Hero [DVD]

first of all; i will not write anything about the movie itself. just about the quality of the blu ray.

picture quality differs from 3,5 - 4,5 out of 5. wide angle shots definitely lack some sharpness, but the closer the camera gets the better the sharpness becomes. a few close-ups get a 4,5. but this is rare.
the colours are strong and powerful with a good contrast overall. wide angel shots show some(!) blurriness. compared with the previous releases on dvd this blu ray it a BIG improvement picture quality wise.

sound quality is the BIG negative (but this is complaining on a higher level). the DTS-Master-Soundtrack excists only as a dubbed english soundtrack, which is so poorly crafted i cannot find the words for it. the effects and music-score kick some a**, but the dubbed dialogue is only there for a good laugh (that's my opinion). so the 5.1 dolby digital chinese soundtrack kick some a** as well, but definitely doesn't even come close to the lossless track. guess the chinese soundtrack was used on all the dvds before, so not so much of an improvement on the sound part.

there are some extras as well, which i didn't really check so far. some making-of featurette, fight scene featurette, storyboards and something else. guess there is like one hour of extras on it.

overall i'd give 3,8 stars for the picture quality and sound quality. that's closer to 4 than to 3 and with a bonus for the movie itself the blu ray deserves 4 stars! sell your dvd (if you still get something for it) and get this blu ray. it's a fair upgrade!

In recent years, Zhang Yimou has been creating some truly epic movies -- expansive, lushly opulent action films with a heavy dose of tragedy and romance. And before he even created "House of Flying Daggers," Yimou created "Hero" -- visually rich, stunningly action-packed, and beautifully made, "Hero" is a unique film that takes the soul and senses on a rollercoaster ride.

Ancient China (third century B.C.) was divided into seven kingdoms, and the most powerful lord was the King of Qin (Chen Dao Ming). He wants to unite China under his own rule. But he lives in fear of his life, most particularly from a trio of deadly assassins: "Broken Sword", "Flying Snow" and "Long Sky" (Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen respectively). And lest they get close to him, everyone is kept at a far distance and the King is surrounded by armed guards.

Then a man called Nameless (Jet Li) arrives, announcing that he has somehow killed them, and is actually permitted to sit within a certain distance of the King. How could he have killed three incredibly powerful warriors? Not just by his impressive martial arts skills, but through his cunning as well. He uses sexual divisions and jealousy, calligraphy (yes, calligraphy), and his wits to defeat all three assassins in turn.

But the king is not convinced that Nameless is telling the whole truth, and concocts a version of his own that also explains Nameless' actions and choices. A game of wits starts to form between the mysterious warrior and the wily king. What is the truth behind the hero's story?

Despite having been released much later, "Hero" was apparently the first of Yimou's wuxia action movies -- and while it doesn't cover much new ground in the fantasy martial arts area, it's a magnificent and awe-inspiring film. And perhaps most uniquely, it draws heavily on Akira Kurosawa's classic "Rashomon," by having the King and Nameless provide wildly different versions of the same story. What is the truth? It turns out to be far more complex than even those involved would have thought.

And Yimou's wire-fu creates a film where style and fantasy overcomes the realistic, full of lush color and swirling action scenes. People slash off hundreds of oncoming arrows and leap through walls of droplets -- just try doing that in the real world. And the fight scenes are, simply put, balletic -- they fight while suspended over a lake as their swords dip through the water, fight to music, battle in a swirl of fallen autumn leaves.

As exquisite as the action seems, it would be empty without a suitable plot to go with it -- and while deceptively simple, Yimou's storyline is actually rather complex emotionally. There's a passionate romance that is splintering apart, personal rivalry, and the whole question of what the titular character's plans are, and what he ultimately chooses to do. The one flaw is that I'm not sure why he makes the decision he does -- it seems rather out of left field.

Jet Li and Chen Dao Ming give the best performances of this film -- they both portray intelligent, suspicious men who are playing a strange game of truth and deception. Their back-and-forth conversations are entrancing. The three assassin actors -- as well as the wonderful Zhang Ziyi, as the mistress of one of the men -- are given secondary roles, but do an excellent job of imbuing them with little hints of humanity, tragic romance and briliant skills.

Rich, visually entrancing and crammed with powerful emotions, "Hero" is one movie that won't leave your memory anytime soon.