A Chinese "samurai" film borrowing heavily from Kurosawa

Rating: 6/10 (19 September 2004)

This is a Chinese film but it struck me as very Japanese for a few reasons. First, the way the plot unravels is "Kurosawa-esque" and some of the large battle scenes were reminiscent of "Ran". That being said, neither the plot nor the battle scenes were on the same level as Kurosawa.
The film fails to make us sympathize with any of the characters. Go rent "The Emperor and the Assassin" and "The Emperor's Shadow" instead. If you have a hankering for fight scenes (violent ballet) watch "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
The use of color was excellent and some of the cinematography was beautiful particularly the scene by the lake.