Wu ji (2005)

Director:

Kaige Chen

Writer:

Kaige Chen (writer)

Release Date:

15 December 2005 (China)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

Empowered by the love of a slave (Jang), a royal concubine (Cheung) is given the chance to make an extraordinary decision.

Plot Keywords:

Princess | Armor | General | Slave | Barbarian

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Dong-Kun Jang	...	Kunlun
Hiroyuki Sanada	...	General Guangming
Cecilia Cheung	...	Princess Qingcheng
Nicholas Tse	...	Wuhuan
Ye Liu	...	Snow Wolf
Hong Chen	...	Goddess Manshen
Qian Cheng	...	The Emperor
Xiao Wei Yu	...	Ye Li
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chun-Xiao	...	Princess Qingcheng (voice)
Anthony Wong	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

The Promise (International: English title) (Singapore: English title)
Master of the Crimson Armor (USA) (pre-release title)
Mo gik (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for stylized violence and martial arts action, and some sexual content.

Runtime:

121 min | USA:103 min (cut version)

Country:

China | Hong Kong | Japan | South Korea

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Taiwan:PG-12 | USA:PG-13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | France:U | Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:U | Brazil:12 | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 (f) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Hengdian World Studios, Heng Dian, China

Company:

21 Century Shengkai Film

Trivia:

The Weinstein Co. has handed back distribution rights for all major English speaking countries to its producers, China Film Group Corp. and Moonstone Entertainment. Reportedly, the producers of the film, including director Kaige Chen, demanded a wider released in the US and the Weinstein Co. was only willing to give it a limited exposure. Warner Independent then picked up the rights and as a result the film's title was changed back from "Master of the Crimson Armor" to "The Promise", the English title used in most countries.

Quotes:

Goddess Manshen: Once you have accepted your destiny, nothing can alter it unless time flows backwards, snow falls in the spring, and the dead come back to life.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (2006) (TV)

A Chinese fairytale with something extra

This movie is a beautiful fairytale. Everything worked,the music and scenery were top notch! The special effects were great! I must admit that the scene with the bulls running reminded me of the Lion King and that at that moment I thought this movie would be ridiculous. Instead it was the opposite! Most of the the themes are very serious ones like love,honor and betrayal! Only the ending was a bit confusing,but I think they did that to add some extra dimension or mystery to the story! I understand why many reviewers were a bit disappointed with this movie as they were expecting a martial arts movie! Although there is some martial arts this movie isn't about that. I enjoyed every minute of this movie and that is more than I can say about most of the Hollywood movies that came out this year (2006)!