A truly great movie!

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2005)

I'm one of those people who tends to pooh-pooh martial arts films because of the unbelievable acrobatics that the combatants demonstrate (see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for an extreme example). So I was prepared to do the same with this film until I read a review by Roger Ebert. Roger said that the best way to accept the unbelievable was to think of this story as myth and legend. Afterall, no one expects mythology to be true to life.
I gotta tell you, it worked! My suspension of disbelief during this movie allowed me to appreciate the true beauty of the film. Great scenery, fantastic sets, great acting, an emotional and involving love story, great direction and a story based on the history of China all combined to make an actually great film experience!
This movie had jumped just about to the top of my list of all-time favorites. I can't stress it enough, this is truly a great movie!