Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: Blu-ray
Label: Buena Vista
Manufacturer: Buena Vista
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Buena Vista
Region Code: 1
Studio: Buena Vista
Theatrical Release Date: August 27, 2004
Related Items:
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
Director Zhang Yimou brings the sumptuous visual style of his previous films (Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad) to the high-kicking kung fu genre. A nameless warrior (Jet Li, Romeo Must Die, Once Upon a Time in China) arrives at an emperor's palace with three weapons, each belonging to a famous assassin who had sworn to kill the emperor. As the nameless man spins out his story--and the emperor presents his own interpretation of what might really have happened--each episode is drenched in red, blue, white or another dominant color. Hero combines sweeping cinematography and superb performances from the cream of the Hong Kong cinema (Maggie Cheung, Irma Vep, Comrades: Almost a Love Story; Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, In the Mood for Love, Hard Boiled; and Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). The result is stunning, a dazzling action movie with an emotional richness that deepens with every step. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Yimou Zhang - what else?
As I read the others reviews - very accurated - and do not dare to say more about this " another-masterpiece " from the master Zhang Yimou.
I will just say that I saw it at the movie. That I had one copy, that some friend borrowed and I could not ' not-have ' - one copy to review and review.
No. I am using this chance to say that thanks to the cybernetics I can buy from the most serious and correct seller of this planet: I bought the dvd with an estimated delivery time of october 1st - and received it today, sept 18th !!! Perfect! Brand new! Hot! Crisp! That's Amazon !
Rating: - Surprisingly good despite the hype
Hero genuinely impressed me, much to my surprise - I'm not a fan of the humourlessly one-note Jet Li, who has always struck me as a character from Mystery Men who didn't make the final cut (useless `super' power - the ability to wave a flagpole around very, very fast) and after all the fuss made over the tedious, overlong and undernourished Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was expecting the Western critical praise to translate into another tired and overfamiliar movie that appealed mainly to people who hadn't seen much Eastern cinema. Boy, was I wrong. A gorgeous looking epic with a real sense of scale and amazing visuals allied to a complex plot, I was kicking myself for not seeing this one on the big screen. Not everything is successful (the duel on the lake never quite works), but more than enough is to guarantee repeat viewings. Li's limitations are used well for once and while Ziyi Zhang's petulant acting still doesn't entirely convince me, it's surprising to find the weakest performance coming from the film's best actor, Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Never at his most convincing in fantasy swordplay movies (the introspective Ashes of Time excepted), he seems a little underpowered for such an iconic role. But these are minor quibbles with a major delight.
Be aware that there is an extended director's cut available in China (the disc has English subtitles though there is a curious intermittent trademark watermark in the top of the screen), although Miramax seem in no hurry to release it here. ... Read More
Rating: - Who Moved My Hero?
Red version: Hero is the story of one man's quest (Nameless, played by Jet Li) to destroy the three assassins (lovers Broken Sword played by Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Flying Snow played by Maggie Cheung, and Sky played by Donnie Yen) who tried to kill the King of Qin (Chen Daoming). Nameless bests Sky in combat, and Broken Sword and Flying Snow betray each other, all the while fighting off the King's entire army, until Nameless finally kills Snow. At least, that's the story Nameless tells the King, who is privileged with advancing within ten paces of him.
Blue version: The King disagrees. He knows the assassin lovers and doesn't believe the story. He instead believes that the three assassins sacrificed their own lives to allow Nameless the audience with the King, and thus a chance to commit regicide himself. He has developed a special move, the King theorizes, that can kill a man at ten paces.
White version: Now the truth comes out. Nameless explains who he is, where he came from, and why he is in the King's palace. Nameless has a technique that can skewer a person while missing all their vital organs, making the blow look fatal. He used it on Sky and he uses it again on Flying Snow. Surprisingly, Broken Sword is against the entire notion of assassinating the King at all, a decision that harkens back to the duo's first assassination attempt. It failed only because Broken Sword chose not to kill the King.
Throughout the movie parallels are made between calligraphy ... Read More
Rating: - Gorgeous settings, score, story, but what an ending
Not going to ruin the ending for people, but even with the sad ending, this is one of the best movies with Jet Li. It reminds me a lot of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince. From the philosophy of how to become a good king and betrayals thereof. Everything about this movie is pure aesthetic, and art for arts sake. The backdrop is so illuminating and dreamlike. How in one moment, the scenery is very green, then very red, that it gets really fun to guess what the next color will be. Overall, an awesome movie you don't want to miss.
Rating: - Visual Poetry and Martial Arts Perfection for fanboys and filmsnobs, alike. . .
First off, it is important to note that this version is the shorter, American version. While some of the changes were subtle, they do take away from what I consider to be a flawless film. For instance, the translation of Huang Di in this version is 'Our Land'. And while that seems nice, the true translation is 'All Under Heaven'. Just has so much more poetry to it. If you enjoyed this film in the US, seek out the original version.
Hero is fantastic because it is not a pure martial arts movie. With Zhang Yimou at the helm, there was something else to be expected of this film- and it delivered.
What Hero represents is martial arts filmmaking as an art form. While watching the movie the thought that kept popping into my head was 'visual poetry'. The amount of nuance and subtlety that Hero contains is hard to even begin to explain. But the more you watch, the more you see the little details that add so much to the film, mostly on a subconcious level.
See the colors change. Notice when all the sound is pulled out in favor of silence, or of just the musical score. The power of a scream where there is no sound is overwhelming. The interplay between regular and slo-motion is used, not just for visual style, but to jar ones senses or to convey an emotion that words cannot evoke. See th focus change as the direcotr leads your eye around the screen. Notice the arrangement of people and objects in the frame. Nothing is an accident. Nothing is left to chance. It is ... Read More
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