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Product Description
Martial arts fantasy adventure based on a story from Chinese mythology. Cecilia Cheung stars as Qingcheng a poor and starving orphan who is offered a deal by the Goddess Manshen (Hong Chen): she can live the rest of her life in the lap of luxury but will eventually lose every man she loves. Following a case of mistaken identity Qingcheng's fate becomes entwined with that of Kunlun (Dong-Kun Jang) the slave of the great General of the Crimson Armour (Hiroyuki Sanada). But with their fates sealed by a seemingly cruel and capricious higher power can either of them choose the life they want?
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Promise is one of the finest Asian movies of recent years and strangely has gained a number of very negative reviews from various sources. Much of this stems from a misinterpretation of it as a film. Be warned, this is not a martial arts/kung fu movie,say in the vein of Hero, although it does have many excellent fight scenes. It is in fact a fairy tale told in a bravura style by one of the worlds best film directors. It has more in common with the original (dark) Grimm's tales than it does with any recent examples of cinema. Two of the main characters are cursed in some way by a Goddess, ensuring that the film is essentially a tragedy, albeit one with a "happy" ending.
I found this to be an incredibly uplifting visual experience, one greatly helped by one of the most beautiful soundtracks of recent years. The cinematography and image compositions are superb throughout. Approach this film with an open mind and you will enjoy what is, in my view, a genuine masterpiece of fantasy film making
I found this to be an incredibly uplifting visual experience, one greatly helped by one of the most beautiful soundtracks of recent years. The cinematography and image compositions are superb throughout. Approach this film with an open mind and you will enjoy what is, in my view, a genuine masterpiece of fantasy film making
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Chen Keige's misbegotten The Promise is possibly the only Asian film that can make you feel sorry for producer Harvey Weinstein, who pre-brought the film before realizing that he'd made a big mistake on seeing the end result. It's hard not to think that all that bad karma from cutting Asian films to ribbons finally caught up with him with this one. I should have known what to expect when I saw exploitation specialist Etchie Stroh's name as one of the producers. It's not a total loss, but it is a helluva mess just on a technical level, boasting probably the worst CGI effects in a big budget film. Some of them look just one step up from animatics or late 80s arcade games, while the opening stampede plays like a Road-Runner cartoon crossed with an early Neolithic cave painting. But then the sound mixing is sometimes equally awkward, leaving you with the impression that the film was rushed into completion in the hopes of scoring some Oscar nominations that they didn't quite manage to finish any it. Of course, it is just possible that everyone concerned saw what a totally bonkers movie this is and decided to sneak home early from work each day.
It's not fair to describe it as Asia's Alexander, because although often horribly executed, there was a governing intelligence behind that. By contrast, this seems more of a cynical attempt to capture a slice of the international market Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee cornered with a fantasy epic cum fairytale. Unfortunately, despite a promising initial premise and mostly game performances, Kaige really isn't suited to this kind of material and seems to be throwing in elements simply because they worked in other people's hit movies. There are a few good moments - the wall of time flashback, the ending - but most of it is just so bizarrely wrong that you just go on watching to see what comes up next. I think rescuing the heroine from her giant gilded birdcage, wrapping her in feathers and then running with her flying like a kite on a string probably takes the what-the-heck? award, but the bull run comes a close second.
Momentum's DVD is the cut international version, losing some 18 minutes from the original running time.
It's not fair to describe it as Asia's Alexander, because although often horribly executed, there was a governing intelligence behind that. By contrast, this seems more of a cynical attempt to capture a slice of the international market Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee cornered with a fantasy epic cum fairytale. Unfortunately, despite a promising initial premise and mostly game performances, Kaige really isn't suited to this kind of material and seems to be throwing in elements simply because they worked in other people's hit movies. There are a few good moments - the wall of time flashback, the ending - but most of it is just so bizarrely wrong that you just go on watching to see what comes up next. I think rescuing the heroine from her giant gilded birdcage, wrapping her in feathers and then running with her flying like a kite on a string probably takes the what-the-heck? award, but the bull run comes a close second.
Momentum's DVD is the cut international version, losing some 18 minutes from the original running time.
Format:DVD
This is a lovely little fairy tale, with plenty of enjoyable cheesy bits. I think its made well enough for what it is and don't understand the sour grapes in many of the other reviews. It's not blockbuster material, but I don't think that detracts from it's charm. I watch it about 3 times a year, so it's one that I wouldn't die without, but I like to have it on hand.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Whilst I love this movie, I don't love the Blu-ray it's on.
This blu-ray does not play on the Playstation 3 for some reason. I even tried the locally purchased Australian company and got the same result. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Kevin G
Loved it!
I gave it 5 stars because i don't think one could ask for more from a movie that is clearly advertised as a fantasy.
It certainly is all that! Read more
It certainly is all that! Read more
Published 14 months ago by K. Grunwald
Okay, but not remarkable
I love to watch these kind of grand production chinese films. Extremely beatiful pictures, sceneries and colours. Read more
Published 14 months ago by jakob
daveDVD
Very safisfied with the purchase & delivery time scales. The reviews were very helpful as well
Published 22 months ago by davidli12
Movie won't play on my Sony S350 Blu Ray Player
I love this movie and wanted to get it in Blu Ray. It won't play on my Sony S350 BD player so I thought it was a defective BD. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by linrick
enjoyable Chinese fantasy
I love the Chinese Fantasy type films with the surreal imagery and the lovely colours.
Enjoyed watching this and will buy more in this genre.
Very pleased!
Enjoyed watching this and will buy more in this genre.
Very pleased!
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by Brigg 'n' me
A 6 or 7 stars Martial Arts Fantasy.
Whoever would be audacious enough to feel sorry for this films creator must truly have had a very bad day or no sense at all, and I totally disagree with that bad review. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2009 by Isabella Balkert
Promises to entertain
The Promise is a stunningly visual as well as musical delight. It is highly evocative of love and regret. Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2009 by San ai Baoluo
Beautiful fantasy with over the top special effects
If you like martial arts and special effects, you won't be disappointed. Picture quality is great compared with the DVD version. I can play this movie with my PS3 region A (USA).
Published on 16 Aug 2009 by Monkey King
Beware!
Momentum are falsely advertising this as 1080p, when it is in fact 1080i. Worse still, it's sped up to 25fps instead of 24fps! It only has standard Dolby Digital audio as well. Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2009 by C. Gould
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