Curse of the Golden Flower & The Banquet (aka 'Legend of the Black Scorpion') (2006)

[Guest rdenn]

this topic should of been in the general interest section !

[Guest dager in the cotton]

thtas where you'd find them if I had a videoshop

[Guest limubai2000]

I just got back from seeing Curse and I was letdown by it. I have to go with RM on this one, Hero is Yimou's best martial arts film.

I would not call Curse a wuxia film either. It plays more like a drama with some martial arts scenes in it, gee much like Banquet!

[Guest sevenhooks]

I like HoFD more than most,

Agreed.

And sorry, but I absolutely HATED Hero.

Boring and pretentious beyond the point of pain.

Sometimes Jet Li even makes someone like Kevin Costner look animated.

[Guest sevenhooks]

The problem isn't the fans, it's the lack of action films that the latter fan craves, I enjoy I great drama as much as the next person, but that's all that's coming out right now,

Problem is, the drama/story is never any good either.

And without a good story, what do you have?

Nada.

[Guest The Running Man]

Problem is, the drama/story is never any good either.

And without a good story, what do you have?

Tony Jaa's next movie.

[Guest Tosh]

Tony Jaa's next movie. Quote.

I'd take Jaa's movie over the Promise anyday of the year, or the Banquet, and I haven't even seen it yet, but just know...

And I'm one that dug Hero, didn't care for HoFD.

[Guest morgoth]

The Promise is just horrible.

I loved Hero and HOFD. LOVED THEM!!!!!

I liked Curse but was dissapointed overall. It was a good enough story to hold me all the way through, every facial expression that Chow and Gong gave was perfect, but the final scenes sucked. The editing didn't help either. While I guess the end gave me a bit to think about, overall it was nowhere near as good as Hero or Daggers.

Pretty good music and Gong's boobs, the sets, and the costumes were great but how the end unfolds just covers up all the goodness of this movie.

[Guest The Running Man]

And I'm one that dug Hero, didn't care for HoFD.

Hero is a masterpiece of film that came from Zhang Yimou's mind.

HOFD is a joke of a movie that came from Zhang Yimou's ass.

[Guest morgoth]

What is wrong with daggers? It is a good love story, it has a beautiful yet haunting musical score, and the action was even better than Hero.

[Guest Elhcay]

House of Flying Daggers is such a joke. Everthing is so artificial. The movie just crumbles apart when everything is revealed upon arriving at the headquarters of House of Flying Daggers, after the monotonous never-ending chase. And I wouldn't even want to talk about the ending. What kind of love is there between two who are just making use of each other to achieve their means, and one is a flirt, while the other's already attached? And the backdrop to carry this love forward is much more of a farce. What's with the baiting? Is it even needed? Just reveal the dagger sect's location, and the official will come. Do you need to go through all the troubles? And why can't they just attack the official at his base directly since they already has planted a spy there or lure him to Peony Pavilion? The daggers sect is supposed to be very righteous sect and the goverment corrupted, yet in the movie, none is showned to be any better than the other.

[Guest morgoth]

Are you supposed to identify every single character as bad or good in a movie? Can't a love story end tragically? Not everybody is perfect and in fact most people are far from it. People make bad decisions every day and pay the consequences and I thought this movie portrayed that brilliantly.

[Guest Yi Long]

I thought both HOFD and Hero were fantastic. Hero is just a work of cinematic art (directors cut, btw) in every department, and HOFD was just a very entertaining flick with some gorgeous cinematography and sound...

[Guest morgoth]

I think you are dead on on the 2 things that make these movies great. They both have good acting, good action, they have a good story, and I thought Hero's story was presented better, but it is the cinematography and the music that stands out in these movies. My favorite scene by far would be the fight on the mirror lake. It don't get better than that.

What extra footage does the Dir. cut have that is not on the US version?

[Guest Yi Long]

I dont know. I've never bothered with the cut version and just waited for the uncut version to come along. I have the Chinese DVD which apparently isnt very good when it comes to AV quality or extra's, plus it has a logo popping up every few minutes... but I still enjoyed the movie a whole lot.

There should be some pages out there which will have info on the different cuts...

[Guest Elhcay]

House of Flying Daggers is too flawed for anything, including to love story, to be convincing (except for the music, which is too good for the movie). Even The Promise is better in this aspect - the love of the slave and the sacrifices he has made for her. The opening removes any possibilty of love that would develop between the two. While at the Peony Pavilion to investigate the identity of Ziyi, Takeshi not only humiliates her, hits her, but also tries to get fresh with her and would have succeeded if Andy Lau didn't arrive conveniently. So, to Takeshi, Ziyi is just another play thing. Or otherwise, wouldn't he have shown restraint right from the start. So, how can one believe that Takeshi is really love Ziyi later? Secondly, no matter how strong a girl is, wouldn't this have some kind of repercussion on her when she was nearly violated, especially it's the ancient times when people were much more conversative? And this anguish would take a long time to heal. Yet in less than three days, Ziyi's already falling head over heels for him, without any shadows of fear, of doubt, of rejection, of hesitation, when she's already attached to Andy Lau for more than 10 years.

[Guest morgoth]

I certainly could single out women:p but I will just leave it like I said before that everybody makes bad choices. The story was good enough for me, I was believing the final fight. There was enough pain to be felt. It was all just so beautiful to watch that I didn't come away thinking about the fact that it should have been deeper.

[Guest Tosh]

Well, I guess I should give my reasons for not liking HoFD, first off, there was not one person that stood out, this is Ziyi first movie without another top Actress like Maggie or Michelle and I think she fell flat, in comparison to Hero you have Takeshi and Lau - Yen and Li, Takeshi and Lau shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as these two, two actors that are icons of the genre with unbelievable talent, against two actors that can only hope cgi can make them look as good as possible, and lets not even get into HoFD story.

I'm not looking forward to some of these Shaw remakes with Lau's name attached to them, he should stick to his cop dramas and Asian Chick flicks, and stay out of KF films, as his MA abilitys are about as good as the twins.

[KyFi]

Just watched "The Banquet" last night and really enjoyed it. Yeah, I knew it wasn't going to have the quantity of fight scenes of "Fearless", but I got really engrossed in the story, and I did enjoy the action scenes that there were--especially the one where the prince was battling all the guards with wooden swords as training, and one of them slips in a real sword--great scene. Very interesting use of music, too--with slow, jazzy piano stuff even during some fight scenes. It was a bit slow, but thought this movie felt pretty fresh, and I guess in general I'm a big fan of these big-budget wuxia pics. Now if only we'd see more big-budget kungfu pics like Fearless, it would be great.

I don't know--I'm loving the old Shaw pics, and I'm loving the new mainland pics---it's the 90's New Wave HK stuff that's really dropped off my radar---those just seem to leave me cold now.

[Guest kungfusamurai]

I just finished watching CotGF and I think it was great! Not a martial arts epic by any stretch of the imagination. But I thought it was an overall, extremely well-done movie. In fact, I think it was more enjoyable, based on story, acting, and the way it plays out, than Hero or Daggers. Mind you, I only saw it once. I don't know if it will hold up on repeated viewing. I agree on Seven's assessment of Hero - it was too pretentious, which is why I didn't like it as much, in spite of the great fight choreography.

I hope it gets an Oscar nod for foreign film. Chow Yun Fat was his usual great self. Gong Li was awesome too. Heck, everyone was great in this flick.

KFS

[Guest kungfusamurai]

I don't think this is a SPOILER.

I just remembered something odd about Chow Yun Fat's character toward the end of the movie when his family is at that big table on the platform. You see his eyes dead on, and they are blue in color! What was up with that? Was it supposed to be symbolic or a metaphor? Or did the Emperor really have blue eyes, which is an unusual trait for a Chinese?

KFS

[Guest theportlykicker]

I'm not looking forward to some of these Shaw remakes with Lau's name attached to them, he should stick to his cop dramas and Asian Chick flicks, and stay out of KF films, as his MA abilitys are about as good as the twins.

-9_Ysj18tk4

RC6x-BgHjaI

Show me a fight where the Twins have performed as well Andy in those clips then. The truth is, Andy could really hold his own in fight scenes, and is one of the better non-martial artists around. HE PWNS JET LEE!!1!1

Seriously though, ol' Andy is pretty good at the fighting lark.

[daisho2004]

Has anyone seen this movies if so I'd like some info on it, does it have any good action scenes and how is the storyline?

"The Banquet" is set in ancient China during the Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960 AD), when dynasties succeed each other rapidly in the north and a dozen of independent states vie with one another in the south. Meanwhile, the neighboring Khitan Empire is on the prowl in Manchuria, ready to conquer China when the moment arises.

Against this background of internal turmoil and external threat lives a legendary queen. As beautiful as she is young, and as limber as she is smart, Empress Wan (Ziyi Zhang) can launch a thousand ships with her charm and fight a hundred soldiers with her sword. But something is lacking in her life. Unfulfilled in her royal boudoir, she harbors forbidden desires for her stepson Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu), an introverted and melancholic young man four months her senior, who shies away from the palace to indulge in the ancient art of music and dance.

When the Emperor dies all of a sudden and his virile younger brother Li (Ge You) takes over the throne, Wan shocks everyone by agreeing to marry Li, convinced that this is the only way to protect Wu Luan while sealing her own position in the court. But Li is no fool, however infatuated he might be with his sister-in-law, he only pretends to buy into her scheme to consummate his lust. Oblivious to Wan, he has dispatched his guards to kill his nephew.

Already devastated by his father? death and stunned by his stepmother? impending wedding with his uncle, Wu Luan is pushed to the end of his tether when he realizes his own life is being threatened. After warding off the assassination attempt in a ferocious fight scene, he determines to return to the palace and revenge himself by killing his uncle, whom he believes has murdered his father.

No sooner has Wu Luan returned to the palace than he finds himself inextricably trapped in a double love triangle: on the one hand, there is Wan, on the other, Qing Nu (Zhou Xun), the daughter of the conniving Grand Marshall. As pure as snow, Qing Nu is head over heels in love with Wu Luan, and she is ready to sacrifice her life for him.

When Emperor Li proclaims that a big banquet will be held for his ministers, Wu Luan realizes it is the time to strike. Meanwhile, Empress Wan and the Grand Marshall also have their own plans to hatch...

[The Dragon]

It's more an "artsy" type film. The action is directed by Woo Ping, but not a great deal of it. It is violent when there is action though.

Very beautiful imagery, and the audio is not bad. I have a few films like this, (see Curse of The Golden Flower) and they are a matter of taste, simple as that.

[daisho2004]

OK Thanks Dragon.