Intricate, Brilliantly-Made, Wildly Choreographed, Intrigue-Filled Swordfighting Chinese Classic

Rating: 6/10 (24 July 2007)

In Dynastic China, the King of Qin territory rejoices when a nameless soldier kills three deadly assassins, who have been threatening his life for many years. This hero is given an audience with the King to celebrate his achievement, but the new champion reveals he has an altogether different agenda ...
This is an eye-popping, melodrama-soaked swordfighting action classic, kind of The Last Emperor meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets any film by Tsui Hark. It's filled with great performances, fantastic use of colour (particularly black, yellow and green), many memorable action scenes and a twisting flashback plot line incorporating Chinese pre-history, assassination and a great thought-provoking theme of personal sacrifice for the greater good. Yimou - previously known mostly for laudable but kinda stuffy period-pieces like Raise The Red Lantern - does an amazing change of pace and turns in a top-notch action flick. The two main sequences featuring Flying Snow (Cheung, a stunning actress and martial-arts veteran) - defending a calligraphy school from an endless hail of arrows and a swirling swordfight amongst a whirlwind of leaves - are unmissable, a triumph of choreography and effects, as is an amazing waterfight scene, and all are rendered without overt violence and bloodletting. The four leads - Chinese Li and Chen and Hong Kongers Leung and Cheung - are all fabulous. Terrific stuff all round, although it takes itself a bit too seriously sometimes. A superb Chinese production, distributed in Europe and the US by Miramax. Shot in great desert/forest locations, with first-rate photography by Australian cameraman Christopher Doyle. The first part of a sort-of trilogy, followed by Shi Mian Mai Fu / House Of Flying Daggers and Man Cheng Jin Dai Huang Jin Jia / Curse Of The Golden Flower. English title - Hero.