House of Flying Daggers (2004)

I love this movie so much

Fantastic!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This is not your typical wuxia martial arts film. It is more of a romance drama with wuxia elements. Beautiful set pieces and design, exciting and artistic choreography, and genuine on-screen chemistry between leads Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Ziyi all combine to create a tragic and heart-wrenching love story with an emotionally satisfying payoff. To that end this movie is a success and I enjoyed it. The problem however is unlike predecessors Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and Hero the script lacks that suspenseful plot to drive the story forward. And when you have no plot in a love story all you basically get is two people making out the whole time which gets really dull after a while. Think about it. Would Titanic still be considered a classic if you took out the part with the sinking ship and replaced it with more Jack and Rose scenes? Could have easily been a 7 or 8 if the second act wasn't so boring.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the recent Oscar-winning period movies that have been coming out of Hong Kong – I thought that CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and HERO were both okay films, well made certainly, but lacking that certain dynamic spark which is needed for a classic film. So it was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, well aware that director Zhang Yimou was also responsible for HERO, and fully expecting to be let down by this film, as well. I was in for a surprise.HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS blew me away. Whereas the two films mentioned previously have seemed false, concerning tired notions of heroism and chivalry, this one concentrates on torrid romance, with many love scenes taking place during the film's running time. This is what is needed to give the film heart and dynamism. Obviously, the excellent technical qualities are what make this such a good film; the CGI effects are excellent, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the fight choreography spellbinding. Director Yimou is first and foremost an artist and it shows; this is the most visually beautiful film I've seen in my life. Each of the major set-pieces has a major colour scheme going on and the camera superbly captures all the nuances. Costumes, sets, and weaponry are vibrant and engaging as well.The acting is excellent. Veteran Andy Lau has the most interesting role, a soldier torn between his duty and the girl he loves. Said girl is played by Ziyi Zhang, who I haven't liked much in her previous films; here she's excellent, and Zimou really captures her fragile beauty and innocence. The other central performer is Takeshi Kaneshiro, familiar from his role in 1997's HERO; here he makes good on his central role in that film – he's great as well.The various fight scenes are all fluid and the wire work is nicely incorporated into the battles, which never seem outlandish or unnecessary as in the films I mentioned at the beginning of this review. There are lots of shots of weapons flying through the air which I liked, and a classic stand-off at the film's climax, which takes place in a snowstorm and reminded me favourably of the climax of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND HTE UGLY; director Zimou is obviously cut from the same cloth as Sergio Leone. Other highlights include the showdown in the bamboo forest and the magnificent echo game which opens the film, and which makes the best use of surround sound I've experienced.

With the exception of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films, I have never seen a movie that combines martial arts(action), cinematography and story into such a gorgeous creation. House of flying daggers is a masterpiece and will stand as such with Hero, and Crouching tiger Hidden Dagger. Much like Hero, the ending brings a tear to the soul.The music, the tone and story are meshed together so well that they create the feeling of "truth". I can only gush at how romantically disastrous this movie is..Hauntingly beautiful, bringing destruction to men for love. It's almost Shakespeare in its tragedy sense.

A better and worse movie I have not seen. The choreography and cinematography were brilliant- perhaps unmatched. That coupled with excellent acting from most of the leads made the show worthy of being called a piece of art. But unfortunately the script was utter, complete trash. The plot twists were unconvincing and unnecessary and so were much of the dialogue. People were loudly commenting and some actually walked out two-thirds into the show. I suspect that it was a deliberate attempt on the part of the producers to cater to what they presume to be the Western/international audience's perception of what wuxia should be. A pity. It could at least have been something of a surreal experience if not for the obvious Executive Meddling.