stormruston
This was a very good film, that bounced around a lot. There is a story or two buried under all the torn out by the root heads and body's that get sliced right in half! Basically this is a betrayal love story triangle and a tale of loyalty built on a political power play and deception platform ..Clear? The story is almost secondary to the barrage of action and violence.The kungfu is mostly wire and magic based so if you like reality kungfu or sword work and really dislike far-fetched wire and magic, this won;'t be the movie for you. I love both styles so this was great! ( I am a huge gore fan too) The cast is great, some of the best and most beautiful hong-kong actors are in it. Tony Leung and Donnie Yen are near perfect. Joey Wong as butterfly is perfect and Michelle Yeoh is wonderful as the slightly evil plotting and driven sister Ko.This is a very watchable movie...give it a go, not for under 15 years of age in-spite of the fact the violence is cartoon like in its degree of carnage.
squelcho
Who cares about the plot when it only gets in the way of the action? The editing makes for some headscratching and eyerolling moments, but I think I understood the basic power trip thing in the end. Any excuse for a tear up. Graaaaaaaaaaar! I love this movie for the gratuitous gore, insane high speed swordplay, and wobbly wirework. This is my idea of fun fu. It reminds me of the madder Ghost Story type movies from the early eighties that sacrificed plot for pure adrenaline. I was half expecting the fake eunuch to drop some fancy prehensile eyebrow moves on Michelle and Tony at the end, but the scissorhand thing was a fine substitute. Maybe I'm just unsophisticated, but movies like this strike me as pure action comedies. Seeing Donnie Yen wiggling his sword at the speed of light in between bouts of lovesick drunkenness is worth the price of admission. The human arrow sequences are a riot, especially the first one where Tony Leung goes through at least a dozen flunkies without blinking. And without getting any blood and guts on his clothes. Neat! Watch this movie if you like bloody high speed entertainment. Don't waste your time or money if you want a philosophical history lesson.
Mr_Pink05
this film is truly incredible, please people, comment on it. I think it is one of the best martial arts films I have ever seen. However, it is very cult and i could not imagine most mainstream audiences enjoying this film. If you are not a philistine, then you will probably appreciate the very high quality of this film. i would give this film 10/10 because it is not only an excellent kung fu movie, but the cinematography is also jaw droppingly good. I must warn people that the Michelle Yeoh death scene is cut off in most DVD copies of this film, so it goes from her standing there, to butterfly and sword sitting in the back of a cart weeping... how bizarre.Kick ass film though!
YTSL
An amazing movie which is amazingly under-appreciated and -rated. One of those rare multi-genre (fantasy, historical costume drama, comedy, romantic tragedy) movies for which Hong Kong is justly famous, with -- unusually for films from that movie production center -- a complex, multi-dimensional and -level plot. Beautifully filmed, well acted (Michelle Yeoh is NOT just an action stuntwoman though she is undoubtedly able in that regard), fast paced.My only caveat is that it helps to read a plot synopsis (preferably Peter's from off the "Yes Madam" web site). Yes, the story-line is THAT complicated!
AD
