Which Zhang Yimou wu xia film do you prefer?

[Guest The Running Man]

Zhang Yimou's new wu xia flick is coming out next month (Curse of a Golden Flower). Just curious what some people think about the previous two he made.

Which film do you prefer?

Hero

or

House of Flying Daggers

[Guest ToothbrushFu]

Flying Alone for Thousands of Miles is the ultimate wuxia movie. Terracotta Warrior is a close second. And not forgetting The Story of Qigong.

[Guest jmungus]

Terracotta Warrior is a close second.

word. i luv that movie too, even if its not without faults... and not exactly wuxia :\

anyhoo, long time fan here- zhang yimou is great, yu rong guang one swift bastard and gong li fascinating and wonderfully annoying.

not to mention the difficult, threadbare time travelling adventure theme works better for TW than it does for the majority of movies with a related theme. besides, terracotta warriors rule

between the 2- "hero" hands down; and its a landslide victory.

main reason: HOFD is nice and some of the imagery and designs of a sequence are unique and exquisitely uber-stylish, but i got fed up with that flick rather quickly.

hero is more complex, has more (outlandish) action and a (much) better repeat value.

[Guest Chen Zhen]

Hero>>>>>>>>>>>>House of Flying Daggers (imo at least)

HoFD looks pretty, but it felt very 'forced' to me. felt like Zhang was just trying to cash in on the wuxia genre after hero. fights werent quite as good, and the story doesnt have as much style and effectiveness as Hero. HoFD is still a good film, but Hero tops it in everyway imo.

[Guest Beat TG]

I prefer Hero just for the Yen/Li fight and the group fight before that but other than those, nothing else was interesting.

[Guest Tosh]

Hero for sure, HoFD was boring, to much cgi, maybe had they got some better actors to fit the parts, but it was a one view movie. I'll take Jet, Yen, Maggie Cheung, and Tony Leung anyday.

[Guest Gwailos Forever]

Hero all the way. I enjoyed HOFD, but Hero is a masterpiece in my opinion

[Guest theportlykicker]

Looks like I'm gonna be the first to go against the popular vote. For me, Hero just dragged a lot more than HoFD when I watched it the cinema, despite Hero being shorter than HoFD. The Yen/Li fight was great though.

[Guest jirpy100]

I prefer Hero for the acting, story & cinematography. But HOFD has plenty of action if one is in the mood.

[Guest morgoth]

HOFD is one of my favs but Hero is better. Have to see about Cursre of the Golden Flower, though that does look like a Gong Li showcase. :eek

[Guest Markgway]

Hero.

[Guest HAZ74]

My vote goes to Hero

peace

h

[Guest limubai2000]

By far and away I prefer Hero over HOFD. I echo Chen's sentiments.

[Guest dyenboy]

definetly hero..due to its better fight scenes..and awesome imagery..

hofd had some great scenes...but nothing close to hero

[Iron_Leopard]

Hero. HOFD is a complete waste of time.

[ShawAngela]

I watched both of them a long while ago, but none of them has impressed me. I'm a fan of Jet Li and Donnie Yen, but Hero didn't work for me and from what I remember, House of Flying Daggers was a little bit superior, and I enjoyed a lot the theme song, but the use of the special effects was too much in both movies. I still prefer Shaws, Cathays and Old School movies...

[whitesnake]

Well, it's certainly not The Great Wall!  I think I enjoyed House of Flying Daggers the most of his films.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I like Hero for the color palette of the different scenes, but the fight between Yen and Li was an utter disappointment. In fact, the best action in the film is fight between Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi, which is actually a sad thing to say considering the talent in the movie.

House of Flying Daggers had far better action, and I think I enjoyed the story more, too. And Zhang Ziyi's portrayal of a blind girl

Spoiler

who really isn't blind

 was a nice twist that caught me off guard.

[DrNgor]

19 minutes ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

I like Hero for the color palette of the different scenes, but the fight between Yen and Li was an utter disappointment. In fact, the best action in the film is fight between Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi, which is actually a sad thing to say considering the talent in the movie.

 

I like the Donnie/Jet fight, but I'm very disappointed that in both films that the two have squared off in, they have never gone at it hand-to-hand. 

[whitesnake]

Zhang Yimou just started production on a new historical film, Shadow, set during China's Three Kingdoms period (200 AD).  Since the plot is still under wraps, no way to know yet if it will be wuxia. 

More info here:  http://variety.com/2017/film/asia/zhang-yimou-starts-shadow-1202011509/  

Updates:  While this may have originally been called a drama, on July 11th https://twitter.com/AsianFilmStrike called it a "martial arts epic".  So, probably wuxia after all.  Endeavor content has picked up North American release rights to Shadow.  The story (set around 200 AD) is "about a king who attempts to lead his displaced people out of exile, and those who play a role in his mysterious plans."  

 

[Drunken Monk]

On 3/4/2017 at 2:29 PM, ShaOW!linDude said:

I like Hero for the color palette of the different scenes, but the fight between Yen and Li was an utter disappointment.

I think that fight is phenomenal.

[ShaOW!linDude]

2 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

I think that fight is phenomenal.

I have no doubt that I'm in the minority regarding the viewpoints on that screen fight. Maybe I need to revisit it. I just remember being disappointed that it wasn't as much grounded choreography as I'd have liked. I felt the same way about their fight scene in OUATIC 2 also. But that's me.

[Drunken Monk]

1 minute ago, ShaOW!linDude said:

I have no doubt that I'm in the minority regarding the viewpoints on that screen fight. Maybe I need to revisit it. I just remember being disappointed that it wasn't as much grounded choreography as I'd have liked. I felt the same way about their fight scene in OUATIC 2 also. But that's me.

Oh...well, yeah, if you're looking for grounded choreography, "Hero" isn't your best bet. I think the Donnie/Jet fire is wire-filled wonderment. A modern Wu Xia masterpiece, if you will.

But yeah, if you want something a little less flamboyant then that fight scene probably won't be your cup of tea.

[Writ]

I prefer Hero by far. I remember kinda hating House of Flying Daggers when I watched it many years ago. I had a Chinese film teacher who hated it as well but he loved Hero. I have Chinese friends who also hate it. I have New Zealand born Chinese friends who like it though. The general consensus seems to be from what I can see, is that Chinese people aren't too fond of the latter. They saw it as Zhang Yimou enjoying the international fame he got from the former and upping the "Western" elements to appeal even more strongly to foreigners.

To be fair, I can't tell you why I hated it since it's been way too long. A rewatch might change my mind, but the people I've been talking Chinese film with generally consider Hero to be Zhang Yimou's last good film so it's not exactly a high priority.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 1:13 AM, Writ said:

I prefer Hero by far. I remember kinda hating House of Flying Daggers when I watched it many years ago. I had a Chinese film teacher who hated it as well but he loved Hero. I have Chinese friends who also hate it. I have New Zealand born Chinese friends who like it though. The general consensus seems to be from what I can see, is that Chinese people aren't too fond of the latter. They saw it as Zhang Yimou enjoying the international fame he got from the former and upping the "Western" elements to appeal even more strongly to foreigners.

To be fair, I can't tell you why I hated it since it's been way too long. A rewatch might change my mind, but the people I've been talking Chinese film with generally consider Hero to be Zhang Yimou's last good film so it's not exactly a high priority.

Considering that Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (a non-wuxia art film that is absolutely beautiful though may be too paced for some) is made after Hero I would not agree with that last statement.  But I seem to be one of the few that liked The Great Wall (also a non-wuxia though completely different in tone and pace than the previous film I mentioned) quite a bit.

Anecdotally I know several Chinese who do like House of Flying Daggers, but I too need to rewatch it.  I still remember several scenes and the cinematography in it is pretty amazing.  After watching both Hero and that close together I was more fond of Hero.