syphon00

don't know if anyone here's heard about this new flick from China
I think Miramax will pick up the rights to release it here in the states early next year

being an asian american I was very dissapointed with
CTHD, the story sucked and the action sequences weren't really
that great except for maybe 2 fight scenes. Of course the lack of
real martial artists for the lead roles (only MY knew Kung Fu)
so no matter how well the real actors mimics kung fu moves
it's just not satisfying for me at least

But in Hero you have 2 of the biggest martial artists
Jet Li and Donnie Yen, and I think they have a big fight scene

http://www.monkeypeaches.com/Hero.html

marty888

This movie has been discussed in several threads, including:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...highlight=hero


The title of your thread makes it sound (at least, to me) as if you have already seen this - is that the case? Or are you simply speculating as to its quality...

Mazinger

There was a lot of acting required for this movie.

I'd rather have actors than real martial artist actors.

Krug

Oh I'm sure Jet Li qualifies as a 'great' actor then. His acting in The One was stupendous.

I think Hero will be great, but don't diss CTHD. Real martial artists or not, the action scenes were great. If you want real fighting, watch wrestling.

Jackskeleton

Yeah, cause CTHD was soooo bad

lesterlong

Finally another person who shares my sentiments about Crouching Tiger. A bunch of Americans clinged to this movie because it was a foreign movie with nice special effects. They all thought they were intellectual because they were watching a "subtitled film". But the truth is, this movie wasn't any good. Its a shame how dumb our people are, there are plenty of great Foreign films, why did this one have to become popular. It's like a bunch of people in another country latching onto Pearl Harbor because its so American.

RichC2

I'm Asian, I loved CTHD, it's just a really damn entertaining movie. It has a few failed attempts at deep symbolism, but honestly - it's one of the most entertaining martial arts flicks I've ever seen (could be because of the way it was shot.)

And to note - yes, there are plenty of excellent foreign films, but to a large majority of people (well actually, this I don't know - while I know plenty of people who loved it, I know equal - if not more - very vocal online people that absolutely loathe it) - CTHD was just incredibly entertaining, and it didn't leave a bad aftertaste (for me at least, there are some movies that are entertaining - but once they end you feel dumber. CTHD was highly entertaining and didn't give me that feeling, so IMO - it's, well, entertaining.) Nobody is latching on to it just because it's foreign - it's entertaining, leave it be (oh and I still believe it to be an extremely well made movie.)

I know the view you're coming from, but I don't share it in this case. It's kind of like my non-understanding of why everyone here loves Amelie, it's a good movie - but not nearly as great as it was cut out to be.

Oh, and I'm a foreign movie junkie ;p (well okay not really, I watch about equal parts foreign and US films, I just tend to skip out on Bollywood movies, they just don't do it for me.)

(P.S. I don't know mandarin, so I can't really judge the acting, my mom is mand. and didn't really seem to complain about it - but then - she doesn't watch many movies in the tongue. She seemed to get the servant and Jen confused a lot as well.)

Anyway - Hero looks badass, despite the fact Jet Li hasn't made a good movie in god knows how long (That along can't drag a movie down, I don't think.) And on a lesser note - another likely to be hated movie - anyone know what ever happend to the US release of Musa? That was another movie that was just really damn entertaining to me - despite it's rather thin plot.

Autotelik

trailers to this look very, very good.


http://www.herothemovie.com

Krug

I can understand Mandarin and I thought the only jarring factor was that Michelle Yeoh speaks awful Mandarin. I'm also a foreign film junkie and thought CTHD was great. There hasn't been any good martial arts movies done for a while, and CTHD just worked.

Frankly Hero and CTHD are by two different directors, and I think Hero is going to be way less action-packed but much more visually stunning than CTHD. I'm looking forward to it; opens in Jan around these parts.

fumanstan

Big difference between Jet Li speaking English and Jet Li speaking his native language (not sure if its Mandarin or Cantonese).

Anyway, I enjoyed CTHD and i'm Chinese. Its success wasnt just because Americans saw the subtitles and saw the fighting and thought to themselves that they were seeing something special. Otherwise we'd be seeing more foreign films brought to the States that were immediatly successful, which hasn't really happened. Anyway, HERO looks awesome to me and i can't wait to see it, especially since i'm a fan of Donnie Yen and Jet Li.

marty888

You know, everyone is entitled to their opinion: some liked this movie, others didn't. Calling people "dumb" and accusing them of intellectual pretensions simply because they appreciate something you did not is hardly an intelligent view.

Mazinger

I watch Adam Sandler films with the French tracks and turn on the English subtitles.

I do this so I'll feel smart.

das Monkey

• Quoth marty888 •<HR SIZE=1>You know, everyone is entitled to their opinion: some liked this movie, others didn't. Calling people "dumb" and accusing them of intellectual pretensions simply because they appreciate something you did not is hardly an intelligent view. <HR SIZE=1>

It's also a pretty good way to avoid your opinion being taken seriously.

Anyway, I enjoyed this film quite a bit, and not because of the special effects or fight sequences. I really enjoyed the story execution and was very taken in by the subtlety of the lead performances. There are some very impressive moments by actors I wasn't expecting it from. And frankly, being a foreign film had nothing to do with my enjoyment of it.

das

Fandango

For all the people who have seen it, where did you watch it and when? I'm dying to see this too!

Jackskeleton

I'm sure in a year or two there will be people posting "______ what Hero should have been"

enjoy a film for what it is. Don't try thinking what "it could have been"

RichC2

Certainly, if __________ is what ____________ should have been, __________ wouldn't have been, now would it?

joeydaninja

anyway, my two cents

when i first saw Crouching Tiger, I thought it was overrated.

and then i watched it again, then I understood the movie better. it is the typical struggle of epic values. Zhang Ziyi was a cloistered expert who wanted to see the world. Chow Yun Fat was the honorable hero, who may have been "too" honorable to his deceased friend. Michelle Yeoh was the patient lover.

anyway, CTHD, is not the greatest martial arts movie ever, for me Once Upon A Time in China and Stephen Chow movies are. but what it did was introduce the world to the wonderful genre of kung fu movies, which have been ignored for quite awhile.

kudos to ang lee, for bringing to the world this beautiful movie.

and kudos to zhang yimou for expanding on the genre. though i bet zhang wished he beat ang lee in the first place. hehehe

UAIOE

This is true, whats being ignored is the people who were turned on to kung-fu movies and asian cinema.


Maybe this movie was the one that made someone finally appreciate orginal language or it might have made someone interested in seeing more Michelle Yeoh movies.

It doesnt matter if you have loved kung-fu movies since the 70's, 80's or if you became interested in them after "Crouching Tiger". As long as you like asian cinema for what it is......thats really all that matters.

I didnt see CTHD till it was on DVD, it was alright...its not my favorite movie, but its ok.

To some CTHD is not the best starting point for becoming a asian cimema fan, but it is a starting point.

Krug

I think Once Upon A Time in China was great up to number three but it went downhill from there. After one hit, they just went at it again and again without any proper thought or storyline and devalued the whole franchise.

It just makes me curious what kind of martial arts movie Fruit Chan would produce, since WKW, Ang Lee and now ZhangYiMou have all done one. I think it'll be a riot!

Grimfarrow

Maybe Fruit Chan's martial arts film will have ordinary Hong Kongers fighting among the toilets, slums and sewers with modern weapons such as woks and chopsticks....

Anyways, I'm going to see Hero this Saturday!!!!

Here's an extremely positive review from Time:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazi...400044,00.html

Christopher Doyle told us that he thought "Hero" was crap. Ugh, sorry, but after talking to him a few times, I'd rather refrain from listening to anything he says.

Johnny Zhivago

Care to tell me anything else about myself? I'm curious about what I'm having for dinner... And, well, being a stupid American, I could sure use your input...

On a side note - Am I the only one in this thread that does not view CTHD as a "martial arts film"?

Breakfast with Girls

...because you have a genetic disposition to liking martial arts movies, or what?

For the people who mentioned Once Upon a Time in China, I personally thought it was hilarious and one of the best bad movies I had seen in quite awhile. CTHD was superior to it -- hell, half the martial arts movies I've seen are superior to it.

serene

CTHD is one of the best movies i have seen and those who are so pretentious and have so great respect for others opinions .. what can i say
and "Breakfast with Girls" , I agree with you that Once upon a time is one of the worst movies i have seen .. again just my opinion .
and BTW i'm an asian too .

lxl

Finally I saw "Hero" today. IMHO it is definitely better than CTHD, but still I don't think it would make my top10 of 2002.

While people were saying this movie copied a lot from "Rashomon", I thought Zhang Yimou also borrowed quite a bit from "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover", especially the way he told the stories (as director).

Overall, it's a Zhang Yimou + Chris Doyle film: great cinematography(!) And, although there are many stars in the movie, none of them really give strong performance.

harpo787

So this flick is out in theaters now? Or was it just a sneak preview, and it'll be out soon? I remember catching the trailer for this and just thinking "wow....."