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Ying xiong
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Ying xiong (2002)

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User Rating: 8.0/10 (60,638 votes)
Photos (see all 42 | slideshow) Videos

Overview

Director:
Yimou Zhang
Writers:
Feng Li (writer)
Bin Wang (writer)
more
Release Date:
27 August 2004 (USA) more view trailer
Tagline:
Kono kuni wa mada, hontô no hero wo shiranai [Japan] ("This land doesn't know a real hero. Yet.) more
Plot:
A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 21 wins & 19 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(9 articles)
Why Milo Ventimiglia Is Dressed as a Crazed Bunny on YouTube (From PEOPLE.com. 24 March 2008, 2:10 AM, PDT)
Smallville: Episode 7.13 "Hero" Recap (From BuddyTV. 13 March 2008, 11:05 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
A most beautifully questionable film more

Cast

 (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Hero (USA)
Jet Li's Hero (USA)
Quentin Tarantino Presents Hero (USA) (promotional title)
Ying hung (China: Cantonese title)
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for stylized martial arts violence and a scene of sensuality.
Runtime:
99 min | Turkey:89 min (TV version) | China:107 min (extended version) | China:93 min
Country:
Hong Kong | China
Language:
Mandarin
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital
Filming Locations:
Dunhuang, Gansu, China more
MOVIEmeter: ?
V 20% since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
All of the soldiers in the Qin army sequence as well as the palace sequences were performed by actual Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers, except the stunt performers. It's estimated that 18000 were used as extras in the film. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: At the beginning when Nameless first walks into the courtyard and the camera pans back and forth you can clearly see the line of soldiers is only a couple of people deep. It is possible to see daylight between their legs, however when shot is shown from above the fact the entire scene is filled with soldiers would have made this impossible. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Nameless: [voiceover] I was orphaned at a young age and was never given a name. People simply called me Nameless. With no family name to live up to, I devoted myself to the sword. I spent ten years perfecting unique skills as a swordsman. The King of Qin has summoned me to court, for what I have accomplished has astonished the kingdom.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Mini (2007) more

FAQ

A NOTE REGARDING SPOILERS
Is this movie based on a novel?
more
68 out of 88 people found the following comment useful:-
A most beautifully questionable film, 24 December 2004
7/10
Author: the_usual_suspect from United Kingdom

After two years of hearing about the myth of the most expensive Chinese film ever made, Hero has finally floated on to British cinema screens. As it flies, it trails a coloured cloth that carries the film's numerous morals and messages which descend upon you like a soft layer of fabric. This is a film that can lift your spirits and have you laughing out in sheer joy as you gaze in wonder at the perfection of the mise-en-scene and cinematography. That is, if you let the film take you on a journey, without pondering the films questionable plot points.

Hero is two sides of a tale as presented by Nameless (Jet Li), a mere Prefect who defeated three deadly assassins, and the King of Qin (Daoming Chen), the man the assassins wished to kill. Nameless weaves his heroic though modest story of how he killed the assassins, but the King remains unconvinced, spinning his own version of how he believed events unfolded.

Director Yimou Zhang takes us through Nameless' story first, spreading the battle sequences thick, allowing them to take their own time. In the King's version, certain battles are then revised, which is remarkably brave considering that some battles are utter fabrications. In one such fictitious fight, in a faultlessly designed set, Nameless and Sky (Donnie Yen) close their eyes and fight out the battle within their minds. Screen time is being spent lavishly on showing how two characters contemplated a fight, whilst fighting each other in a battle that never occurred. It is confusing certainly, but perhaps Zhang wished for his audience to get lost in the plot's design so that they would not question the warrantability of half of the battle sequences, which make up most of the film.

Yet, it is difficult to ponder these details when they are made so utterly insignificant when viewing such a spectacle. The sheer beauty of the battles, the gentle floating of the assassins as they fly around their arenas (which range from a forest full of orange leafed trees, crisp leaves falling down to the ground like rain, to the crystal clear and calm of a mountain lake), the costumes of characters at varying stages in the story line (red for passion, green for youth, white for truth, blue for love), the amazing army scenes which feature thousands of arrows being fired into the sky to create a black cloud that descends right on top of the camera, all these elements combine to produce a faultlessly perfect image on the screen, each frame a worthy photograph that gently reminds you why cinema is the greatest art form of the twentieth century.

And characterisation is not lost in this beauty as one may have feared. Despite the irritating two dimensional performance of Zhang Ziyi as Moon, the other actors carry off fine performances, especially Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Broken Sword and Daoming Chen as the King. Their performances are especially credible as they are often drowning in the memories of the King and Nameless - they need to change slight mannerisms in order to reflect whose mind they are now in.

The script too is of an impressively high standard. The moments of clarity that the warriors feel are experienced by the audience also, and there are some very informed outlooks of the emptiness of warfare, communicating that to achieve peace, sometimes war is the only option. These messages of course seem fitting in our current times, underlining how ancient some of the methods of our governing body truly are.

Hero is undoubtedly a most beautiful and awe inspiring film. What it lacks in plot substance, it makes up for with structure and script. It elaborates on the ground work created by 'Crouching Tiger' and is an experience that I would encourage you to seek out, as long as you are willing to submit to the film and let it guide you through its world on its own terms.

Rating: 4/5

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Anyone recommends Similar movies? antoniozapata
Stupid Comunist Propaganda paul_tutzu
Please, vote a 10! Hero deserves to be at least in top 150!!! nebular-2
please hollywood action films, stop with the... rebelz
cant believe this a true story jmicaallef
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