Hero Blu-Ray Review
SoHood.com Reviewed by: Rory Marshall
Movie Rating: 4.0 out of 5
Extras Rating: 4 out of 5
Overview: At the height of China’s Warring States period, the country was divided into seven kingdoms: Qin, Zhao, Han Wei, Yan, Chu and Qi. For years, the separate kingdoms fought ruthlessly for supremacy. As a result, the populace endureddecades of death and suffering. The Kingdom of Qin was the most determined of all. The Qin King was obsessed with conquering all of China and becoming her first Emperor. He had long been the target of assassins throughout the other six states. Of all the would-be killers, none inspired as much fear as the three legendary assassins, Broken Sword, Snow and Sky. To anyone who defeated the three assassins, the King of Qin promised great power, mountains of gold and a private audience with the King himself. But defeating the killers is a near impossible task. For ten years no one came close to claiming the prize–that is until Nameless, a solitary ranger with a mysterious past, steps out of the shadows looking for a showdown.
Yimou Zhang’s Hero displays why martial arts is so much more about art than violence. Many films can be labeled “poetic” because they are weaved together with a unique visual or cerebral quality. Hero certainly earns the label with it’s stunning cinematography and daring screenplay that ascends the realm of Chinese myth into a story relates to all cultures. This is not, as some dufus in the audience said, “Crouching Tiger Redux.” It goes beyond Ang Lee’s marvelous film and provides the audience a much clearer catharsis.
Hero starts out as many myths do… with the telling of tales to an authority figure (Arabian Nights jumps to mind). Nameless (Ang Lee) tells the King (Daoming Chen) the tales of how he defeated the most infamous assassins of the land. The tales are told in a series of fascinating flashbacks (Rashomon style) that tell how Nameless defeated the three assassins. The first one involves a fight between Nameless and the spear-wielding Long Sky (Donnie Yen). Later he encounters the lovers Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung), and his student Moon (Ziyi Zhang). The lovers are the most interesting tale because Nameless tells so many tales about them. Which are true? As the movie progresses, it all becomes clear and we see Nameless’s true intentions.
The images Hero leaves on our mind are quite remarkable: Nameless and his foe skipping across the lake, the battle in the leaves, the embrace on the desert butte… there are quite a few more, but I wouldn’t dare spoil it for anyone. Some have called Hero an attempt at blind propaganda. Any ulterior motives the movie contained beyond those of national unity, pride, and love are beyond me. This is just a beautiful film with some philosophical questions about the price of peace, the power of love, and artistry of martial arts. It’s a damn good one too.
The specific aspects of the Blu-ray:
The Hero Blu-ray Disc allows movie fans to enjoy the film in high definition format, delivering far more crisply detailed images than standard DVDs. The sounds of Hero Blu-Ray Disc is extraordinary.
The Audio and visuals of Hero it looked and sounded amazing.
Blu-Ray Extras
Close -up of a fight scene; Inside the Action: A conversation with Quentin Tarantino & Jet Li; “Hero Defined” Making-of featurette; Storyboards; Soundtrack spot
