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.
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.
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
A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.
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>
Yimou Zhang conceived the story in the late 1990s as a companion to Hero (2002) (aka Hero). See more »
Goofs
At the end of the Echo Game, the captain throws the entire bowl of white beans which bounce off the drums and ultimately fall to the ground. When Mei echoes the movements with her scarves, there are no beans on the ground. See more »
Quotes
Leo:
Jin, you should know, there are more soldiers ahead.
Jin:
What!
Leo:
The general sent them. They don't know you either. You must stop them. There is nothing I can do. The order given to these soldiers is 'Fight to kill'. If you don't kill them they will kill you. Take care.
Jin:
I quit!
See more »
Crazy Credits
The Chinese theatrical release has a Chinese translation of the ending song (which has lyrics in English) on the left side of the screen during the credits. See more »
I have never, ever seen a film that the West has ever created that can top Chinese cinema in this form, with the exception possibly being Lord of the Rings. I truly applaud Oriental taste. I can't count the number of times I have completely forgotten that I've actually got my own physical form while watching films like House of Flying Daggers, but I can count how many times that's happened during Western films: zero.
For those of you who have no taste I beg you: but aside your views on gravity-defying fight scenes and subtitles. Just remember that this is something called FANTASY. It isn't real, no matter how much you wish it to be. It's called cinema: you can do whatever the hell you like in film. I don't complain when you've got aliens that spurt out your chest. I don't complain when the dead rise from their graves. I don't complain about the lack of reason behind the ideas that aliens would have less intelligence than humans or that the living dead would harbour grudges against the really living. I complain when it just looks simply uninspiring and frankly visually boring.
So, Zhang Yimou, please bring on more heroes and flying daggers
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I have never, ever seen a film that the West has ever created that can top Chinese cinema in this form, with the exception possibly being Lord of the Rings. I truly applaud Oriental taste. I can't count the number of times I have completely forgotten that I've actually got my own physical form while watching films like House of Flying Daggers, but I can count how many times that's happened during Western films: zero.
For those of you who have no taste I beg you: but aside your views on gravity-defying fight scenes and subtitles. Just remember that this is something called FANTASY. It isn't real, no matter how much you wish it to be. It's called cinema: you can do whatever the hell you like in film. I don't complain when you've got aliens that spurt out your chest. I don't complain when the dead rise from their graves. I don't complain about the lack of reason behind the ideas that aliens would have less intelligence than humans or that the living dead would harbour grudges against the really living. I complain when it just looks simply uninspiring and frankly visually boring.
So, Zhang Yimou, please bring on more heroes and flying daggers