Hero (2002)

A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Writers:

Feng Li (screenplay), Yimou Zhang (screenplay)

Stars:

Jet Li, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Maggie Cheung

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 46 wins & 47 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	Nameless
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung	...	Broken Sword (as Tony Leung Chiu-Wai)
Maggie Cheung	...	Flying Snow (as Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk)
Ziyi Zhang	...	Moon (as Zhang Ziyi)
Daoming Chen	...	King (as Chen Dao Ming)
Donnie Yen	...	Sky
Zhongyuan Liu	...	Scholar (as Liu Zhong Yuan)
Tianyong Zheng	...	Old Servant (as Zheng Tian Yong)
Yan Qin	...	Prime Minister
Chang Xiao Yang	...	General
Yakun Zhang	...	Commander (as Zhang Ya Kun)
Ma Wen Hua	...	Head Eunuch
Jin Ming	...	Eunuch
Xu Kuang Hua	...	Pianist
Shou Xin Wang	...	Musician

Storyline

Ancient China and the Qin Empire is out to conquer the six kingdoms. This makes its king a target for assassination. However, one man has single-handedly ensured the safety of the king, by killing the three most notorious assassins in the land. Treated as a hero, he is summoned for an audience with the king.

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Plot Keywords:

3rd century b.c. | assassin | ancient china | wuxia | 227 b.c. | 

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Taglines:

How far would you go to become a hero?

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for stylized martial arts violence and a scene of sensuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Is the first foreign language film to open at #1 at the US box office.

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Goofs

(at around 27 mins) When Nameless shows Sky's broken spear to Broken Sword and Snow, he had directed them to meet at midnight - yet when he leaves, it is clearly the middle of the day, as a building is visible in sunlight through the doorway.

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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.

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Connections

Edited into Ying xiong: Cause - The Birth of Hero (2002)

User Reviews

Spectacular, Stunning Visuals; So-So Story

After two viewings, I am still not sure what to make of this film, story-wise. I have no problems exalting praise for the cinematography which, for many people, was the drawing point. It's what got me to watch the movie. I had heard it was the most beautiful film ever made. Well, I wouldn't go that far, but it IS visually spectacular. It's even more appreciated now that I watched one of the documentaries in which I learned to what great lengths director Yimou Zhang the crew went to, to make this look so good. It took a lot of patience, waiting for just the right conditions, such as the smooth, silvery lake which only was calm two hours a day.

Overall, I didn't think the story was that appealing except for the good message at the end, about the good of all being more important than satisfying one's personal vengeance. Well, who could argue with that? As for the rest, perhaps being a Westerner unfamiliar with Eastern culture, it's harder for me to relate to the mind-set. I would be interested to know how Asians viewed this story, as opposed to similar films.

Sometimes I think these wild Crouching Tiger-like action scenes are too long and overdone, but at least in this film they were very original and, once again, more visuals feasts than anything else. On my second viewing, I discarded the subtitles and went with the dubbed version to concentrate more on the stunning look of this film. It paid off. Even if I don't quite follow everything, each scene is such eye-candy that you can't go wrong viewing this.

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax [United States]

Country:

China Hong Kong Australia

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

27 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Quentin Tarantino Presents Hero

Filming Locations:

Dunhuang, Gansu, China

Box Office

Budget:

$31,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,800,000, 29 August 2004

Gross USA:

$53,710,019

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$177,395,557

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beijing New Picture Film Co., China Film Co-Production Corporation, Elite Group Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 107 min (Director's Cut) 96 min (Theatrical Version) 94 min (Amazon Video)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1