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Jet Li's "Hero" Any word? (1 Viewer)

Phil Florian

Screenwriter
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Mar 10, 2001
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Howdy,
I tried the search function on the site but it was down so if I am repeating a thread, please let me know. I am looking for some more concrete info on the release of Zhang Yi mou's "Hero" starring what sounds like an amazing cast...Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Maggie Cheung...too cool. Any idea if this will be a wide release? Art house? Timelines of release?

Thanks!

Phil
 

Nick C.

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
251
Hero premiered at the Palm Springs film festival last week, as the first US showing...as for wide release, will have to ask Mr. Weinstein

supposedly the VCD and DVD of the film will be available in east Asia within a month. Rotten Tomatoes has compiled several reviews already, that should partly satisfy some appetites :)
 

Andy Sheets

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Is it true that being a Miramax release that it's had the obligatory half-hour of footage chopped out of it for American release?
 

Phil Florian

Screenwriter
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Mar 10, 2001
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Did Miramax release "Iron Monkey" over here? I heard that there were changes, but a friend who saw the theatrical release (I didn't) and compared it to my Tai Seng release said there was no difference that he could tell.

I found a trailer for "Hero" on an Aussie site and while the quality of the video was poor, it hinted at some greatness. The director did a drama that I remember seeing called "Raise the Red Lantern." Wasn't this the one about a western man buying a Chinese woman? And their budding relationship? During the "American West?" Or am I thinking of something else? Either way, this looks to be another "Crouching Tiger..." and I mean that in the sense that a traditionally non-action director is taking on a typical action property. Like Ang Lee. Which proved a great combination two years ago. It also worked with Doug Liman, known more for his comedy "Swingers" and "Go," who did last years underrated action/drama "Bourne Identity." Either way, hope "Hero" gets a release soon. Very excited about the prospects of this movie. Anyone have a site with a better quality trailer than the one I found? Mine was a real movie one and it looked horrible.

Thanks!

Phil
 

Tim RH

Second Unit
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Nov 20, 2001
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No, "Raise the Red Lantern" was not set in the American West, nor were there any americans in it. It is a great film though!
 

Phil Florian

Screenwriter
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Dang, what is that movie I am thinking of? I thought it had "Red" or "Lantern" in the title. Or, er..."the." Dang. And now we have to wait until November to boot! Well, time to pick up a certain DVD, then...

Phil
 

MichaelPe

Screenwriter
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Feb 22, 1999
Messages
1,115
This website seems to have frequent news updates about the film. I've seen a few copies of the DVD on eBay for over $100, but I'm guessing they're pirated.
 

Nick C.

Second Unit
Joined
Dec 27, 2001
Messages
251
I found a trailer for "Hero" on an Aussie site and while the quality of the video was poor, it hinted at some greatness. The director did a drama that I remember seeing called "Raise the Red Lantern." Wasn't this the one about a western man buying a Chinese woman?
Yea Zhang Yimou did Lantern and to agree with Tim, it is quite a film, with exquisite cinematography. Zhang started as a cinematographer before going on to direct, and it really shows. As for man buying wife, actually the story in Lantern centers around a rich husband who buys his wife/concubine, but the cast is all Chinese

The cinematography for Hero is also remarkable. As Phil noted, this is the director's first venture into martial arts film, so expect some engaging drama mixed in (2 more strong performances from Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, from In the Mood for Love fame). By the way, Christopher Doyle did the cinematography in In the Mood for Love and the more recent Rabbit-Proof Fence. Just to comment from a Hong Kong kung fu film perspective, the kung fu is not as unbelievable as Crouching Tiger--no soaring over lakes and the such ;)--which was the main complaint of many Oriental audiences for CTHD

I doubt Miramax can do much cutting, as the film itself is already a modest and quite streamlined ~90mins. Supposedly the DVD, according to the monkeypeaches.com site noted above, will feature an extended version totaling ~2hours
 

Dennis Pagoulatos

Supporting Actor
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Feb 3, 1999
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You sure about not flying over lakes, Nick? :) I could swear I saw a shot of 2 people flying (just like CTHD) over an even larger looking body of water (like Lake freaking' Tahoe or something!) and hopping along the surface leaving ripples (again, just like CTHD)...

I saw this on the Hero site with the not-so-good quality video from Australia a couple of weeks ago...

Not that I mind all the flying about; I had no problem with it at all in CTHD and what I saw in the preview for Hero makes it look like there is some UNBELIEVABLY cool looking kung fu in it!

The story is simple, I'm told, told from different characters' points of view, with each "version" represented by a different color tint (Yellow = character A, Red = character B, etc...)

Take all of this with a grain of salt, but that's what I've been able to dig up so far... :)

-Dennis
 

Andy Sheets

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Watched this on dvd last night and thought it was really excellent. If you compare it to CTHD, it seemed like Zhang Yimou placed more emphasis on stillness than Ang Lee did in his movie. Even the fights in Hero contain a lot more slow motion, letting you linger on how gorgeous everything is, rather than Yuen Woo-Ping's fights, which are fast and fluid.

The performances are wonderful across the board. I think my favorite was Maggie Cheung as she just had such a forceful presence, although Tony Leung also was outstanding. Wish there was more of Donnie Yen, but maybe he'll have more time in the longer version :)
 

Jeff Kleist

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Hero comes out in Hong Kong on April 12th, I'll definately be getting that DVD as I can't trust Miramax not to dub and butcher the film
 

Craig Carrigan

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 3, 2002
Messages
80
I have recently viewed this movie and will state my opinions below:

Background:
I am a very huge martial arts fan. I love all martial arts aspects of movies which started when I was a little boy watching ninjas fight the earth, wind, fire, and water ninjas. I like everything from the believeable Jackie Chan fight scenes (as he does his own stunts, that to me is real/believable) to the highest valor Wudan fighter who defies gravity and seems godlike when compared to mere mortals : )

Movie:
Very thicklike in the plot area. Not that I am against heavy plots but don't expect this to be an action movie just to be disappointed by all of the talking, etc... that is involved with plot. I enjoyed CTHD more than this movie because I was expecting a martial arts movie and got a martial arts movie that turned out to have a great plot. With Hero I got a heavy plot movie with some great fight sequences. This is not a complaint, just an observation. I enjoyed the movie and will watch it again.

Yes, there is a water scene. Big lake.

There it is, my two cents.
 

James_Kiang

Screenwriter
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Aug 29, 2000
Messages
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I've also managed to watch this one. I liked it quite a bit, but I can't say I loved it just yet. I'll say a little about it, trying not to use spoilers or comparison to CTHD.

Story
I found the story to be pretty simple. It wasn't hard to figure out within the first 15 minutes where it was going, though it did manage to flesh things out a lot more than I expected.

Action
There's a lot of it, and it is very nicely done. Some of the wirework in the opening fight was a bit too obvious, but it did get better after that. There is a "flying over/across a lake" scene, and that was also one of the weaker fights IMO. One thing I did notice - towards the end of the movie I was kind of thinking "another sword fight? more spinning around? haven't we already seen this?". That is a bit of a knock, but not so bad that it ruined anything for me - just kept it from being in that higher level of enjoyment.

Cinematography
The look of this movie is very nice. As has been mentioned earlier, the use of color is very obvious and very pleasant.

Overall
I did like this movie. The action was nicely done, the look of it was very pleasing, and the acting was good across the board. Even with all the action in it, I did find it to be a little slow-paced. The most negative thing I would say about it is that the action did get a little repetitive.
 

Craig Carrigan

Stunt Coordinator
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Nov 3, 2002
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It was a TBS special back when I was like 10 years old so the name escapes me. It's about a test to be a "high end" ninja. You have to face the Earth Ninja's, Sun Ninja's (no fire), Water Ninja's, and some other one's. Pretty graphic fight scenes like arms getting ripped off. Pretty cool movie from what I remember. The water ninjas could hold their breath for long periods of time and breathed through rods. Anyway's, pretty kick butt old ninja movie. I'm waiting for the superbit widescreen version :D
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
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Sep 19, 1999
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If you've seen the 90 minute version of the movie, you are watching the cut version. The extended cut will be available in April.

Matt
 

Andy Sheets

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Any word on what's actually in the longer version? It would be nice to get some extra, like more of Donnie Yen's character, but at the same time I have to agree with those who feel that the movie feels pretty "full" even at 90 minutes. Hopefully the long version won't stretch the story too thin.
 

James_Kiang

Screenwriter
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Aug 29, 2000
Messages
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Hmmm...Would I spring for this movie again? I suppose if there is a significant amount of added material and if it is a region-free dvd I might consider it. Still, I'm not sure too much extra material will benefit the movie all that much. I will agree that Donnie Yen's Sky is the character that I'd like to see fleshed out more.
 

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