Is Jet Li's "Hero" worth a blind buy? (1 Viewer)

[Marc_E]

My opinion:
This film is much more than martial arts. This film is much more than CTHD which I thought was ok. Hero was awesome! A very complex plot that really leaves the viewer thinking and wanting to watch it again. I bought the r2 as a blind buy and do not regret it one bit.
Marc

 

[Henry Gale]

Matthew said...
I couldn't say it any better so I'll let them speak for me.

 

[Dave_H]

This movie is a huge favorite of mine. After seeing it in the theater I shopped around and picked up the Chinese release DVD which says R3 but is actually R0.

It's a great movie and the DTS track is pretty damn good too. I was hoping the US release would have DTS but it looks like it will be just DD.

 

[Craig S]

Bill Hunt has his review of the R1 Hero up at The Digital Bits:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/hero.html

The good news: The disc DOES have a DTS track, and it is quite good.

The bad news: The disc suffers from the same video problems that have afflicted other recent discs from Miramax - over-filtering, edge-enhancement, and compression artifacts all adding up to a very digital-looking (i.e. un film-like) presentation.

The supplements are apparently no great shakes either.

Fie on Miramax!!

So Dave, where'd you get that R0 Chinese release??

 

[DeanWalsh]

Something I'd like to add to this conversation is to those that have only watched the film on the Asian dvd releases, I bought the Edko R3 over a year ago and absolutely loved the film, so much so I had to see it on the big screen again when it finally came out. Something I will say about the US version is the English translation is quite different, as the HK releases sub track was a very literal translation. The US version by comparison was a little easier to make sense of. I actually prefer bits and pieces of both translations (the omission in the US translation of Nameless' admission to the Emporer that his special skill was 'Death From 10 Paces'
was dissapointing, as I got a chuckle from that line originally). A few other things in the US version bothered me, such as the title card as Nameless enters the palace announcing 'The Emporers Palace' which I thought was dumbing it down just a bit too much, as seconds prior Nameless had already stated that he had been summoned there. Overall though I'd say the translation on the US version flowed a little better, and told the story in a way that Western audiences can understand easier.
As for calling the flying martial arts 'corny', you have to be able to let that go when watching this type of film, as it is something that is deeply rooted in the culture and mythology, and to dismiss it as 'bullshit' I find quite offensive.

 

[Ron Boster]

That is very disappointing to hear that the Reg 1 version sucks...I guess, I'll need to p/u the Japanese Elite release. I was hoping to avoid paying up for the the elite release.

Ron

 

[LorenzoL]

First the horrible cover and now the presentation is subpar. Why Miramax, why?

Hero deserved a gorgeous transfer since one of the main attraction of the movie is the cinematography.

 

[TonyD]

i just watched the dvd last night.
i disagree with whoever said it was the typical bad miramax presentation.

i didnt see the usual EE on almost every MM release.

i did see alot of grain but i'm gonna guess it was always there.

the movie was strikingly beautiful as far as
scenery/cinematography(wow what an awkward word) goes.
i wouldnt judge the look of this one until you see it on your display.

the dts was enveloping.
as much as any dts track i ever heard.
i even turned on the matrixed center rear channel and i found that it did not collapse all the surround sound into it.
i heard seperate sound in all 3 rear channels.


Zhang Ziyi was just beautiful in this too.
i cant wait to see house of the flying daggers.
did she have a big role in that one?

i think this is an excellent movie for anyone to ad to their collection.

 

[Rich Malloy]

This DVD is typical of the way the Weinsteins and Miramax have mistreated this film from the beginning.

Fortunately, there are plenty of good to great releases out there, including a R0/NTSC one if you don't have multiregion capability.

And I'm not surprised that the quality is poor, given Miramax's record. If anything, I'm glad it's poor... I wouldn't want any reason to reward Miramax.

 

[Craig S]

It was Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits (I linked his review abvoe).

You left out one crucial bit of information - what type of display did you watch it on??

 

[TonyD]

right there in my sig craig.
i know how bad their dvd's look.
i even started a thread on human stain's awful look.
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...ht=human+stain

i just didnt see it on this one.
there really hasnt been a great dvd from MM but this isnt one of the really bad ones either.

maybe if i sat 7 ft from the tv instead of my usual 10 ft i would think it looks awful but from 10 ft it looked fine to me.

 

[Jim_K]

Well I'll be picking up the MiramAXE version as I really dug this film. Got burnt before on the lousy extended cut R0. At least this won't have the friggin' watermark, crappy packaging & mistimed ultra fast english subtitles which were almost impossible to read.

 

[Ralph Jenkins]

Zhang Ziyi is the star of HoFD (her role in Hero was relatively minor). She's gorgeous in it, but the film is no Hero. It's essentially CTHD meets Cruel Intentions. The story is on a much smaller scale. Reportedly Anita Mui had a big part until her untimely death; that may be the reason the last hour or so suffers.

Hero is similar in style to CTHD, but the story is less soapy and the "flying" kung fu is not as exaggerated. I'd suggest giving it a rent first if you didn't care for CTHD.

 

[Craig S]

D'oh!! :b

Well, your set is bigger than mine, and you sit a bit closer (I have a huge living room), so maybe it will be OK for me as well. And you're right about the grain - it was very evident in the two theatrical showings I saw.

 

[Shawn_KE]

I liked CTHD, but was bored stiff with Hero. Drug out way to long.

 

[Troy LaMont]

I'd recommend it as a blind buy. That's what I did! No regrets.

Troy

 

[Gary Tooze]

Hero is a masterpiece of cinema... and I liked House of Flying Daggers even more... and disliked Crouching Tiger... immensely. So I guess it's all personal taste. We have reviews of all 3 on our website.

Zhang Yimou is one of the finest living directors...

Best,

 

[Chris Rein]

Hero is amazing. It's visually stunning too. The story was pretty damn good, and the action sequences are just beautiful. Another disc that I can't wait for!

 

[Gary Burdick]

IGN said the video transfer on the upcoming dvd is horrible.

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/428/428542p1.html

 

[Chris Rein]

My comments about being visually stunning goes to the cinematography, not the transfer of the disc. All based off the theatrical release. Just to be clear.