Hero

[MA-Caver]

A friend of mine had a chinese import DVD last year. All the menus were in chinese and it took us forever to get the subs off of Mandarin and on English. This is one of the five greatest martial arts movies all time. The fights are very stylistic, you know, flying through the air and all, but the story and the cinematography are amazing. It's long, but it's great. The use of color is incredible. I've seen it several times and I can't wait to see it on the big screen. Definately a must see movie.
-Rob

I just came home after seeing this movie. It is excellent without a doubt. Instantly becoming one of my top ten favorites and one of my top five favorite foreign films.
I can't exactly agree with it being a Martial Arts Movie. I'd call it a Historical drama with Martial Arts dominating the fight scenes, primarily sword fighting and very little h2h. I saw it as a love story set in a historical period.
At an hour and 36 minutes it's not exactly long, it just seems that way because you get so immersed into the film/story. Great cinematography as well. I commented to my friend who watched it with me that it was neat seeing a land that I'll probably never see in person. China is a beautiful country.
It's a beautiful film and a wonderful use of colors and choreography. The battle sequences or more accurately the army marches and etc. are a reminder of the old adage "Never get into a land war with Asia". Mind blowing knowing that the hundreds and thousands of soldiers portrayed in the film were not CGI.
Lots of wire work ala Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but as I argued with a friend about that film and (his opinion) the unrealism of the flying sequences, this one (Hero) portrays Chinese legends of superhuman abilities. Having seen the aforementioned movie made watching Hero much easier.
What was the wierdest part about the whole film was listening to Jet Li speak native Chinese instead of his thickly accented English.
Zhang Ziyi of course was one of the eye-candies that I'll always enjoy.
:asian:

 

[Scout_379]

loved this movie

great story
great fights
great morals

Zhang Ziyi of course was one of the eye-candies that I'll always enjoy

yyeeeah!

 

[Chicago Green Dragon]

Fingers crossed, but I think this is going to be pretty cool:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/hero.html

This is an excellent movie. I got the DVD from hong kong like a year ago. Fantastic movie. whether its fighting in the water scene or the incredible fending off a million and one arrows scene. 2 thumbs up
Great movie to see.

In the latest and the issue just before of inside kung fu Jet li is doing an interview in it.

Chicago Green Dragon

:asian:

 

[Patrick Skerry]

Fingers crossed, but I think this is going to be pretty cool:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/hero.html

I just saw this movie, and it was very cool. A lot of hidden symbolism just like in the Korean movie: 'Spring, summer, fall, winter, ... and Spring'.

I loved the subtlety of showing feared & skilled assassins who placed wei chi (Go) and studied calligraphy, all highly refined skills with philosophical overtones. Suggesting these men and woman were not all that they appeared to be.

I was also impressed with the dialogue between the Emporer and Jet Li, particularly when the Emporer stated that he was underestimated, and proved that he was no fool, but a highly intelligent and introspective man.

Donny Yen is just a great performer and should make a ton more martial art flicks before he gets too old to do kung fu any more.

The ending was significant: He was excecuted as a criminal but buried as a hero. So cool.

 

[Bob D.]

While I'm not a big fan of "Wire" or "flying" martial arts movies, I knew going in this might be over the top. All I can say is "WOW". Great cinima. One of the most beautifully filmed movies I've seen. I went with the fantasy and was hooked start to finish. A must see on a big screen!

 

[Patrick Skerry]

While I'm not a big fan of "Wire" or "flying" martial arts movies, I knew going in this might be over the top. All I can say is "WOW". Great cinima. One of the most beautifully filmed movies I've seen. I went with the fantasy and was hooked start to finish. A must see on a big screen!

Yes, they kept the flying wire stuff to a minimum in HERO, which helped a lot.

 

[bluespacething]

Yeah...a few of us from my Tae Kwon Do class decided to go see this the other weekend. I really enjoyed it. The first word out of my mouth afterwards was "beautiful." I loved the use of color in it and the way the characters were portrayed in each telling. I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite movies this year.

 

[Feisty Mouse]

Yeah, yeah.... Zhang Ziyi is cool, but I was happy to see Maggie Cheung! I think I first saw her in Heroic Trio.

 

[SMP]

I saw the movie and thought it was very well done.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

It's definately on my 'to buy' list. I loved the color changes. I wonder if they mean anything specific in China?

 

[Sin]

I thought it really wasn't that good at all.....or maybe I just kept falling asleep and missed certian parts.....I did go to see the latest showing. hmmm

 

[Corporal Hicks]

I thought it really wasn't that good at all

I agree to the extent that I thought the physcological colours and the swordplay was excellent but I didnt think much else of the movie. Stil worth a look if your interested though.