NEWS LINK:
http://www.chud.com/news/mar04/mar15qt.php3

"Oh, wicked Miramax. Why do you keep on buying Asian films and then either editing them to pieces or just sort of sitting on them forever? A YEAR ago they sent me to a screening of the excellent Shaolin Soccer, and we even began running a contest about the film here at CHUD. Suddenly, at the last minute the movie got yanked from release, and the dates of its eventual premiere kept getting shifted. In fact, while Miramax has claimed that the movie will yet see light of day, it is looking less and less likely (especially as they don’t own the rights to the sequel).

The same thing happened with the film Hero, which was nominated for a best foreign film award at the Oscars like four decades ago. Or so it feels. Anyway, the movie has been in release limbo with Miramax for AGES, and there has been talk of massive re-editing to make the film “America friendly” (what, is there a prominent French character? This joke brought to you by one year ago this week!).

But there is a hero for Hero, and his name is Quentin Tarantino. He has stepped in and convinced Miramax to release this damn thing, as a “Presented by Quentin Tarantino” film. "I had to fight for it with Miramax. I think they lost faith in it and everything,” he tells Fangoria. “And I thought that HERO was an absolute masterpiece, so I fought with them not to cut it. Not to bring it down, but to keep it the same length as when I saw it. And finally they agreed if I would present it. So I got in touch with Zhang Yimou and he was cool with that. Yeah, he was as happy as a clam. So that's what I am doing—it's pretty much what I did for IRON MONKEY."

Anyone who read the recent book Down and Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind knows that QT is one of the few fellas who could fight Miramax and come out anywhere near a winner. Or with all his limbs.

Look for the film this June in New York and LA."



Trailer Links/Site Links:
http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_multi...hp?IDfilm=1418

http://www.miramax.com/hero/index.html

http://www.herothemovie.com

Okay no more Miramax/Tarantino bashing.

Does he mean not cut it any more?

Welllll, that one was cut a bit.

Oh well, I shouldn't be too critical, at least the Rolling Thunder presentation of Chungking Express was uncut (international version) and subbed. If having his name involved helps convince Miramax to finally release Hero, good. I just wish that QT could use his clout to get the original directors cut released (I'm assuming that the version he saw wasn't that one).

That Korean poster is pretty cool too.

I got it on DVD.

Great news.

Do you know where I could purchase this online?

The trailer quality on the hero website is not very good. This site has a 31 MB quicktime version for download:

http://www.movie-list.com/h/hero.shtml

Am i the only one who found this movie boring as hell?

I enjoy my Dvd of this, also. I got mine on eBay.

I doubt it, I enjoyed it, but I definitly think it's a bit overrated.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...0&BasicSearch=
all of these are 100% legit and region 0 in dts sound.

This movie tried way to damn hard. Most pretentious visuals ever.

What's with all the Hero hating in here? I loved it. Great visuals (the colors are a nice touch) and an epic feel. IMO better than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I've seen a good amount of Asian films and this one has a lot of potential for crossing over (even in an uncut state). I really don't understand why Miramax isn't happy with it, or why they want to cut it.

Shaolin Soccer is a different matter. I can understand why Miramax is kind of iffy on it. It really plays out very slapstick and I don't think many Americans will catch on.

from what i hear, harvey didn't like hero, so he ordered cuts to what he didn't get or like.

No offense, but what world do you live in that you think Shaolin Soccer, marketed the right way, wont translate over here as well as Hero? Hero will put the mainstream masses to sleep, when you make a fight between Donny Yen and Jet Li boring then there is no hope for crossover success, the color scheme was a nice touch but it dragged too long for me, and people are clamoring for a "Longer" cut too!?

???
Some complain of films that didn't try, but this criticism of trying too hard I've never heard.
The visuals are pretentious? So, it would have been better if all the fight scenes were shot the same way? You realize this is a fantasy film right?

Seen it.

even though I saw and own the film on DVD, I can't wait to see this on the big screen where the visuals will be even more stunning.

QT if you're reading this, use your influence to push Mirimax on a DVD release of Through The Olive Trees...

Same here. It is a beautifully filmed movie, but tries abit too hard to be artsy for a kungfu movie. The special effects (in occassion) is laughably bad.

An average movie with too much hype. I saw it once, thought it was too long, and won't see it again. If someone wants to buy my copy of DVD, pm me!

I just watched it this weekend and it is brilliant as is expected with Zhang as a director....

I thought it was cheesy, and far below Dustin Hoffman's acting abilities...oh...er....
Anyway, Shaolin Soccer--not coming over? I thought I saw a clip from it on the big TV wall at Best Buy a while back. I actually stopped and watched it, it looked fun.

I agree 100%

I will be double dipping for this dvd. (I got mine in chinatown-SF, so I don't know where to go online).

So quentin won't be cutting it, but will he be adding a hip-hop soundtrack?

Ditto!

I'm guessing this is the first Zhang Yimou film for you?
He's an art-film director and this is his first wuxia