Hero on DVD (2002)

Beautiful but hollow Chinese epic

Philip Concannon from London , 25/09/2004

The first thing that strikes you about 'Hero' is undoubtedly how damn beautiful the whole thing is. Every frame of this Chinese epic is beautifully crafted by director Zhang Yimou and genius cinematographer Christopher Doyle. It truly is a film full of extraordinary sights quite unlike anything I've ever seen, and a look at the cast list seems to promise one of the great movies. But then something unfortunate happens, the plot kicks in.

The story of Hero takes place in a China divided into seven seperate kingdoms. The King of the largest of these, Qin(Daoming Chen) is determined to take control of all of these provinces so that peace can reign throughout a unified China. So he's delighted that Nameless(Jet Li) has turned up at his palace claiming to have killed the three assassins threatening his position - Broken Sword(Tony Leung), Flying Snow(Maggie Cheung) and Sky(Donnie Yeung).

The King invites Nameless to drink with him and receive his reward, but first he'd like to hear how such a lowly character managed to kill his three deadly foes, and Nameless proceeds, with the aid of some colourful flashbacks, to tell us. But then The King tells Nameless what he think really happened and, 'Rashomon' -style, we get to see a different spin on the story, with a different colour code.

It's a pretty thin plot on which to hang such a grand style of filmmaking, and it doesn't really work. The film is reduced to a series of stunning set-pieces and fights, and more fights, and then a few more.

The fight sequences in 'Hero' are simply too much. The actors spend so often floating through the air and engaging in slow-motion combat that it quickly becomes tedious. The similar sequences in 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' worked because there weren't half as many of them, and at the time it was genuinely something new. Here, the changing costumes and settings aren't enough to disguise the repetetive nature of the fights.

The reason we remain interested throughout 'Hero' is mainly down to the wonderful cast. Jet Li is fine in the lead role, but the film surely belongs to the magnificent duo of Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. As in 'In the Mood for Love', their scenes together are electric and it's the moments of calm reflection they share that live in the memory beyond any of the battles. They are two awesome actors at the top of their game and it's a joy to watch.

Daoming Chen is also hugely impressive as the King, while Donnie Yeung and Zhang Ziyi are both underused.

'Hero' never really grabbed me, but for the most part the film is at least so incredible to look at that some of it's faults can be overlooked. The ravishing colours may mean you find it hard to tear your eyes away, even while you yawn.

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Yowee!

RJTaylor from London , 17/08/2005

I'm not a big martial arts flick fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed Hero. The fight sequences sometimes got a little tedious, but each was ended *just* in time, before my mind got the chance to wander too far.

It's the visual equivalent of a bag of Starburst, full of colour and flavour; moreish but at the same time not sickly sweet.

The one thing that I felt would let it down was the standard of the voiceover acting. It cheapened the experience somewhat, but I was glad to find (albeit at the end of the movie) that with a bit of a tweak here and there in the setup menu you can have the original Chinese dialogue with English subtitles.

I know I'm probably in a minority with my preference of subs over dubs, (and that fact alone will probably give you some idea of what my moviegoing habits are,) but I'm sure I'm not the only one. Watch it if you're with me, and I think you'll enjoy it.

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Hero- look it up under beautiful.

adiw from Leicestershire [Highly rated reviewer] , 26/10/2004

I've always been a big fan of Jet Li but his Hollywood output, much like that of Asia's other leading export Jackie Chan, has never quite lived up to the Eastern counerparts of yesterday. Lucky for us then that Jet continues to make the kind of movies that made him famous in the first place, traditional martial arts movies in his native tongue.

Similar in style to Crouching Tiger, Hero boasts a simple storyline with incredible martial arts action and an impressive, not to mention easy on the eye, cast of Asia's finest talent. The thing that will stay with you longest though is the wonderful cinematography, Hero is quite simply one of the most beautiful films you will ever see. Both the tone and the mood of the film are represented by vibrant colours and quite stunning scenery. It's a feast for the eyes as the beautiful imagery washes over you.

If there is one criticism it's that maybe the storyline is a little too simplistic and could have done with a little more bite shall we say, but hey, this is still a great movie and I highly recommend it.

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Beautiful to behold

Gromit from Canterbury , 10/05/2006

If you're not sure whether to watch this and you enjoyed Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, I would highly recommend that you simply rent it immediately. You will not regret the decision. It is far superior in many ways to Crouching Tiger - not in the least because it moves quicker, is easier to understand and looks a whole lot better. Watching Hero is like staring at a beautiful painting. The use of colour is simply stunning - if you're looking for a film to show off the capabilities of your new HD TV, this is certainly the one to do it. Its storyline is straightforward and easy to understand and it is a perfect length at a neat 90 minutes...making it much more accessible than films in the same genre, such as Crouching Tiger. Its packed with emotion and the underlying love story is beautiful to behold. I would recommend this to everyone *except* those looking for a hollywood martial arts fest - although the action in this film is some of the best I've ever seen, the plot is far too intelligent and gentle for fans of fast-moving hollywood spectacles. To everyone else, I can't recommend this film high enough.

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Watch a look

A customer from Bristol , 08/06/2006

Beautiful film,great fights but no plot

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Style over substance

A customer from England , 12/10/2004

Had been looking forward to seeing this for ages. The film was a big disappointment. Cinematography is lush but relies too heavily on slow motion which makes many scenes clumsy. There is very little depth to any of the characters and during the first hour there is very little exposition at all. The plot gathers pace in the last half an hour and the film makes some profound points which have merit. Overall though the film feels like a technical showcase rather than an involving and memorable classic.

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