I gotta wonder what really happened in the end? Is this just editing for western audiences?

herb ox

[@PLUGO]

Yes very enjoyable on the big screen (you can even read the subtitles)...

I personally liked the fact that you never see the outcome of the "REAL" battle between the general's forces and the HOFD. The story from the word go was about pawns playing and being played by others...

to many shoulder shots I thought... and that ending was well, er... a r t i s t i c. I suppose.

[norther practitioner]

Chaser and I were talking about it...

more artistic than my tastes usually go, but at least understandable...

[SPJ]

The story is based on the time period around the end of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).

The arts and literatures flourished in the Dynasty. the famous 300 poems.

Japan sent 3000 students to study at the capital Chang An. They went home and changed to use Chinese characters into their verbal language. All the culture, architect, music etc Japan "borrowed" from Tang.

Japan even built a replica of Chang An and named it Tokyo and then Kyoto.

The story happened on the suburbs outside Chang An.

The emperor was not good. Many people rose up to overthrow the dynasty. Fei Dao Men or flying dagger gang was among the many organizations to end the dynasty.

[Starchaser107]

is there any way of telling how competent the martial artists of that era were? Was it possible for them to have that level of skill
Even the footsoldiers seemed highly skilled?

[red5angel]

I thought Tokyo was Edo?

When are you guys going to realize that this movie sucked? not even one ****ed explosion in the whole thing.

[SPJ]

It is ok not to like the movie.

The soldiers in the movie are actually the Palace Guards. Usually, there are around 50,000 to 100,000 men. They are elites and the best of the best. However, they fight in formations. So the first squad is gone. With a little breather, the second squad will be coming with a different strategy.

The army was near by.

The battle was about to unfold. This maybe the first or the beginning of the uprising.

Actually, they are policemen. But the way they fight is more close to those of Palace Guards and the Army.

[SPJ]

Red;

If you downplay movie, that means you do not know the military.

This is the same way how Army fights for over 5000 years in China.

As recently as Korea and Vietnam war.

The Chinese used 25 to 10 more divisions to encircle one division of UN force in Korea. The first division is out, here is the second and third, till everything is gone.

In Vietnam, NVA used 10 times more men to encircle the French or the American. the first battalion is gone. after a while, the second battalion, tommorrow the third battalion etc.

How the US fights back, use fire power from artillery and airplanes.

The 38 parallel was held on by firepowers. It was called to use the waves of fire to stop the waves of human by general MacArthur.

In the MIG alley, there were 20 0r 25 MIG-17's against every single F-86 or F-84, the same ideas.

In later part of Vietnam conflict, the US would use a small force to lure the main force of NVA nearby and bomb them with F-4 or B-52.

On and on.

Everything makes sense down to the very end.

Well at least for Chinese MA dudes.

[SPJ]

Back to the movie,

If the Palace Guards and Tang's Army are closing on Fei Dao Men, there will be more civilian gangs coming to help.

The battle has started.

[SPJ]

In case, you are still wondering,

The blind girl and the police head are lures to attract to the main force of opposition. Because, they will come to rescue their own.

More gangs will come to rescue the Fei Dao Men.

The Army of Tang and Palace Guards are waiting to "finish" them all.

All the romance in the woods are watched by many. The police, Army, Guards and gangs.

There are may eyes or spies and forces nearby waiting to fight.

Both of them are in the eye of a big storm.

A tip of the icebergs, so to speak.

Alternatively, the gangs are playing along so that the Guards will show up at the place where the gangs want them to be.

[GeneChing]

How is it that we don't have a separate thread on this film? Perhaps the search engine is buggy. I'll merge this if another thread is ever found.

Anyway, the site where HoFD was filmed is now a tourist trap, complete with statues of Andy Lau and Zhang Ziyi. Some one must go there and get an unadulterated photo of that Z statue. ;)

章子怡半裸沐浴雕塑现身《十面埋伏》外景地
http://www.sina.com.cn 2011年09月23日11:38 天府早报微博
章子怡半裸沐浴雕塑现身《十面埋伏》外景地 章子怡半裸沐浴雕塑现身《十面埋伏》外景地

http://i3.sinaimg.cn/ent/m/c/2011-09-23/U3088P28T3D3425493F326DT20110923113832.jpg

　　早报讯 (记者 常雄飞)2004年，张艺谋率刘德华、章子怡(微博)、金城武来到重庆永川一处竹海取景拍摄《十面埋伏》， 此后该景区便以影片取景地对外宣传。近日，有网友在拍到了景区借以宣传的章子怡半裸塑像，他们认为景区的做 法涉嫌侵权了章子怡的肖像权。天府早报(微博)记者昨日试图联系章子怡的经纪人纪灵灵，但对方电话一直无人 接听。

　　网友曝光的塑像中，刘德华身穿捕快服装，五官和造型都非常逼真；章子怡只有半身塑像，且埋在泥塘中，由 于塑像上半身全裸，手上动作和影片中沐浴那段戏造型一致，远看还真以为是有人在洗澡。不少网友还调侃说，塑 像身材很好，甚至比章子怡本人还要丰满。

[SPJ]

the novel was full with suspensions.

the movie was beautifully done.

the scenery that is.

zhang zi yi playing pretending blind was so believing.

--

the opera background or theme music was classic, too.

this movie is all by itself its own class.

--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLkedDMb8vI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h13aC7dVUY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pmQ4XIKw00&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzQvd6AnZrY&feature=related

:cool: