Wu ji (2005)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

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:

General | Armor | Slave | Princess | King

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:
Anthony Wong	...	(voice)

Directed by
Kaige Chen

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kaige Chen		writer

Produced by
Hong Chen	....	producer
Yong Er	....	line producer
Sanping Han	....	producer
Dong-ju Kim	....	producer
Dong-ming Shi	....	co-producer
Ernst Etchie Stroh	....	producer
Buting Yang	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Klaus Badelt

Cinematography by
Peter Pau

Production Management
Max Wang	....	production manager
Jiakun Zhang	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dion Lam	....	second unit director

Sound Department
Steve Burgess	....	sound effects editor
Nigel Christensen	....	sound editor
Nigel Christensen	....	sound effects editor
Chris Goodes	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Chris Goodes	....	sound editor
Antony Gray	....	sound effects editor
Paul Korber	....	sound editor
Jiajia Mok	....	sound effects editor
Andrew Neil	....	sound effects editor
Andrew Neil	....	sound re-recording mixer
Glenn Newnham	....	sound effects editor
Paul Pirola	....	sound effects editor
Roger Savage	....	sound re-recording mixer
Roger Savage	....	sound supervisor
Blair Slater	....	foley editor
Blair Slater	....	foley recordist
Terry Tu	....	foley artist
Mario Vaccaro	....	foley artist
Andy Wright	....	assistant re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Henry Kwok Ho Chan	....	visual effects artist

Stunts
Dion Lam	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Edmond Chan	....	first assistant camera
Sung Fai Choi	....	camera operator: second unit
Jimmy Fok	....	key crane operator
Louis Jong	....	key grip
Kenny Lam	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Tak-Shing Lee	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Sebastian Leda	....	promo on-line editor

Music Department
Christopher Brooks	....	score co-producer
Robert Elhai	....	orchestrator
Ian Honeyman	....	music arranger
Julian Kershaw	....	orchestrator
Xincao Li	....	conductor
Stephen McLaughlin	....	music mixer
Stephen McLaughlin	....	music recordist
Stephen McLaughlin	....	score engineer
Andrew Raiher	....	music arranger
Sinead Smyth	....	score production coordinator
Jeff Toyne	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Jamie Bukowski	....	assistant: Klaus Badelt
John Samuel Hanson	....	synthesizer programmer
Robert Milo Williams	....	synthesizer programmer

Thanks
Michael Stewart Grant	....	special thanks (as Michael Grant)

Production Companies

• 21 Century Shengkai Film
• Capgen Investment Group
• China Film Group
• Moonstone Entertainment
• Show East

Distributors

• Moonstone Entertainment (2005) (non-USA) (all media)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Encore Films (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Golden Village Entertainment (2005) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• TFM Distribution (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Telexcel/ImpactoCine (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• G2 Pictures (2009) (UK) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• VCL Communications (2006) (Germany) (all media)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Centro Digital Pictures Ltd. (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Centro Digital Pictures Ltd.  digital intermediate
• China National Symphony Orchestra  orchestra
• Epic Records  soundtrack
• Getty Images  stock footage
• Image Bank  stock footage
• Salon Films  Chapman camera dollies
• Salon Films  cameras and lenses
• Salon Films  grip and lighting equipment
• Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.  sound post-production
• Soundfirm  sound post production

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 Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Netherlands:12 | Malaysia:U | Brazil:12 | South Korea:12 | Germany:12 (f) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade)

Filming Locations:

Hengdian World Studios, Heng Dian, China

Company:

21 Century Shengkai Film

Trivia:

When this movie's North American distributions were under contracts of Weinstein Company, it was titled "Master of the Crimson Armor" for American appeal. But since they were given to Warner Independent Pictures, they used the English title used in most countries called "The Promise".

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)!