During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically skilled, adolescent nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life.
It's a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. It is based on "The Assassination of Ma," a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about ... See full summary »
In this sequel to Red Cliff, Chancellor Cao Cao convinces Emperor Xian of the Han to initiate a battle against the two Kingdoms of Shu and Wu, who have become allied forces, against all ... See full summary »
Director:
John Woo
Stars:
Tony Chiu Wai Leung,
Takeshi Kaneshiro,
Fengyi Zhang
In a remote mountain village, the teacher must leave for a month, and the mayor can find only a 13-year old girl, Wei Minzhi, to substitute. The teacher leaves one stick of chalk for each ... See full summary »
During the reign of the Tang dynasty in China, a secret organization called "The House of the Flying Daggers" rises and opposes the government. A police officer called Leo sends officer Jin to investigate a young dancer named Mei, claiming that she has ties to the "Flying Daggers". Leo arrests Mei, only to have Jin breaking her free in a plot to gain her trust and lead the police to the new leader of the secret organization. But things are far more complicated than they seem... Written by
Chris Makrozahopoulos <makzax@hotmail.com>
The scene in the bamboo forest is very common in Chinese martial arts movies. Yimou Zhang felt that he had to stay in that tradition and added the scene in the bamboo forest. See more »
Goofs
The music that the live musicians play during the drum duel scene, although beautiful, is not characteristic of classical Chinese music of that era. See more »
Quotes
Mei:
A rare beauty in the North. She's the finest lady on earth. A glance from her, the whole city goes down. A second glance leaves the nation in ruins. There exists no city or nation that has been more cherished than a beauty like this. A rare beauty in the North. She's the finest lady on earth. A glance from her, the whole city goes down. A second glance leaves the nation in ruins. There exists no city or nation that has been more cherished than a beauty like this.
See more »
I guess having this movie out just a few months after the U.S. release of "Hero" was more than many moviegoers could chew (and you can see it in the reviews here). That takes away from a fantastic experience. Every frame of this film is exquisite. It was breathtaking scene after breathtaking scene. There are enough plot twist, double crossings and romance to keep the scenes between the action sequences interesting. Ziyi Zhang plays her best role of what I call now a trilogy (which includes "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero" and now "House Of Flying Daggers" -the best of the three). It's not Yimou Zhang's best movie, that'd be "Raise The Red Lantern", but it's proof this director is on a roll. Go see this movie without worry.
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I guess having this movie out just a few months after the U.S. release of "Hero" was more than many moviegoers could chew (and you can see it in the reviews here). That takes away from a fantastic experience. Every frame of this film is exquisite. It was breathtaking scene after breathtaking scene. There are enough plot twist, double crossings and romance to keep the scenes between the action sequences interesting. Ziyi Zhang plays her best role of what I call now a trilogy (which includes "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero" and now "House Of Flying Daggers" -the best of the three). It's not Yimou Zhang's best movie, that'd be "Raise The Red Lantern", but it's proof this director is on a roll. Go see this movie without worry.