What Do The Critics Say?

"Using China’s natural beauty as a palette, Hero boasts a dazzling array of vibrant colors and action sequences that are as graceful as they are lightning-fast." Brian Mckay EFILMCRITIC.COM "The action of Hero is rousing, its drama is heartbreaking, and its final message is inspiring." Sean Means SALT LAKE TRIBUNE "Beautiful!" John Venable SUPERCALA.COM "A feast for the eyes." Betty Jo Tucker REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS "More than 90 minutes of gushy joy, of old-time movie pleasures." Stephen Hunter WASHINGTON POST

"You can feel the movie's sensibility and its powerful emotions in every aching image, which leaves you so caught up in these ancient times, you're loath to return to present day normalcy." Desson Thomson WASHINGTON POST "The film is a stunning achievement. Nearly every shot is beautiful, impossible, or both." Eric D Snider ERICDSNIDER.COM "You'll be hard pressed to find anything as visually dazzling as this in cinemas ever." Adam Smith EMPIRE MAGAZINE UK "From beginning to end, Hero is a painting in motion, its fight scenes a ballet with blades." Steven Rea PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER "Hero is without question the year's most beautiful film." Glenn Lovell SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

At A Glance

"Maybe the most beautifully-photographed movie I’ve ever seen." Dan Jardine APOLLO GUIDE

Film Threat's Peter Lowry says of "Hero", "If you liked watching Crouching Tiger then this film will blow you away and leave you breathless." I'd go even further. If you enjoyed films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Kill Bill Vol I & II", "Bulletproof Monk" and "The Last Samurai" then "Hero" will leave you, like a fish out of water, gasping for breath at its richness and immaculate story-telling. And here's the defining point for "Hero", it never drags its feet. It's hard to imagine that they pack so much into just 99 minutes of go to whoa in this epic production, "Hero". But they do! It is so effective that your eyes never leave the screen. You daren't look away as it is just spellbinding. And while Jet Li stars as Nameless, the key character in the story, and while he puts in a wonderful performance, Li is not the only star in "Hero". Equally as powerful are the characters of Broken Sword, Flying Snow, Moon, Sky and The King of Qin. And while this is a "Chinese" epic, there is an Australian connection here. One that every aussie can be proud of. The beautiful images flooding the screen in "Hero" were captured thanks to four times Best Cinematography award winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards the former Sydney-sider, Christopher Doyle who also brought us those magnificent images which highlighted the critically acclaimed Phillip Noyce film, "Rabbit Proof Fence". His work over the years has garnered numerous awards, but to use a well known phrase, these images will "blow the socks off your feet". His work on "Hero" is truly exceptional and has film critics all over the world gushing with praise. Another aspect of importance is the film's colour scheme. A colour scheme you ask? Yes. Three colours in fact. They are red, white and blue. Why was it important to distinguish the film with this outstanding colour scheme? "The aesthetics of this film are inextricably bound up with the plot", says director Zhang Yimou. "The idea of using colors to tell the story came about quite early in the process of conceptualizing the film. The look of the set, the costumes and so on was developed in concert with the script itself. I had an image in my head for a long time and then worked through the details of how to realize it through talking with the other people working on the film." One segment of the film that heavily relies on colour is a stunning fight scene [as you will discover they're all stunning fight scenes] between Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi. The production company actually stopped filming and moved to an ancient oak grove in Inner Mongolia to shoot the scenes right at the peak of Autumn when foliage was falling. "I had a guy out there specifically to keep an eye on the leaves," Zhang Yimou said. "He made videotapes of their progress as they turned from green to yellow." Now everyone knows how meticulous the Chinese are but how far do they take it? Well, they even classified the value of the fallen leaves. But it didn't stop there. Zhang says "the leaves had to be perfectly yellow. We even implemented a leaf classification system. Special class leaves could be blown in the actors’ faces, first-class in front of them, second class behind them and third-class were scattered on the ground. A mat gathered leaves as they fell so that the crew could collect, clean and classify them, then gently send them drifting back down again." But the colour obsession didn't end there. Academy Award winning Costume Designer Emi Wada had a heap of trouble with dyes. Wada recalls she "tried no less than thirty colors, hand dying each individual sample." Initially they worked fine. But then Emi Wada struck trouble. "We couldn’t make some colors with the dye and water in Beijing," she explained. "Therefore we brought the dye from England and Japan and used mineral water to dye some of the fabric. We ended up with some thousand meters of cloth." So how meticulous was Wada’s control of the design of the costumes? Costumes she says "has to be as light as ballet costumes." Let's take the red coloured ones. These "costumes were created using fifty four shades of color," she said, "using different textures to characterize the individuals in the story." Just as colourful as the costumes are the skillful fight scenes and the beautiful love story that reveals itself. These are the hallmarks that make "Hero" such a beautifully, stunning visual experience. But hey, don't think the film is just about a big visual explosion of colour and fighting for this is a story and the art is in the telling. It is fascinating to sit there in the theatre, enthralled by the tale of Nameless and the reaction to the tale by the King Of Quin. There is never a dull moment. Hero and China's History "Hero" is based on events in China during the Third Century BC. From 475 to 221 BC, the land was divided into seven major Kingdoms: Qin, Zhao, Han Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi. Named ‘The Warring States Period’ because of the power struggle between the Kingdoms, this was a time of endless brutal wars and much hardship and suffering. War was the predominant way of life. Technological advances enabled the casting of individual weapons, which in turn allowed the arming of foot soldiers. This precipitated a new order of warfare. In previous eras, aristocrats on chariots had fought battles. A General-led infantry replaced this, with peasants pressed into the front lines and commanders directing the strategy. Many treatises on warfare were written during these turbulent times, including the celebrated ‘Art of War’ by Sun Tzu. This in-depth study of warfare remains a Bible of the battlefield to this day. Dominated by power struggles, the Warring States was nevertheless a period of great classical thought. This cultural flowering is known as the One Hundred Schools Period. Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism developed during the Warring States, and some of the most memorable poetry and prose in China were written at this time. The incessant warfare also contributed to other social changes. It sparked reforms in the economy and the development of iron greatly increased agriculture, precipitating a population explosion.
During the Warring States period, a feudal system became firmly established. The Warring States saw the feudal lord of each state vying for hegemony. Each of them believed that they were destined to unite 'All Under Heaven', a phrase taken to mean civilization as they knew it. The King of Qin was most ruthless and ambitious of all. Historically chronicled as a brutal tyrant, the King was determined to conquer and control all of the states. Throughout history, there have been stories of how assassins from all over China plotted to kill the King of Qin. HERO is one of these stories. The seven states would stop at nothing in their goal to create the first Chinese Empire. They placed huge garrisons and enormous walls along their frontiers, military advisors schemed to defeat foreign armies, and alliances between states were formed only to be broken. In the middle of the fray were the wandering warriors. They were skilled fighters who would lend their skills to various states against their enemies. In "Hero", the fate of China rests in the hands of three such legendary warriors. Crew Bytes "Hero" was .......
directed by Golden Bear Award winner Zhang Yimou ["Raise the Red Lantern", "Keep Cool", "The Road Home" and "Happy Times"]; who co-wrote the screenplay with Internet Quartet Cultural Prize winner Li Feng [author of "Confucius" and "Shattered Father"] and Wang Bin ["Raise the Red Lantern", "Keep Cool", "The Road Home" and "Happy Times"]; costume design by Academy Award winner Emi Wada ["The Bride with White Hair", "The Pillow Book", "The Soong Sisters" and "Gohatto"]; production design by Huo Tingxiao ["Farewell My Concubine", "The Emperor and the Assassin", "Steal Happiness" and "Song of Tibet"] and Yi Zhenzhou ["The Great Valley", "Don’t Disturb", "The Emperor and the Assassin" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon "]; director of photograhpy Christopher Doyle ["The Red Lotus Society", "Psycho", "Rabbit Proof Fence" and "The Quiet American"]; original music by Tan Dun ["Operation K", "Fallen", "In the Name of the Emperor" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"] produced by Zhang Yimou and Bill Kong ["The Day the Sun Turned Cold", "Springtime in a Small Town" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"]. Casting About "Hero" stars .......
Tony Leung Chiu Wai ["Heaven Can’t Wait", "Flowers of Shanghai ", "In the Mood for Love", "Fighting for Love" and "Chinese Odyssey"]; Maggie Cheung ["The Bare Footed Kid", "Conjugal Affairs", "Those were the Days" and "In The Mood For LOve"]; Zhang Ziyi ["Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Rush Hour 2", "The Legend of Zu" and "The Warriors"]; Daoming Chen ["Flying Snowstorm", "Evil Empress", "Dance Fever" and "My 1919"]; Donnie Yen [TV's "Fist of Fury"and the films "Legend of the Wolf", "Highlander: Endgame" and "Blade II"] and Jet Li ["Lethal Weapon 4", "Romeo Must Die", "Kiss of the Dragon" and "The One"] as Nameless. The Story

"Full of passionate performances, sizzling swordplay, bold and dazzling hues, and breathtaking landscapes." V A Musetto NEW YORK POST

The King of Quin has lived in fear for many years. His nights have been broken by the fear of assassination. Now news comes that a nameless sheriff has achieved the impossible. Nameless has defeated not one, but all three of the most fear assassins in China, Broken Sword, Flying Snow and Sky. For years the kingdoms of Qin, Zhao, Han Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi have been at war with many suffering cruel death at the hand of the King of Quin. If it is true that these feared assassins are dead, the King will be free to implement his plans for one China with one language. Summoned to the court, Nameless tells his tale to a disbelieving King. How is it that he has never heard of this man. How is it that he is so skillful that he could kill all three powerful assassins. To defeat one would be an accomplishment. To defeat two would be exceptional. But to defeat all three would make this nameless sherrif from Quin kingdom a true Hero. It would also mean the King can now sleep soundly at last. The Verdict "Most will agree that "Crouching Tiger: Hidden Dragon" was groundbreaking cinema. "Hero" on the other-hand is a magnificent production on the grandest scale. Breath-taking! Rich! Sensual! Spectacular! And, there's a bonus. A beautiful love story. "Hero" is storytelling on the grandest scale that never drags its feet. Far and away the most beautiful cinema in decades. A true epic. Most highly recommended." The Cast

Jet Li Tony Leung Chiu Wai Maggie Cheung Zhang Ziyi Daoming Chen Donnie Yen Liu Zhong Yuan Zheng Tia Yong Yan Qin Chang Xiao Yang Zhang Ya Kun Ma Wen Hua Jin Ming Xu Kuang Hua Wang Shou Xin

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Nameless Broken Sword Flying Snow Moon King of Qin Sky Scholar Old Servant Prime Minister General Commander Head Eunuch Eunuch Pianist Musician

The Crew Directed by Zhang Yimou Written by Li Feng/Wang Bin/Zhang Yimou Produced by Bill Kong and Zhang Yimou Original Music by Tan Dun Cinematography by Christopher Doyle Film Editing by Angie Lam/Ru Zhai Documentary Segment Editor Vincent Lee Production Design by Tingxiao Huo and Zhenzhou Yi Art Direction by Tingxiao Huo Costume Design by Emi Wada Choreographer Siu-Tung Ching Run Time 99 minutes Rated M15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2004 - Miramax Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2004 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved