Warriors of Heaven and Earth

I knew nothing of this movie before I watched it.

I wish people would stop comparing every single Asian film to CTHD. The film is not trying to be CTHD or better it. It is trying to be something different from the wire-fu extravaganzas that are coming out of China.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this film. Certainly one of the better Asian films to be released in recent years. It's not perfect but I found it to be entertaining and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates simple adventure yarns. The story is simple but why should stories be complex to be good? The best stories are often simple ones.

Go and see it but don't expect a wire-fu spectacle and you won't be disappointed.

I liked this movie but I was not awestruck by it. It has some excellent characters and a very engaging plot. There are a few lines that will make all but the most jaded filmwatchers smile.

But this movie has a couple of drawbacks which mark it as a notch below other films like "Crouching Tiger" and the infinitely superior "Hero." Both of these films also had excellent characters and stories but were visually far a cut above. A BIG cut.

"Warriors" uses jump-cuts and too-tight camera angles in an effort to hide the fact that many of its stars are not actually martial artists. The resulting fight scenes are very frustrating to watch. Like I said, the plot carries the movie along and it is indeed a good film, but I hate getting snookered by creative editing.

Compare any fight scene in "Warriors" with, say, the extended battle scene between the two women warriors in "Crouching Tiger," most of which is filmed in medium shots that allow your eye to follow the line of action. IMHO this is a lot more impressive. Even the goofy wire work doesn't take away from that.

But "Warriors" is worth a rent. You will care what happens to the characters. And you will see a very nice meditation on the question of what, as people of honor, we must do.

Warriors of Heaven and Earth is a decently made movie with some good plot developments.

The fighting scenes. All of the fighting scenes were done relatively well, being more towards the real side of battle, instead of the fighting scenes from the other big names (Hero, House of Flying Daggers). My only complaint with the action scenes, is that nobody is affected by the death of their comrades. I understand you cannot stop fighting unless you want to join your brother in heaven, but they all took their deaths as the grim reality. I suppose in a way, it is more realistic (we're all going to die anyway, maybe he was lucky to get to heaven sooner). The camera work and plot however did do an excellent job of making you feel sorrowful when a character died.

The romance. Wait, excuse me, romance? Vicky Zhou? What?

This point nearly ruined the movie for me until I got back into the mindset of hey, there are good fight scenes, let's enjoy them. Vicky Zhou's character is completely extraneous and was a waste. Although her voice is nice as the narrator of the story, and she still has a pretty face, she was utterly useless. Not only did she not fight (unless you call the one to two minute scene in the end "fighting"), she had about 10-15 minutes of full, on-camera footage - mostly devoted to questioning Li's criminal activities.

Overall. Lai Qi (Kiichi Nakai) and Li Zai (Wen Jiang) carry the entire movie. It's interesting that Jiang is not in the credited cast as he probably had the most screen time in the entire movie.

Should you see it? There are a couple things to take into account. 1) If you're not used to HK films, this isn't a good one to start with, unless you abhor the Chinese humor in older less epic films 2) It will probably make you depressed. Maybe it's just me... What else has made me depressed you might ask? Let's see: So Close, Hero, House of Flying Daggers...

I give it a 7 out of 10. I had hoped for something slightly better, but then again, it was realistic and the final battle scene reminded me of what the LOTR battle for Helm's Deep would have been if the good guys hadn't all survived -- Classic.

This film was a really great surprise.

The characters were a lot of fun without being goofy or two-dimensional, and the story was complicated enough to be interesting without being overwrought and confusing. The locations were beautiful, and the costuming was great, too. The action was practically non-stop -- lots of chases and sword fights. It didn't have any of the hokey mysticism that so often appears in films like this (although there was a lot of acrobatic swordplay), opting instead for a grittier approach (with a notable exception or two).

Definitely worth seeing.

This is not a Kung Fu action movie, so those looking for fight scenes will be disappointed. It is a thrilling story of two warrior knights acting under their own sense of honor and called to action in circumstances beyond their control, against the backdrop of the turbulent and multi-cultural Silk Road. China being the vast country it is has birthed many such thrilling adventures of wandering warriors, itinerant mercenaries, Buddhist monks and pretty maidens. Think of romance or adventure novels based on the Middle Ages! The thrill of the story is to watch the two warriors meeting, one supposedly as the imperial agent sent to eliminate the renegade and intent on his mission, the other as the free agent warrior trying to live a life according to his own personal code of honor. When the two of them unite to fight hordes of greedy bandits, we see hand to hand combat, pursuits on horseback and sieges of a fort.

The unusual angles in this movie, for most movie goers, comes from the time and place: the warriors are from 700 A.D, a T'ang Dynasty era. The location is in the far western reaches of China and the locales are not traditionally "Chinese". The landscapes change from mountainous to woodsy to desert. There are thrilling scenes of camel caravans and desert towns and forts. The protagonists wear battle gear and the long hair of that period, which remind me vividly of French and English knights and crusaders of that era! The final siege of the desert fort reminds of the male warrior bonding in desperado scenes like in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"; or the "Alamo"; or the "Three Musketeers".

The Buddhist relic transported by the caravan reminds me of the Catholic relics from dead saints found in many mystery or adventure stories based on the Middle Ages. The finale reminds me of the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when the bad guys seem to be on the edge of acquiring the treasure, only to be annihilated, leaving some of the good guys to move on...

It is great entertainment and gives one yet another view of the Chinese culture about warriors of its complex past.