A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
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.
Set in China in the 1860's during the Taiping Rebellion, the story is based on the assassination of Ma Xinyi in 1870. Loyalist General Qingyun is the only survivor of a battle with ... See full summary »
During the Japanese invasion of 1937, when a wealthy martial artist is forced to leave his home and work to support his family, he reluctantly agrees to train others in the art of Wing Chun for self-defense.
In ancient China, before the reign of the first emperor, warring factions throughout the Six Kingdoms plot to assassinate the most powerful ruler, Qin. When a minor official defeats Qin's three principal enemies, he is summoned to the palace to tell Qin the story of his surprising victory.Written by
Yocke
Jet Li agreed to a pay cut so he could be in the movie. See more »
Goofs
Obvious stunt double for The King in fighting scenes. See 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.
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Alternate Versions
The Director's Cut was 107:15 minutes, compared to the theatrical version at 96:23 minutes. See more »
This impressive film has intrigue and action along with magnificent martial arts and breathtaking combats . In ancient China, before the reign of the first emperor , warring factions throughout the Six Kingdoms plot to assassinate the most powerful ruler, Qin who subsequently founded first Chinese dynasty : Qin Shihauing . The king undertakes a bloody , lethal campaign and he is waging war to conquer the entire land . He has been made a target of various dangerous assassins : spear-wielding Sky (Donnie Yen) , Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) ,Flying Snow (Maggie Chung) and Moon (Ziyi Zhang) . A defense officer , Nameless, (Jet Li) was summoned by the King Qin (Daoming Chen) regarding his success of terminating three warriors . The King attempts to create an unified China , adjoining states . When a minor official defeats Qin's three principal enemies , he is summoned to the palace to tell Qin the story of his surprising victory .
This classic Wu Xia flick displays lots of violence , action filled , thrills and fierce combats . This luxurious martial arts film was marvelously filmed with good production design , fabulous costumes by Emi Wada , luxurious cinematography and breathtaking scenes . It's considered by some reviewers as an ambiguous apologia for state violence but jammed as philosophical arts martial picture . The flick displays spectacular and overwhelming battles with lots of extras including use of arches , arrows and lances . In fact , 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 . This is a colourful, China set and expensively budgeted movie ; leave no cliché untouched , though the fighting are magnificently staged . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , fierce combats and overwhelming struggles . The lake scenes took almost three weeks to film because director Yimou Zhang insisted that the lake's surface had to be perfectly still and mirror-like during filming . Amid the grandeur of the scenarios and impressive fights is developed an intrigue about the China unification . Maggie Cheung required weeks of training , even Ziyi Zhang, who earned rave reviews with her martial arts performance in Cruching tiger , hidden dragon(2000) needed intensive training to become adept with the twin blades she fights with during many of her scenes in Hero . Colorful and brilliant cinematography by Christopher Doyle , Ziyi's ordinary . Appropriate as well as evocative musical score by Dan Tu ; he is especially known for his work on Crouching tiger , hidden dragon (2000) that won Academy Award and Fallen (1998).
The motion picture was compellingly directed by the Chinese Zhang Ziyi who has established himself firmly as a distinguished filmmaker/producer whose last films have generated millions in China box office . Originally released in 2002 in Asia, it would not be another two years until this film was released in the United States . Studio executives were concerned that the foreign-language film would not be successful at the box office with American audiences . Among fans, this is part of the "Zhang Ziyi trilogy," which includes Hero (2002), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) . In all three films, her romantic relationship is ended with the death of either herself or her boyfriend . Zhang Yimou is an excellent and veteran director who in his films often explores the dark side of life in small Chinese rural communities . Most of his pictures begin with the title displayed in Chinese calligraphy style . He has achieved several successes such as ¨Curse of the Golden flower¨ , ¨House of flying daggers¨ , Hero¨ , ¨The road home¨, ¨The red lantern¨, "Shanghai Triad" winning several prizes in various International Festivals . And this Zhang Yimou's ambitious historical epic ¨Hero¨ , it has grossed at the Chinese box office to become one of the best biggest release of all time, including American tentpoles , being already the third highest-grossing Chinese film ever, as well as the top grossing Chinese film of 2003 . Rating : Above average . Essential and indispensable seeing .
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This impressive film has intrigue and action along with magnificent martial arts and breathtaking combats . In ancient China, before the reign of the first emperor , warring factions throughout the Six Kingdoms plot to assassinate the most powerful ruler, Qin who subsequently founded first Chinese dynasty : Qin Shihauing . The king undertakes a bloody , lethal campaign and he is waging war to conquer the entire land . He has been made a target of various dangerous assassins : spear-wielding Sky (Donnie Yen) , Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) ,Flying Snow (Maggie Chung) and Moon (Ziyi Zhang) . A defense officer , Nameless, (Jet Li) was summoned by the King Qin (Daoming Chen) regarding his success of terminating three warriors . The King attempts to create an unified China , adjoining states . When a minor official defeats Qin's three principal enemies , he is summoned to the palace to tell Qin the story of his surprising victory .
This classic Wu Xia flick displays lots of violence , action filled , thrills and fierce combats . This luxurious martial arts film was marvelously filmed with good production design , fabulous costumes by Emi Wada , luxurious cinematography and breathtaking scenes . It's considered by some reviewers as an ambiguous apologia for state violence but jammed as philosophical arts martial picture . The flick displays spectacular and overwhelming battles with lots of extras including use of arches , arrows and lances . In fact , 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 . This is a colourful, China set and expensively budgeted movie ; leave no cliché untouched , though the fighting are magnificently staged . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with frenetic action , surprises , fierce combats and overwhelming struggles . The lake scenes took almost three weeks to film because director Yimou Zhang insisted that the lake's surface had to be perfectly still and mirror-like during filming . Amid the grandeur of the scenarios and impressive fights is developed an intrigue about the China unification . Maggie Cheung required weeks of training , even Ziyi Zhang, who earned rave reviews with her martial arts performance in Cruching tiger , hidden dragon(2000) needed intensive training to become adept with the twin blades she fights with during many of her scenes in Hero . Colorful and brilliant cinematography by Christopher Doyle , Ziyi's ordinary . Appropriate as well as evocative musical score by Dan Tu ; he is especially known for his work on Crouching tiger , hidden dragon (2000) that won Academy Award and Fallen (1998).
The motion picture was compellingly directed by the Chinese Zhang Ziyi who has established himself firmly as a distinguished filmmaker/producer whose last films have generated millions in China box office . Originally released in 2002 in Asia, it would not be another two years until this film was released in the United States . Studio executives were concerned that the foreign-language film would not be successful at the box office with American audiences . Among fans, this is part of the "Zhang Ziyi trilogy," which includes Hero (2002), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and House of Flying Daggers (2004) . In all three films, her romantic relationship is ended with the death of either herself or her boyfriend . Zhang Yimou is an excellent and veteran director who in his films often explores the dark side of life in small Chinese rural communities . Most of his pictures begin with the title displayed in Chinese calligraphy style . He has achieved several successes such as ¨Curse of the Golden flower¨ , ¨House of flying daggers¨ , Hero¨ , ¨The road home¨, ¨The red lantern¨, "Shanghai Triad" winning several prizes in various International Festivals . And this Zhang Yimou's ambitious historical epic ¨Hero¨ , it has grossed at the Chinese box office to become one of the best biggest release of all time, including American tentpoles , being already the third highest-grossing Chinese film ever, as well as the top grossing Chinese film of 2003 . Rating : Above average . Essential and indispensable seeing .