...what I do not give, you must never take by force.

Rating: 7/10 (19 May 2007)

whether you like martial arts and war epics or classical stories you will enjoy this story. this is the gripping tale of the bloody end of 10th century Tang Dynasty, it has all the ingredients of a Shakespearean plot -- love, hatred, betrayal, murder, revenge, adultery, incest, suicide, assassins, massacre, insurgency and counterinsurgency, even a large fireworks display !!
the acting was convincing and casting well matched the characters. unsurprisingly, Chow Yuen Fat gives a stately performance as he did with Crouching Tiger. like Hero, the visuals were very impressive, particularly the Chrysanthemum festival, which sets the scene for the final military ambush. clearly most of the sets are CG, including the Forbidden City. the audio was particularly disappointing, to say the least, with badly dubbed American accents -- it would be far better to wait to see the original Mandarin soundtrack; the score was cheesy at best, with a blend of modern German and Italian classical pieces thrown in, it comes off as a lame rendition of Wagner, with no harmony to the period, location or style of the film (this may only be the English version).
certainly this is another good effort for Zhang Yimou's résumé, but it is lacking in key areas.