HERO

[rickyoh]

this amazing film is finaly coming out 8/27
have you seen it?
what do you think?

you can check this out for trailors and clips
www.comingsoon.net/movies/h/hero.php

[Yann]

Just saw it on divx yesterday. It was pretty cool.
Some scenes made me think about Tai Chi Masters or Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger... They're like flying, walking and jumping on water :P

I also watched Zatoichi and I liked it better, it was very good actually.

[taganahan]

will this be coming out in north america too?

seems like a combination of crouching tiger and matrix. they should have used chow-yun fat instead of jet li.

~taganahan

[rickyoh]

will this be coming out in north america too?
~taganahan

i don't know about canada.
it took it a very long time to get to the us.
tell me if you find out, interesting to know.

people have been waiting for this film for a very long time....

[Kote-Men]

Yes its coming out in North America.


Wow I really like that opening scene in the preview where he chops the wall and catches the cup of tea. He has to defeat three warriors: Broken Sword, Flying Snow, and Sky.

However the movie we want to see is, of course, Meet The Fockers

[taganahan]

lol. haha....gaylord focker from meet the parents. i liked that part where he and the father of her gf was at the grocery store and he was reading some magazine.

anyone know when HERO will be coming out in north america?

~taganahan

[moetl]

this amazing film is finaly coming out 8/27

you mean coming out on dvd?

i saw the original version with caption in the cinema and at home. of course it was nicer in the cinema, but: wow. it's such a beautiful film! i like it very much. those pictures and fights are really amazing.

i like the scenery+fight at the lake best. this terrific landscape and these colours... ahhh

hero is IMO much better than tiger and dragon.

[not-I]

Yeah, it was in the cinemas in Europe some time ago.

It's sort of a cross between a kung-fu epic and a surreal fantasy film. I enjoyed the fight scenes.

Hey Moetl!
These kinds of films are typically over-the-top, but i felt Hero was FAR too overdone. It took itself too seriously. The color-coded "chapters" were a clever idea, but the realization was full-on kitch imo. The dialogues were tedius and i missed any sign of a sense of humor. And don't forget that it was a propaganda film (may not mean much to us, but using historical fiction to justify a brutal "unifying" tyrant says a heck of a lot to contemporary Chinese).

IMO, Tiger & Dragon was a better film on all levels. And it too was just a tribute to the old-school Chinese epics aimed at Westerners.

But no big deal, just the ramblings of an amateur film buff. The rest of you guys should see it and tell us what you think.

[Yann]

The end is very disappointing btw

[mingshi]

I saw it last Xmas.

Zhang Yi-Mou did some REALLY GOOD drama films about contemporary Chinese culture in the 70's- 90's. He and his actress wife, Gong Li, used to frequent the Cannes ... so he should have done better on this one. I guess he is getting old and running out of ideas!!

Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung did better in In the Mood for Love... They have a lot of drama but the pace movie is too slow to highlight this. I almost fell asleep when Maggie Cheung comes up, because I know she can't fight!!

Jet Li... I think it's a waste if you put CGI with someone who already knows kung-fu.

As for the politically correctness, I personally think it was written to satisfy the non-chinese audience...

A few months ago in "Kenso" (AJKF official monthly magazine), the AJKF president wrote a few lines about this film, because it is a film about Ken. Well, there is a bit of intentional ken-zen statement (like, realization of what your weapon is, etc.), but that's it, nothing particularly inspiring...

For the rest, I am interested to know how foreigners think about a film that is made entirely FOR them. It is quite difficult for foreigners to understand, don't you think?

[LNGUYEN]

In Hero, there was talking about the ultimate of swordman, no sword in heart, mind, and hand. It talks sword and body are one which is just one level below ultimate path. In the meantime, the Kendo philosophy is that Ki Ken Tai Ichi is ultimate. If Kendo (generally) philosophy between Chinese and Japanese may different, then what is the ultimate goal of a swordman? We today in the modern time don't need to use sword as weapon, but I think it is probably importand for ancient people. So what do you think?

[taganahan]

modern swordsman(fencers, kendokas....etc) might say that the ultimate goal is to be the best and to win. i think that they might say that because a lot of them think that it is not an art but a sport. so naturally, people who are doing sports aim to win.

~taganahan

[not-I]

For the rest, I am interested to know how foreigners think about a film that is made entirely FOR them. It is quite difficult for foreigners to understand, don't you think?

I'm not sure about that. The themes were pretty universal - almost like Star Wars. Certainly some of the background must have been lost on many, but i doubt the western Sino-Japanese history/culture geeks (such as myself) missed much. I gather that the people who really had no clue what was going on in Hero would be the same ones that thought the soldiers were bowing down to Tom Cruise towards the end of Last Samurai (like in Apocalypse Now).

And since the western fascination with kung-fu flicks went mainstream and Asian filmmakers have jumped on the Western/Hollywood bandwagon, there's been a lot of stuff out there to see.

Although it was written for westerners, i did think the political message of Hero was blatantly obvious - sort of like "You had your Civil War too, so don't bug us about Tinanmen Square." I vaguely recall some web-blogs about that issue.

I found Ang Lee's approach interesting: from Eat Drink Man Woman to Sense & Sensibilty and Ice Storm, then back to Tiger & Dragaon, then The Hulk ?!

It talks sword and body are one which is just one level below ultimate path. In the meantime, the Kendo philosophy is that Ki Ken Tai Ichi is ultimate. If Kendo (generally) philosophy between Chinese and Japanese may different, then what is the ultimate goal of a swordman?

I think the reference is: once having achieved the oneness of sword and body or Ki Ken Tai Ichi, to transcend even the idea of an ultimate goal, i.e. to realize the total freedom of Wu-Wei of Dao/Ch'an/Zen. That's the reference, but i know nothing about the actual experience.

[Paburo]

For the rest, I am interested to know how foreigners think about a film that is made entirely FOR them. It is quite difficult for foreigners to understand, don't you think?

mingshi, i totally LOVED that movie. especially felt deeply identified with the character tony leung plays/broken sword.

probably because i do calligraphy(shodo) and sword arts myself(and my shinai/sword is always broken!! hahaha). i personally think the story has a LOT to do with the kendo/kenjutsu/bushido philosophy of 'mutekatsu'(無手勝つ), since all the story revolves around the sword(剣), war, rivality. unity and peace.

for those of you who are not familiar with the term, 'mutekatsu'(無手勝つ), ill tell you it means lit. 'victory with no hands'. but it is more often described as a 'peaceful victory', winning without the need to draw your sword or kill anyone. subarashii concept yo~!

visually speaking the movie is superb too. and zhang ziyi is a kickass hottie :D

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo..._yi/tiger4.jpg

even with moustache!
http://zhangziyi.free.fr/Photos/pub/...25%20FINAL.jpg

btw mingshi, know anything about the new zhang Yimou movie starring her and Kaneshiro Takeshi??

[moetl]

These kinds of films are typically over-the-top, but i felt Hero was FAR too overdone. It took itself too seriously.

i liked it that way - the fighting scenes were just pure fantasy but i felt they were really aesthetic.

I gather that the people who really had no clue what was going on in Hero would be the same ones that thought the soldiers were bowing down to Tom Cruise towards the end of Last Samurai.

in fact, i had no clue about the historical background - but i realized the soldiers were not bowing to tom cruise. so much about your theory ^^.

For the rest, I am interested to know how foreigners think about a film that is made entirely FOR them.

i see what you mean. for foreigners who don't know about the chinese history this film is simply a story that is told very beautifully - at least it was for me. but if one tries to see it from the perspective of chinese people it's rather cynical to make such a film about the brutal unification of their country.