*** Official HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Peter-PP]

I have a question to those who saw the film in a movie theater. I'm very curious to know if the song was sung in Mandarin or was the song also dubbed?

Another question, has anyone ordered the soundtrack from Sony's website and did they send you a free HOFD poster with the CD?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ThomasC]

I have no reason to think that it would be dubbed. HoFD is being distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, not MiramAXE.

 

[Peter-PP]

HoFD won a Golden Globes nomination for Foreign language film, hope it wins! I look forward to getting the US DVD release.

 

[Jason GT]

Ugh.

Didn't enjoy this movie too much - IMO it definitely starts out quite strongly but starts to drag and the last act is utterly laughable.

The initial scenes are definitely filmed in grand style and elegance. Not only is the narrative at this point coherent and sensible but it is visually stunning - intricate architectural features are only matched by the brilliance of he costumes. A creative action sequence; this segment is easily the best of the entire movie.

As one proceeds outdoors, one still sees some monochromatic colorschemes, but it's not as overt as say, Hero. As the "journey" goes on though, lack of suspension of disbelief comes in. Granted she's "blind" but who would believe that a blind girl could run several minutes through a forest?

The bamboo forest scene was interesting but again, ... lack of credible suspension of disbelief. Too many bamboo-flying soldiers.

The further this movie drags on the more it becomes, dare I say it, overly Hollywoodified. It's basically a love triangle and some action sequences laid over a very skimpy framework. The action is okay to pretty good(pumped up by CG, no lesss), the visuals okay, the acting acceptable, the story sadly deficient, only serving to transport the movie between setpieces. Sound familiar?

Any emotion that I could muster for character's interrelationships is sucked away in the final scene. It is at this point where the movie becomes a self-parody as it continues to take itself seriously in the face of utterly ridiculous events.


Odds 'n ends:

- I bet that Maggie could beat Andy in a swordfight
- did anyone else get a chuckle when it was revealed that Andy Lau's character was a "mole"?
- for me this would be a rental, or else pretty low on the "see in theater" section. Not something that I would personally buy.

 

[ThomasC]

n/m

 

[SarahG]

I'll be seeing this soon. I saw a reviewer on a cbs morning show today and they were pretty much raving about it. Visually, they were pretty much astounded by the effects, etc. Either I didn't listen to much they had to say about the plot or I was just way too into what they had to say about the effects. Either way, I'll be seeing it.

 

[Keith I]

Interesting tidbit. It seems Miramax isn't the only studio to excise foreign movie scenes for US distribution. Sony Pictures Classics also did it for HoFD:

http://www.helloziyi.us/

The cut scenes can be seen on her site as well.

 

[George See]

Not very likely, I caught a screening in CT and the theater was practically empty...this was a saturday night showing and it had just opened the night before. It was literally me and one other group of about 4 people in the theater.

Overall I really liked it, I think a lot of people complain about the last half of the movie not being as strong as the first because the first is really cool. I don't think it's a case of bad ending so much as it's a case of really good beginning.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

I'd watch it.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

I for one am looking forward to seeing this one in a theater. I made the semi-mistake of buying the Region 3 DVD a few months back and watching it first that way. Nice sound, but the picture quality was just this side of dreadful on my 50" HDTV. I'd recommend that fans hold off for a region 1 DVD release.

Still, even when poorly authored, Zhang Ziyi (or Ziyi Zhang now) DVDs = automatic sale. The most beautiful actress in film, period.

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Citizen87645]

The movie is rolling out similarly to Crouching Tiger in that it's hitting my art house theater first and the audio is going to be less than stellar there. So even when it first hits the theater locally I will not only have seen it already but also heard it sound better! I'm thinking of doing a parallel screening for my friends when it gets here. Hopefully the much improved R3 double disc release will be here by then.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Ooh, when does that hit the street?

--Jefferson Morris

 

[Rich Malloy]

It's already hit! Apparently, both the 2-disc version (at CD Wow for around $18; there's a $2-off coupon around somewhere) and the 3-disc LE version (that seems to be sold-out everywhere now) has the same improved transfer that primarily addresses the contrast problems with the first Edko release, but is also more detailed and with better black levels (at least from the screen caps and descriptions). There's a thread at DVD Talk in the international forum with links to all the pertinent info.

My copy of the 2-disc set should arrive next week!

I should add that there are some fears, possibly unfounded, that Miramax (or Sony, or whoever holds the R1 distribution rights) is flexing it's muscle to prevent retailers from exporting other-region discs of this film into the US. I don't know if this is accurate info -- it smells a bit scare-mongery -- and I add only that it is not illegal for you to buy or possess this film on an other-region disc, but a retailer exporting this disc into the US may violate Miramax's distribution rights. Anyway, if you can't wait for the R1 release (or don't trust Miramax to do right by it), you might consider picking up the new Edko 2-disc or 3-disc LE quickly. My feelings are that these releases will likely remain available for those who know where to look, and that other pending releases may improve upon this (also much-improved) transfer -- I believe Starmax may be releasing a version, for example. But for around $16 shipped (with the $2-off CD Wow coupon), the new 2-disc Edko release was an easy purchase for me! When the time comes to upgrade, I doubt I'll regret this order (just as I don't regret purchasing the Edko "Hero" disc, even though I hope to upgrade to the Japanese R2 single-disc release at the end of this month (so long as the transfer is the same as on the previous Japanese special edition release).

 

[Rich Malloy]

Quick update: a post in the Regional DVD area of this forum indicates that DVDAsian has replaced the (supposed) upcoming Starmax release due out this month with the R1 release due out in May. It's possible that the "muscle-flexing" has begun. Also, it does appear to be Sony that holds the R1 rights; not Miramax.

One other thing to throw in the fray: the theatrical release in the US is cut. Apparently, some cuts were made to reduce violence/blood, and another shortens the big finale scene (BIG SPOILER). Those who've seen both tend to think the cuts are no big deal (and possibly an improvement in the finale scene), and it seems likely that the R1 disc will also be this "cut" version. So, you may want to factor that in when considering a purchase.

 

[Citizen87645]

I was going to post that it's Sony who is releasing the film, not Miramax, but you self-corrected Miramax is rather notorious for blocking distribution of other region releases, but I don't know about Sony. Miramax has distribution rights on many Hong Kong films so they've stood out more prominently in that regard. Just go to hkflix.com and it's not hard to run across this issue (and I think it's great that hkflix takes the opportunity to point out why they don't have other region releases of films like Fist of Legend and Drunken Master 2).

 

[Citizen87645]

I found this release schedule. It might make you excited or it might make you anxious!!!

http://www.campuscircle.net/daggers/daggers_release.htm

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I noticed from that list Cameron posted that my local theatre swapped where it was going to be shown. They moved it from the less than stellar theatre to the one across the street and onto the Imax screen there. I'm glad they did because like I said in an earlier post, the sound is incredible.

 

[Keith I]

See my post #44 for a link to a Ziyi website that has video of the cut scenes.

 

[Citizen87645]

That release schedule is not entirely accurate as one location north of me has it already when the schedule lists the 14th.

 

[Jefferson Morris]

Thanks for the info on the two- and three-disc versions, Rich. Lack of detail in the wide shots and visible compression artifacts were my main beef with the one-discer. Please give us your thoughts on the two-discer when you receive it.

--Jefferson Morris