Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame (2010)

An exiled detective is recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu.

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writers:

Chia-Lu Chang (screenplay), Kuo-Fu Chen

Stars:

Tony Ka Fai Leung, Chao Deng, Carina Lau

10 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Ka Fai Leung	...	Shatuo Zhong
Chao Deng	...	Pei Donglai
Carina Lau	...	Empress Wu Zetian
Bingbing Li	...	Shangguan Jing'er (as Li Bing Bing)
Andy Lau	...	Detective Dee
Jean-Michel Casanova	...	General Aspar (as Michel)
Sos Haroyan	...	Assistant to Umayyad Ambassador
Jialin Zhao	...	Interpreter
Yan Qin	...	Jia Yi
Jinshan Liu	...	Xue Yong
Aaron C. Shang	...	Shaizi (as Aaron Shang)
Deshun Wang	...	Xiazi Ling
Mickey He	...	Prison Officer (as Shenming He)
Lu Yao	...	Li Xiao
Yanming Jiang	...	Undertaker

Storyline

In 689 A.D., the Empress Wu Zetian is building a 66 m high statue of Buddha for her inauguration as the first empress of China under the objections and conspiracy of the other clans. When the engineer responsible for the construction mysteriously dies by spontaneous combustion, the superstitious workers are afraid since the man removed the good luck charms from the main pillar. There is an investigation of Pei Donglai and another investigator that also dies after withdrawing the amulets. Empress Wu assigns her loyal assistant Shangguan Jing'er to release the exiled Detective Dee from his imprisonment to investigate with Donglai and Jing'er the mystery of the deaths. They ride in a mystic and epic adventure to unravel the mystery.

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Plot Keywords:

umayyad caliphate | arab | tang dynasty | year 689 | 680s | 

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Taglines:

The fate of an empire is in his hands.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, disturbing images and some sexuality.

Did You Know?

Trivia

The stunt team built eight platforms (12 meters tall) in the cave for three days of wire work. The record was over 70 wires for one scene.

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Goofs

General Asper, the Umayyad Ambassador, speaks modern day Spanish, a language that did not yet exist as such at the end of the 7th century CE.

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Quotes

Detective Dee: Shatuo... do you still remember Donkey Wang? Luoyang City Was built a thousand years ago. The old city subsided during the Han dynasty. A new city was built on top during the Sui dynasty. The old underground city became a black market. They call it the Phantom Bazaar.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Summer Special 2010/11 (2010)

User Reviews

Enjoyed the original setting and storytelling

I loved many of Tsui Hark's epics from the 80s/90s, but haven't seen anything from the director recently, so I probably went in with fairly neutral expectations.

This was an enjoyable ride. Like others have noted, it's comparable to a Chinese "Sherlock Holmes" (the recent Guy Ritchie version), or a movie-length, Tang-dynasty-set "CSI". Overall, it was a rather original experience - more than I can say for most movies nowadays. There are several intriguing characters and the pace and acting are solid. While the central murder mystery - whodunnit and howdunnit - is not exactly a head-scratcher, it does provide a good structure for some exciting and beautiful visuals.

Was the CGI completely up to the director's vision? Definitely not, but to naysayers, I say, loosen up! The budget for this movie is less than that of a typical Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy! I appreciated and enjoyed the whole movie enough that I wasn't overly distracted by the not-so-special effects.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [China] Official site [Japan]

Country:

China Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Spanish

Release Date:

30 September 2010 (China)

Also Known As:

Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$52,617, 4 September 2011

Gross USA:

$459,836

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$51,899,269

Company Credits

Production Co:

China Film Co-Production Corporation, Film Workshop, Huayi Brothers Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1