Movie Critique - Hero *No Spoilers*

[Evil Dave]

I went to see the movie \"Hero\" last night. Despite it\'s being presented by Quentin Tarrentino, it\'s actually been out in China for a while.

The movie is in subtitles. So for those who don\'t like to read, this is not the movie for you.

Aside from the flashy wire fighting moves, the movie was beautiful. Great costumes, great scenery, great camera work, great story.

While very reminiscent of \"Crounching Tiger, Hidden Dragon\", I think I enjoyed this movie more.

I give it two thumbs up.

 

[Dr. Bob]

I love kung fu movies and I consider Hero to be one of the best in the whole genre. (CTHD was just so-so IMO).

I am really glad that they didn\'t dub the movie. I usually find that after a while you don\'t even realize you\'re reading the subtitles. I find dubbing far more distracting.

Wire work is just a genre convention. Those characters are sort of like Chinese superheroes - they can fly and knock arrows out of the sky or fight \"in their heads,\" and we should accept that in the same way that we accept that Spiderman shoots webs out of his wrists.

I haven\'t seen Hero in its US release though. I heard some stuff was cut out. I wonder what\'s missing.

 

[Zora]

I don\'t think it was MUCH that was cut out, but I\'ll have to watch my DVD again to see if I spot anything.

This is one of the most visually stunning movies for this genre...breathtaking, really.

 

[Primeval]

I went to see it Friday and really enjoyed it. It is visually stunning and the story is engrossing as well. Not a big fan of Quentin Tarantino attaching his name to it - USA today had an interview with Jet Li and then Tarantino as well, as if he had anything to do with the creation of the movie. I think it was the highest grossing movie here this past weekend, so hopefully the word of mouth for it will be good and more people will go see this fantastice movie!

 

[yrret]

Saw it today

Loved it. The guy I was with thought it was a little repetitive, but there is no denying it is a visual stunner.

It is interesting to see a legend of China. Hehe, at the end I found myself thinking
\"Our first leader... chopped down a cherry tree.\"

 

[No Such Agency]

I saw this movie on video disc about a year ago (borrowed from a Chinese guy in my lab). It was confusing until I realized I\'d put in the second disc first lol It\'s certainly an interesting story, very telling in some ways of North American/Chinese cultural differences. I\'m not a huge fan of the \"supernatural\" fight style but I don\'t think it detracted here.

Quentin Tarantino... WTF?! What a load of pants.

 

[G-nome]

Quentin is Pants!

Same as NSA I saw this movie ages ago from a chinese mate of mine on vcd. Unlike NSA I didnt have the luxury of subtitles ( I assume you had them NSA) Was very cool as I remeber and am looking forward to seeing it on a big screen as somestage. As far as tarantino goes how dare he associate himself with this! I am most annoyed especially after that shameless fiasco of his that robbed me of two hours of my life.

Has anyone else heard of the latest big crouching tiger type film called house of bamboo or something or other. Any kung fu fans help me out here?

 

[Dr. Bob]

I\'m sort of torn because on the one hand it is a little annoying to see Tarantino\'s name associated with Hero, but on the other hand, if he hadn\'t put his name behind this, a lot of people would never have seen this movie.

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by G-nomeAs far as tarantino goes how dare he associate himself with this! I am most annoyed especially after that shameless fiasco of his that robbed me of two hours of my life.

Which one of his many fiascos are you talking about?

As to this, the comparison to Crouching Tiger is inevitable so I have to ask this question: Is it a movie women will like - specifically would my wife like it?
She liked Crouching Tiger even though she hates violence of any kind and especially finds typical martial arts movies a waste of time (excep Jackie Chan because he\'s funny).
But CTHD had 3 powerful female characters and there was at least one romantic relationship at the heart of the film. All I\'ve read in reviews of this one indicate there is one woman and she gets killed and the rest of the movie is just lots of killing.

 

[supervike]

forgive my dumbness...

The only thing I know about this movie is from the television ads I saw.

Tarentino didn\'t direct this movie??

The tv spots certainly made it look that way...


Anyhow, I do want to see this, the visuals were just too cool not to like.

 

[Zora]

Vince - I think your wife would probably like it. Not HUGE on the violence, and the scenery and visuals are stunning!

There IS a love story in the movie, albeit not a huge part of it.

Jim - The ONLY reason Tarantino\'s name is listed is because he\'s the reason it was brought to the States. He funded the rights to bring it over here. For that I thank him, although it does irk me to see his name all over it as if he had any hand in it being a great movie.