Cool News
A look at HERO!!!
Hey folks, Harry here... Seems the lucky folks in Palm Springs got an early look at HERO on the big screen and I'm jealous. Having met several of the people that worked on HERO while I was in China, and hearing about some of the battles and the sheer scope of the picture... I just need to see it bad. Here ya go...
I was lucky enough to catch the first North American public screening of
Zhang Yimou's Hero this evening at the Palm Springs Film Festival. It's hard
for me to put into words just how amazing this film is.
To keep it simple--the story takes place over 2000 years ago where Jet Li is
Nameless, an assassin who has crafted a way to kill the King of Qin by faking
the deaths of some of the king's greatest enemies. Only the King is on to
Nameless' scheme and this confrontation is the centerpiece for a
Rashamon-like story focusing on the people Nameless claimed to have killed or
(mainly Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen and Zhang Ziyi as a student of
Leung's). From here on we see different versions of similar events, each
version told in it's own color--so we see many of the same scenes, sets and
costumes numerous times, each in a different color.
While Hero is definitley light on story, it is basically 95 minutes of sword
and arrow-play. Each set-piece builds on what came before it and every single
one of them is done to perfection. I don't think there will be a single
review from any website or newspaper that will not include a comparison to
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but it's definatly because of that film that
Hero can be seen in the states. Yes, there's a lot of gravity-defying fights
and while CTHD definatley works better in the story and character department,
this is a far more ambitious effort, especially when it comes to a
straight-forward action film, which is what Hero is. Those who wanted less
musing and more fighting are going to get exactly what they want this time. I
don't think there is more then a 5 minute break between ANY action sequence,
and the short running time makes sure things are always moving.
But all of this would have been in vein had it not been for Chris Doyle's
astounding cinematography. Hero is one of the most vivid films ever shot and
coming on the heels of Conrad Hall's passing, it's nice to know that there
are others out there that go above and beyond the call of duty and become a
true master of the motion picture frame. This is the kind of cinematic imagry
that people are going to look at for years to come.
Hero is already a hit in Asia, I hope Miramax comes to it's senses and
relelases it here soon. I mean, for crying out loud, it was nominated for
Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globes WITHOUT any advertising campaign
whatsoever and a handful of industry screenings, if that much. Everyone will
get their chance to see it, I just hope it's sooner rather then later.
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Jan 15, 2003 4:54:06 AM CST
Wow! Hey, pardon me a sec while I-- zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
by llghtst0rmer
(See above)
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But this is the closes ive ever gotten to be first
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I can't wait to totally immerse myself into this movie on a huge screen.Jet Li is the best wu-shu badass on film today and a movie of this scope can't be missed.
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they should realease the lengend of fong sai yuk in to theaters. hopefully this'll be as good as that and people will realease what they've been missing out on. that is all
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i also like the same story for different perspectives idea. a really good x-files ep had that once. I don't think that idea is used enough.
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Jet Li...martial arts. Ok, I'll probably watch it. Will I watch it because of this review? Uhm...definatley (option 2, I believe) not.
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Kee-rist, girl - you'd better not misspell anything in your talkback ever again. So this is less thinking and more smashing? Sounds, well, alright I guess.
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Jan 15, 2003 9:48:24 AM CST
Ah yeah, this is that thing that's been real controversial in Ch
by chilli kramer
Because it makes a 'Hero' of someone that might be considered a tyrant, a guy Mao was a great fan of - and one that the present day Chinese government are trying to promote as well. But all we'll see is 'Wow, he kicked that dude's head off!' So no worries. Like we'd ever take a history lesson from films!
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Zhang Yimou (To Live, Raise the Red Lantern) is in the top 5 directors working in the world today.
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Jan 15, 2003 12:18:54 PM CST
DAMMIT! I have a press pass to the Palm Springs Film Festival an
by heckles
Son of a...! I have a HUGE list of films to see- FOR FREE- and somehow this got by me. Just my luck.
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Hero is stunning. The cinematography/art direction is gorgeous and the story, while simple, is told in a Rashoman-type manner, with different interpretations and hidden intentions from every character. The fight scenes are far more surreal and blow CTHD out of the water...characters fight on the surface of a lake, use leaves as weapons, and fend off thousands of arrows with their swords. Unfortunately, Miramax is recutting it as we speak. Why that is necessary is beyond me.
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Your sincere words did more to interest me in this film than several paragraphs rife with misspellings that detracted from the reviewers message. It was much appreciated (and why the hell didn't *you* send in a review?!)
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well.-.i`m actually looking forward to see hero. though as chilli kramer said the delineation of the king did obviousy not stay true to the original king who was rather a tyrann. i`m just wondering that zhang yimou did a movie for mao`s taste. hopefully it still rocks:)
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Jan 15, 2003 6:34:45 PM CST
The people associated with this makes it interesting but...
by grandocalrissian
I gotta know more to get me champing at the bit for this one. And though no one's said anything about it yet, the first person to bitch about "wire-fu" and how fake and stupid it is is getting kicked squaw in the nuts.
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'Bout damn time. I don't knock the guy for trying to make some bank and cash in on the fact that he's an action madman, but his American films have not been kind to the mans reputation, at least as far as this viewer is concerned. I'm always a fan of HK period piece KungFu extravaganzas, so I'll be there opening day, whenever that is. M
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In the immortal words of AICN, Yimou can have a beer in his ribcage and cheet on his wife anytime in my books. He is the best. can't wait to see HERO.
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Jan 15, 2003 8:53:21 PM CST
Hero is out on dvd this feburary anways and this wasn't the only
by kampbell-kid
They also shown Shaolin Soccer as well at the Not sure if it was the original or the Miramax dubbed version. But yea the HERO dvd comes out Feburary except some sites say with no english subs. Damn you Miramax for sitting on yet another good film on the shelf.
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Just saw Hero last night and I love it. Frankly I had my reservations due to some of the criticisms I had overheard before watching it. And I was worried about it being another beautifully shot film yet lacking in substance in the story and character development(like so many of the movies released last year. I know so of you might disagree but Road to Perdition and Gangs of NY fell into that category for me). Fortunately Hero was lived up to my expectations. The story was simply yet effective.The use of the 4 colours..reminiscent of The 3 Colours Trilogy.Characters were interesting and engaging but not personal like Zhang Yimou's other films. But then again, his other films are about domestic issues and this film is about national issue of epic proportions. Hero was also a lesson in the Chinese History and for those who know about Emperor Qin would doubly appreciate it. One point to remember and in which I think some may miss it altogether is that Hero is not about a person. There is really no one hero, tragic, reluctant or otherwise. Qin Shi Huang(Emperor Qin) is not portrayed as a hero and neither are the assassins. What Hero is all about is the qualities and essence of a hero. What I really like about the film is the tone; the quiet, contemplative tone with a tinge of sadness. And the score was brilliant. For me there was a touch of greatness in 2 moments of the score; one in the narrative by Nameless about his fight with Sky and the other is when Emperor Qin relates his own fight with Broken Sword. Brilliant. You have to watch and listen carefully. My second favourite thing about this movie is how Zhang Yimou implies a lot; the fighting, the violence, the deaths. Perhaps this is just a personal taste but that to me shows more class than explicit laborous depicting scenes which only serves to undermine the audience and insult our intelligence. My only dissatisfaction was the briefness of the character Sky. Wish there were more scenes of him. I only hope that people will not be comparing Hero with CTHD too much. I know the comparison will be inevitable but there are really quite different. Personally I didn't like CTHD. The fight scenes pales in comparison to some of the other better martial arts films. In Hero, the fight scenes are beautifully choreographed and steep in traditions of Wuxia films and books. I do hope everyone will rush out and watch this.
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And by the way, if you go in expecting an action film. This is not that. It has quite a few quiet moments. So don't start complaining how this is slow and stuff. You want action...go watch some of the older Hong Kong Wuxia films.
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thought it sucked. Worst movie Dustin Hoffman's done since Ishtar. Yeah, you all remember Ishtar.
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thought it was strange they would have "cool news" about a 10 year-old movie.
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Jan 15, 2003 10:25:42 PM CST
am I the only one who thinks bitching about spelling is pointles
by jacklint
Really, what the hell does it matter if a guy writes a review and forgets to spellcheck? This is AICN for fucks sake, who cares? I mean, I appreciate a well written review as much as the next guy, but I dont get the obsession with TBers to harp on any technical flaw they come accross. Oh, and the movie sounds awesome.
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dat movie was tight...is hero kind of like that?
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I tend to disagree.I love HK action/fantasy film simply because they are pure energetic popcorn films.They deliver.Not everything released is 100% genius,and I wish people would realize that about heavy handed American "epics"as well.
Oh,and if Star Wars was a Chinese film,no we wouldn't call it genius.Two big budget recent films from Hong Kong,Avenging Fist and Legend of Zu,were creative,but ultimately dull and sorely lacking in story. -
HA HA HA Yes, finally, after many months of waiting I saw HERO at Palm Spring High School last night.(really nice campus, auditorium, and the town, rich area) I didn't want to wait 10 more months till it threate release so I immediately purchased the ticket once i found out it release at Palm Spring. I drove almost 200 miles from LA to Riverside to pick up a friend then to the Fest and back, (my friends, boss, and my bro said I am crazy just to see a movie) but I felt i had to go, so i went. It was all worth the time and money. Overall, i give this movie a B+, i felt lil bored sometime (cause this is a freakin drama movie, other than this i enjoy it very much or maybe because i felt tired from driving). Maybe i expected too much from this movie. But, i definitely recommend it to u all. I just cannot compare one from another, cause all casts act and fight really WELL. They all deserve some kind of award from this movie. one more thing, nice CGI, didn't over done it. I definitely will buy the DVD version comming out next month. Can't wait to watch again to understand it better. One lesson for you guys, try not to expect too much, just enjoy the film.
PS: Remember the two words Tian Xia.
GOOD DAY, bye all -
I'm currently a student in China and I actually saw Hero this afternoon, after tons of my local friends kept asking me,'Have you seen Hero yet?'. This movie is all the rage in China right now. It's a visually beautiful film, and the visuals are all that I can really comment on because there were no English subtitles and my Chinese is not 'up to par' yet. The fight scenes are just awesome (even if you're not a Martial Arts fan you'll be able to appreciate them), and the various scene locations (both interiors and exteriors) are just gorgeous. Small Spoiler Here: there's a couple of battle scenes in Hero that put Braveheart's 'arrows flying through the air' shots to shame. Needless to say I'm very eager to see this movie again, with English subtitles; I'd love to know what the heck they were talking about! Oh yeah, I did manage to see Attack of the Clones in Chinese, when it opened up here last month, and I found the agonizingly pathetic English dialogues a lot less painful that way!
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No one's stupid enough to spell "vain" as "vein". It just shows what the studios think of people who read this site. The flogging of the movie as an action picture par excellence is especially transparent. Miramax must be terrified of the idea that all the 18 year olds will check out "Ju Dou" and "Raise the Red Lantern" and stay away from "Hero" in droves.
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as the reviewer says. there is one resounding theme in the movie and i thought a very very good job was done of expounding on the theme with different perspectives. from both a script and visual point of view, zhang yimou did a great job of linking and overlapping and creating a sense of continuity before bringing it all together at the end of the film. and the ending was just phenomenal.
i really went into this movie expecting to hate it, but instead i was blown away. one big thing was the use of stylized kungfu fighting, which i caught in the trailers, and thought, oh no, not another CTHD ridiculous flying scenes movie. (by the way, i liked CHTD too) but i would say for the most part, the stylized scenes were done with a purpose, they added to the whole visual message of the film, rather than being the focus of the scene. does that make sense? having said that, the movie does have very good "real" fighting scenes, esp the one between nameless and sky.
this was a very different movie from what i expected, not a traditional wuxia pian. i think jet li said somewhere in an interview that rather, it's a movie that puts the "xia" (valour?) before the "wu" (kungfu), and i would tend to agree with him. -
*spoilers abound*
one thing cannot be denied: the visuals are breath taking. scenery left me speechless. cinematography was surreal, strong, symbolic and sharp all at once (if that's possible) ditto on the conrad L. hall reference (and RIP good man, thanks for the truth in the beauty of your images and the beauty in the truth). the fighting scenes are brilliant, with both gravity defying stunts (ala CTHD) and great athleticism from the actors (esp jet and donnie).
but that's where the good stuff stops. the movie is like a pile of shit in a great looking prada bag. okay, i GET zhang yimou's power of suggestion in the use of colours, but what other purpose did it serve? it's as archaic and unrefreshing as the colour stereotypes used in traditional chinese dialectal operas! and the plot? it's just made so that all the major characters can have fight scenes with each other.
one nice point came right at the end of the movie. "fei xue" (flying snow) and "wu ming" (nameless) both consumed by their hatred and vengence were blinded to the idea of "tian xia" (literally: everything under the sky), which "can jian" (broken sword) and "qin wang" (king of qin, not emperor YET) through both art and the solitude of sovereignty (respectively) understood. this parellel was apt and obvious, but came way too late in the movie to save it from being just a beautiful tepid mess. maybe it's also cos the dialogue was written with such adherence to the outdated linguistic nuances that they didn't bother to make it interesting!!! and was the very jarringly segmented stories supposed to mirror the chaos of the warring states period? on how the "lies" fragment the truth and that at the end there is only once truth and hence unification is the only truth? i didn't care by then :)
having said that, go watch the movie. it's an absolute treat for the senses. CTHD had great heart and soul in its story, which is sorely lacking here. -
I was fortunate enough to watch this movie last night (on tape). I can't wait to see this on the big screen. It's completely breathtaking -- with visuals that surpass CTHD -- which is saying a lot because I'm a huge fan of the former. I hear the release date isn't until May -- a huge frustration -- but it will be worth the wait. If anyone has a chance to see this movie they should jump. Miramax -- hurry up!
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http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/2...mages/hero2.jpg
Does anyone know where I can get a high resolution version of the linked picture? I think it looks really nice and would like to use it as a background image...
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