HERO - any chance of this coming to the US intact? (1 Viewer)

[Raphael]

Visiting my parents for the holidays in Taiwan. Went to Hong Kong for a couple of days, and saw numerous posters for a new flick called HERO. The cast reads like a "who's who" of Hong Kong cinema: Jet Li (self-explanatory), Donnie Yen (Iron Monkey, Once Upon a Time In China 2), Tony Leung (In the Mood For Love, Chungking Express, Bullet In the Head), Maggie Cheung (In the Mood For Love, Chungking Express), Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Rush Hour 2). The soundtrack features Itzhak Perlman and KODO. It looks to be a period piece, with lush scenery and wicked fast wire-enhanced swordplay.

Didn't get to see the movie (wouldn't have understood it without subtitles, anyways), but found out it's being distributed by Miramax. IMDB states that while the original version is 120 minutes, the US version to come out in 2003 will be a mere 96 minutes long. Heaven knows if Perlman's violin virtuosity will even be preserved or whether the music will be replaced with rap as per Miramax's usual butchery style.

Does anyone know if there is any chance in the world for this movie to make it to the states intact, either in the theatre or on DVD, or will this apparently great movie join the ranks of Fist of Legend, Iron Monkey, and Drunken Master 2?

 

[TheLongshot]

I would guess it would depend if Mirimax thought it had Oscar potential. Otherwise, if they felt it was another CTHD, which it may be a little along those lines. (Course, that didn't stop Mirimax from cutting Cinema Paridisio..)
A pretty good review here:
http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazi...400044,00.html
Jason

 

[Kirk Tsai]

It is the official entry of China this year to the Academy, and it has been nominated in the Golden Globes. I doubt any of Zhang's films were cut when shown in the U.S., and this obviously shouldn't. If Miramax cuts it, I would guess they probably think it has more box office potential than Zhang's other films, which is an ironic look at the US market today.

 

[teapot2001]

LA Times had an article about this a couple of days ago: http://www.calendarlive.com/printedi...n20dec20.story
~T

 

[Chris Clark]

Monkey Peaches (http://www.monkeypeaches.com) has done a great job in covering Hero and mention how there should be an extended version coming out in the dvd early next year.
There's no word if the extended release would be on Region One discs. Of course, that's when the importing comes in handy. It's a little sad that it would be faster to import the official disc rather than see it in US theaters.

 

[Peter Kim]

IMDB states that while the original version is 120 minutes, the US version to come out in 2003 will be a mere 96 minutes long.

Sigh...why, why, why???!!! I was looking forward to this for awhile, but now...my animosity for Weinstein grows. I hope this changes by the time the film is released.

I've grown accustomed to a few minutes here and there for foreign flicks released under the Miramax banner, but 36 minutes cut? That's outrageous.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up Raphael.

 

[Nick C.]

IMDB states that while the original version is 120 minutes, the US version to come out in 2003 will be a mere 96 minutes long.

I've been following Hero updates at monkeypeaches.com (as mentioned by Chris above) and the cuts that result in the shorter theater version are supposedly made by the director (Zhang Yimou interview with director). According to various articles on the site, Miramax has provided relatively little financial support so it's doubtful they've had much say in the editing/cuts of the final product--although if we Western audiences get a say, 80mins version, we'll know who's behind it