House of Flying Daggers

[The Actual]

You say that the only reason that you didn't like House of Flying Daggers was because of the over-the-top-unrealistic fighting, but the fight scenes were no more over the top than in Hero or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Picking up a sword and fighting someone with it using your ten foot long sleeves is pretty ridiculous, but bouncing off of a lake with the tip of your sword is even more so.

But that is not my point; I do not really care how realistic a scene is as long as its aesthetics allow me to suspend my disbelief.

I enjoyed all three movies, although I do agree with you that the quality descended chronologically.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Actual You say that the only reason that you didn't like House of Flying Daggers was because of the over-the-top-unrealistic fighting, but the fight scenes were no more over the top than in Hero or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Picking up a sword and fighting someone with it using your ten foot long sleeves is pretty ridiculous, but bouncing off of a lake with the tip of your sword is even more so. But that is not my point; I do not really care how realistic a scene is as long as its aesthetics allow me to suspend my disbelief. I enjoyed all three movies, although I do agree with you that the quality descended chronologically.

It certainly wasn't the fighting scenes, they were very good and I don't care too much about realism, either (please see my post above). Actually, I didn't list the numerous reasons why I didn't like this movie because I thought that people might still want to see it.

But I just reread my first post and it does look like I bashed the movie because of the fighting scenes whereby it was just me trying to put everything into a very long sentence...

Without spoiling anything but what was up with the weather?

 

[YamiTenshi]

I was disappointed in all three movies, which isn't to say much because I have strange taste in films

. But of the three I liked CTHD best. I can care less for special effects and martial arts, I grew up with HK movies and am now getting into Japanese movies, so I seen already seen most of what's out there. But CTHD I felt had the best storyline, it was something a little different then everything else that was out there.

Hero I disliked because it was too hard to follow and I really don't think Jet Li is capable of acting. He can kick ass and look good doing it, but when you put a camera right in front of his face he is very plain. I've grown up with actors like Tony Leung and Andy Lau, so you can see why I think Jet Li is average at best.

House of Flying Dagger's is just overrated. Basically good acting on everyone's part and the special effects and martial arts were standard but the storyline fell short. It felt like they were just making it up as they were going along (hey, let's throw in a plot twist here, this will really mess up the audience!). Also it was too much of a love story, which is not a bad thing if that was what it started as, but it started off as a martial arts story about rebellion and the government fighting back, then suddenly all that was throw aside for a love triangle, and in the end the entire fight between the rebels and govenment wasn't mentioned.

If you really want to see a good martial arts movie try looking a few years back into HK films (Once Upon a Time in China, Swordsmen). Those films weren't as big budget as the newer ones but much more enjoyable.

 

[The Actual]

Quote:

Originally Posted by saint.panda It certainly wasn't the fighting scenes, they were very good and I don't care too much about realism, either (please see my post above). Actually, I didn't list the numerous reasons why I didn't like this movie because I thought that people might still want to see it. But I just reread my first post and it does look like I bashed the movie because of the fighting scenes whereby it was just me trying to put everything into a very long sentence... Without spoiling anything but what was up with the weather?

Oh, OK. It sounds like we were bothered by teh same things, but to different degrees.

And yeah, the weather was pretty weird/annoying.

 

[saint.panda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by YamiTenshi I was disappointed in all three movies, which isn't to say much because I have strange taste in films . But of the three I liked CTHD best. I can care less for special effects and martial arts, I grew up with HK movies and am now getting into Japanese movies, so I seen already seen most of what's out there. But CTHD I felt had the best storyline, it was something a little different then everything else that was out there. Hero I disliked because it was too hard to follow and I really don't think Jet Li is capable of acting. He can kick ass and look good doing it, but when you put a camera right in front of his face he is very plain. I've grown up with actors like Tony Leung and Andy Lau, so you can see why I think Jet Li is average at best. House of Flying Dagger's is just overrated. Basically good acting on everyone's part and the special effects and martial arts were standard but the storyline fell short. It felt like they were just making it up as they were going along (hey, let's throw in a plot twist here, this will really mess up the audience!). Also it was too much of a love story, which is not a bad thing if that was what it started as, but it started off as a martial arts story about rebellion and the government fighting back, then suddenly all that was throw aside for a love triangle, and in the end the entire fight between the rebels and govenment wasn't mentioned. If you really want to see a good martial arts movie try looking a few years back into HK films (Once Upon a Time in China, Swordsmen). Those films weren't as big budget as the newer ones but much more enjoyable.

Quality post. I agree with your assertations on HoFD and Once upon a time in China really is an excellent movie.

Adding to that, I saw HoFD in Chinese with French and German subtitles. The subtitling is horrible because the linguistic wit is completely lost. Sometimes, the translation was just plain wrong. The French translation was a little bit better due to a bigger varitey of words used but that probably just showed me how limited my French vocabulary is.

About Jet Li, his Chinese movies are ok but the Hollywood movies, where he's starring in, are just horrible - not the movies but Jet Li. Romeo must die, Kiss of the Dragon, etc. He always has the same expression and just doesn't fit into those movies. He's more like the humble and elated bad-guy-butt-kicking monk.

There's also this new 2046 movie, which looks interesting upon first look. However, I would need to see that in Germany because movies don't get dubbed in Switzerland (good thing for most English movies) and the movie 2046 takes place in Hong Kong (Cantonese).

 

[warubozu]

I saw all three movies mentioned here. I like both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. I thought both of the movies were cinematically beuautiful in thier own way. Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon IMO had a better storyline and acting than Hero.
House of Flying Daggers didn't move me compared to the previous two mentioned films and like most here I was a little disappointed. The storyline in this movie is a bit cheesy and far fetched at times, nothing spectaclular at all.

 

[KR...]

I saw all three movies, to me they are all pure eye candy and not much beyond that, there are dozens of Kung-Fu movies that I like better, but that doesn't mean that these three sucked

 

[soundboy]

None of 3 films impressed me neither. I grown up in the 70s and 80s watching the real deal....and even back then, the wirework was a lot more believable. These costume period martial arts stories are always about over-the-top flying moves and leaps, impossible anti-gravity maneuvers. I don't see it as any different than what George Lucas put into his Jedi Knight characters; in fact, I consider Lucas ripping off those classic Chinese characters. Many of these charcters were written originally in martial arts novels, like "The Swordsman". If you guys want confusion, read one of these novels in which all the moves are decribed in details.

As for Chow Yun-fat, his ONLY other work involving period martial arts was the TV production of "The Swordsman"....back in the early 80s. I still don't get why, or how, people see him as a martial artist. The man is a damn good actor though, if given the right material.

 

[YamiTenshi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by soundboy None of 3 films impressed me neither. I grown up in the 70s and 80s watching the real deal....and even back then, the wirework was a lot more believable. These costume period martial arts stories are always about over-the-top flying moves and leaps, impossible anti-gravity maneuvers. I don't see it as any different than what George Lucas put into his Jedi Knight characters; in fact, I consider Lucas ripping off those classic Chinese characters. Many of these charcters were written originally in martial arts novels, like "The Swordsman". If you guys want confusion, read one of these novels in which all the moves are decribed in details. As for Chow Yun-fat, his ONLY other work involving period martial arts was the TV production of "The Swordsman"....back in the early 80s. I still don't get why, or how, people see him as a martial artist. The man is a damn good actor though, if given the right material.

Really sorry to be picky but Star Wars is a rip off of Akira Kurosawa's Rashamon.. yeah a rip off nonetheless, but at least he admitted it.

I could never get used to Chow Yun Fat as a swordsman either, it just doesn't feel right. But pick up (almost) any movie with John Woo and Chow Yun Fat and you get a great movie.

I haven't seen as any movies from the 70s, but I did see many from the 80s and 90s, and I've noticed that though they are starting to look better in terms of setting and special effects, I'm enjoying them less and less. I just feel so distant from the characters at the end of the movie that I really don't care what happens. Directors are becoming too preoccupied with making the movie look good (i.e. special effects) that they don't spend any time developing the characters and storyline.