House of Flying Daggers

[saint.panda]

Just watched it today and man, I don't think I've ever been so disappointed by a movie.

First of all, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is one my favourite movies of all time and I was happy to see that martial arts movies with some depth started making their way to the broad masses.

The next big martial arts movie that came after it was "Hero" by the director Zhang Yi Mou. Now, that guy is not the most popular film maker in China because people think that he's too western-oriented. He's also the one who gets to organize the opening ceremony for Beijing 2008, which I thought was a wise move because he understands the international taste. For example, the 5 minute performance at the ending ceremony of the Athen games was critized heavily in China because that was "something which the people have seen thousands of times of already". Well, the people in China maybe but not the people in the rest of the world. So that was cool, I thought.

The movie "Hero" itself was not good in my opinion. No storyline, too much fighting, filled with pathos, Jet Li can't act and I missed the kind of Chinese artistical yet humble sense for sceneries. The pictures and sceneries were overwhelming and flashy but I didn't like it.

Fast forward to the "House of Flying Daggers". A complete disaster in my opinion. I'm used to people laughing at those martial fighting scenes where people are literally flying around or the overdose of melancholy at times. This time was not any different except that I was laughing, too. I don't want to spoil anything here but I felt like leaving the movie while it was playing. I have paid for bad movies in the past before, like "Hollow Man" for example, but I went into the "House of Fyling Daggers" with big hopes for a great evening and left with 8 bucks less in my wallet.

Anybody else seen it?

 

[sleepkyng]

i thought hero and daggers were fantastic

i love crouching tiger alot, and would say that it is better than those two films.

but i also think hero and dagger held much of the storytelling in the visuals, colors and choreography.

daggers is a classic love triangle, it's Greek tragedy to the max. and it is really beautiful. sure, it's over the top and outrageous, but that's part of mythology really.

 

[romesaz]

I've seen Crouching Tiger, and seen Hero (before it made the US releases), and personaly liked Hero more than Crouching Tiger... I've seen only bits of Daggers, but from wht I've seen, I liked.
I've got it sitting downstairs on a DVD, awaiting my watching it.

 

[oneeyedhobbit]

I thoroughly enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I thought Hero was a beautiful movie in terms of scenery and fight scenes, but it was definitely lacking on plot--the whole movie was built around the intrigue surrounding a central message. The message was great and all, but a bit too cliché to build a movie around. I've not seen House, but if its anything like Hero, I'll wait until its out of theaters.

 

[saint.panda]

Here's why I did not like "Hero". From a technical point of view, it was a great movie and the fightings scenes were top-notch. Great twists in the story. However, sometimes it was just too much. The colours, the overflowing emotions, the music.

 

[Jasper994]

I loved Hero for it's cinematography. Every shot was just beautiful. The color usage was incredible and really helped to tell the story. Crouching Tiger was pretty good too but I think Hero was better. To each their own I guess.

 

[RYCeT]

I still can't understand why Crouching tiger is considered as good movie. I saw the vcd of crouching tiger about 3 months before it was released in Australia ( I was in sydney at that time). During viewing the vcd, I was not aware that movie is a new one. At that time, seeing the special effect etc, I thought the movie was released 3-4 years earlier, and the storyline is just so so. My only impression is damn that girl (zhang zi yi) is hot. Chow yun fat is an excellent HK actor however IMO crouching tiger is not his best movie nor any of his hollywood movie.

edit: I second the opinion that 'Hero' is a better movie than 'Crouching tiger'. Once upon a time in China (1st) is better than those two though

 

[neueziel]

I saw it in China over summer and I really didn't think much of it. Another attempt for Sony to try to get rich over the Chinese film phenomenon since CTHD. I didn't like that one either, simply because bad action, somewhat cheesy story, not much of a conclusion. Hero I liked a bit but than again I'm a Jet Li freak.

 

[rsaavedra]

I liked Crouching Tiger a lot, but liked Hero better. In fact Hero is one of my fav movies of all time. Saw House of the flying daggers last week, not at the same level of these two at all. There's no depth in Flying Dagers, it's just an over-dramatic romantic tragedy, with lots of flashy special effects and martial arts, but that's it.

 

[Kirosia]

Movies like crouching tiger with the fru-fru flying fight crap never really took me. I was raised on lame/low quality asian fighting shows, and I preferred them to this genre. So do my friends. It seems all the asian people I know aren't too fond of hero, ct, and the like. I jsut don't get it. They're medeocre at best, but definitely aren't special in anyway. I could name quite a few asian films that I prefer greatly. (cough*arahan*cough)

EDIT: I apologize if this thread crapping.

 

[NotoriousBIG_PJ]

I watched hero and house of daggers on consecutive days and I thought house of daggers made hero seem so so.

Biggie.

 

[archosman]

You're right on both counts. I was very dissapointed with both.

 

[sleepkyng]

i think if you consider the fighting in crouching tiger/hero/daggers to be more like choreography then it's much more enjoyable.

great choreographed martial arts is very beautiful. the first fight scene in hero where jet li fights sky is amazing. the actual movements are really great.

i really like ballet tho so maybe that's why i like it and i have a bias.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepkyng i think if you consider the fighting in crouching tiger/hero/daggers to be more like choreography then it's much more enjoyable. great choreographed martial arts is very beautiful. the first fight scene in hero where jet li fights sky is amazing. the actual movements are really great. i really like ballet tho so maybe that's why i like it and i have a bias.

Very true and Zhang Zi Yi actually used to attend a professional dancing school (not sure if it was ballet). It's not all about the realism factor and in China most martial arts don't excel in realism either. Here's also another reason why I liked Tiger and dragon a lot. The fighting scenes were elegant and transfered the contextual mood of a given scene perfectly.

 

[frankcent]

I have watched both Hero and House of flying daggers in China. I didnt like both. they havent left anything in my brain for me to think about it. I like movies like the butterfly effect and minority report, which let me think about the movie and the messages they deliver. I think house of flying daggers is too western oriented too. after watching house of flying daggers, I actually think that hero is a way better movie in comparison in terms of story line, the effects and the philosophical message. I even dont remember the house of flying daggers unless someone mentions it. actually, it has nothing I need to remember. probably non chinese speakers would appreciate them much more than we do.