Daxtreme
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Posts posted by Daxtreme
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6 minutes ago, Quigley said:
Ouch that IW number hurts
I don't get it, it's the only movie to have an increase in the top 10 how is that disappointing?
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AIW 21.4% drop week-to-week
Excellent
Starting to show some good late legs
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This was a movie with good performances and lots of interesting ideas (and a great change of pace for me lately), but I feel like it still lacked a bit of thematic depth and went for cheap thrills during the midsection when it could have went for other, more fulfilling/original developments.
Still, some lovely imagery and artistry on display here. Definitely recommended for Sci-fi/mind-benders fans!
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So what kinda total can we expect now for AIW?
I assume 680+?
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4 hours ago, JamesCameronScholar said:
My guess for #1 is going to go to The Blair Witch Project. One of the few horror movies to really stick with me.
On a different note, and I read through your opening post Brainbug, but do you have a list of all the horror movies you've ever watched? For me, that was the one thing that was lacking from Dax's list.
I'm actually working on this. I'm not sure how much time it will take but I think eventually I'm gonna have a full list of the movies I've seen, including martial arts movies.
When I watch a new movie these days I always take notes and stuff.
Never too late to start, but keep in mind it's gonna take probably years before the list is complete. And you will forget some childhood movies.
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Silent Hill is one of my favorite horror movies! Top 5 easy. Atmosphere 9/10 you say, and I say you nailed it! Strongest aspect of the movie.
Unfortunately I'm not a huge horror movie buff, so take that with a grain of salt
As for the guess for #1, I'll go with
also known as "Braindead"
I love Peter Jackson, and not just for LOTR
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WTF BONUS
The Village vs The World
Born To Fight (2004)
Thailand
Directed by: Panna Rittikrai
Fight Choreography: Panna Rittikrai
Starring: Random people
Box office: N/A (Thailand-only release)
Synopsis: A group of athletes helping a poor village must stop an evil tyrant and his men from terrorizing the village.
My rating for this movie: ★★
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★ / ★★★★★ (so bad it's actually genius)
There's not much to say about this movie except that it's terrible, apart from, well, the stunts which justify the full 2 stars I gave this.
I love Panna Rittikrai as a choreographer, but he really needs to be put in check by a director who knows what he's doing (like frequent collaborator Prachya Pinkaew who directed Ong-Bak).
What this sequence's all about
It doesn't make any sense at all, but I promise to you, if this isn't unlike any other scene you've ever watched in your life...
So many absolutely mind-boggling choices in this sequence, most in the "WTF is this for real?" range that you can't help but watch, puzzled. I mean, a guy juggles with a bunch of coconuts while trying to fight some other guy with an assault rifle, one of the coconuts somehow rebounds on a wall toward a one-legged man in crutches on the side, who round-house-kicks it back to the guy with a rifle, which ends up KO'ing him (he later wakes up and throws grenades like they're baseballs). And that's just 1 of the absurd things that happen in this sequence. There are flaming coconuts and soccer balls being thrown around, a gorgeous and gritty one-take near the beginning, an absurdly high level of violence, epic non-epic slow-mo shots, an action hero kid... there's just no limit to the craziness happening on screen! (not quite for the better, I should say)
Panna Rittikrai brought his choreography style back from Ong-Bak for this movie, but the cast ain't no Tony Jaa, that's for sure. Honestly, apart from his action directing (specifically), I think he's a terrible director.
At least he shares that with Isaac Florentine
For the curious
Sequence:
Of course, only watching the sequence not the whole movie is what I would recommend. Unless you have morbid curiosity or something.
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omg I just realized I forgot to post the bonus/fail sequence that should have been presented before the #1
I was surprisingly busy this week-end and still wanted to end the top properly so I guess it just flew over my head and I totally forgot.
I'm gonna do it because hey, it's not too late for a WTF bonus
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4 hours ago, JamesCameronScholar said:
Not having anything from Prodigal Son is blasphemy to me Dax, otherwise a great list!
Unfortunately I haven't watched Prodigal Son yet! Definitely on my list.
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4 minutes ago, baumer said:
Guess I need to see CTHD again.
I've learned that I have a different appreciation for certain fights that you do. I liked the fight at number one but it wouldn't be my number one pick. Then again, I haven't seen nearly as many as you have but if I had to pick a number one, it might or probably would be something from Ong Bak or The Raid or maybe even something from Yen.
Doesn't matter. This is an awesome thread and I learned so much. Thank you for putting this together. But I'm also mad at you.
You have set the bar ridiculously high for the rest of us who choose to do a countdown in the future. You countdown is simply the best. Well done, sir. Well done indeed.
Like a few people I've talked to over the years, I like both wire fights and more "realistic" fights equally. I know it's an acquired taste but these fights can be absolutely amazing when done right. Most people fall into one camp or the other though.
Of course it's all a question of tastes.
I am biased too, no one isn't. But I like to think that this top offers unique sequences that are really cool to watch, varied, and all great for different reasons!
I enjoyed running this and hopefully you guys enjoyed following it
Thanks baumer for your participation too, much appreciated!
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2 minutes ago, baumer said:
And unless I'm mistaken, you had nothing here from Wolf Warrior 2? Or I am just forgetting that you did?
Nope! The final fight is pretty good though
I refer to it a couple times though, since Jing Wu made this top a few times!
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I'm feeling generous today so everyone who guessed this sequence will get something!
@TwoMisfits you were the 2nd person to guess this, so a Silver account it is for you!
@titanic2187 you were 3rd so you win copper!
Congrats guys
and thanks for participating
@Slambros you will win copper as well but obviously since you already have a Gold account well, we'll figure something out. If you want I'll simply donate $5 to the site
edit: please be patient however since I'm out of town this week-end!
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#1
Ziyi Zhang vs Michelle Yeoh | Final Fight
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Taiwan (Mandarin)
Directed by: Ang Lee
Fight Choreography: Yuen Woo-Ping
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang
Worldwide Box office: $213,525,736 ($128,078,872 Domestic)
Synopsis: A young Chinese warrior steals an unbreakable sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
My rating for this movie: ★★★★½
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★★★★★
I fucking love that wire bit above.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, perhaps known best here on BOT as being the highest-grossing Foreign Film in the US, is a great entry point for those who have an interest in the martial arts movie genre. It is a critical darling, having won 4 oscars, offers a unique take on what a historical drama can be, opened American audiences to Chinese cinema... and features one of, if not the best fight sequence ever put on screen.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon holds the record for most oscar nominations for a foreign movie with 10 nominations, and is the only martial arts film to be nominated for a Best Picture oscar. It is also #1 on this list. Coincidence?
I was 12 when it came out, and I've been a huge fan of martial arts movies since then.
It also showed younger me that women can be absolute ass-kickers too. A significant portion of my favorite kick-ass actors are women, and that's largely due to martial arts movies being years (and in some cases, decades) ahead of the curve, as this top highlights with the likes of Michelle Yeoh placing like 4 times.
So, there's everything in this movie -- emphasis on Chinese culture and martial arts, wire fu fighting (divisive but historically important), classical fighting (in general more loved), and a talented director at the helm (Ang Lee) making it all work.
The action sequences in this movie hold up really well, largely due to the extensive use of practical effects throughout. They're a bit of an acquired taste though, I have to concede that.
Here's a short and sweet review from Josh Larsen on letterboxd:
QuoteReally moving how each fight sequence - while brilliantly conceived and executed - also has its own emotional narrative arc. I'd almost forgotten what a wonder this movie is.
Fun fact -- in some Chinese video releases, they re-dubbed over most of the actors speaking Mandarin (most notably Chow Yun-Fat) as their accents were horrible. The reason for that is because this movie was mostly filmed with a Hong Kong crew and they speak Cantonese there.
Ziyi Zhang (pictured in the gif above), however, is a native Mandarin speaker from Beijing.
What's so thrilling about this fight
This isn't the first fight between Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang, the stars of this fight. They meet up earlier in the movie in another great sequence, but this one is something else. It even gets better each time you watch it, due to the attention given to small details throughout and the flawless editing.
Clocking in at just under 5 minutes, but not overstaying its welcome, this fight is the absolute best the world of movie fight choreography has to offer, in my opinion. And it's not the best only because of the choreography, but also because it works on a number of levels. Anyone who's been following this list so far knows that Michelle Yeoh is an absolute legend, so what else makes this fight so special?
Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix, Kill Bill, and too many Hong Kong credits to list) was at the top of his game for this movie. Really, it shouldn't surprise anyone that Yuen Woo-Ping would top this list. The amount of passion that went into filming the fight sequences in this is something that should inspire most Western directors, who I'm sorry to say, but still have much to learn from our friends in the East, as this top also highlights. The DVD bonus features for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon have a lot to say about that.
The "Every Frame a Painting" video on Jackie Chan's way of filming action also has a lot to say about this.
In this fight, Ziyi Zhang wields the indestructible "Green Destiny Sword", the best sword in the world which she stole from Chow Yun-Fat. Michelle Yeoh must bring every weapon she can lay her hands on against Zhang's invincible sword. Interestingly enough, all the weapons Michelle Yeoh picks throughout the sequence fighting Zhang are known as natural counters to the sword, especially the second to last weapon, which is a Chinese weapon named "Jian" meaning "The Sword Breaker".
Both actresses set aside a full year, ditching everything else to work full-time on preparing for an obviously very physical role (and also in Michelle Yeoh's case, to learn spoken Mandarin as she speaks only Cantonese -- and can't read Chinese at all). In Chinese cinema, it's standard for actors to spend months and months working on fight sequences, as they want to nail them so much that they often film just 1 sequence for weeks, making sure that it's right (like Gareth Evans did with both final fights in his The Raid movies). Michelle Yeoh was already well-known as a kick-ass action movie star in Hong Kong, but Ziyi Zhang was new to fighting. She was a professional dancer and used that as a catalyst to learn the proper choreography needed, and the end result shows just how dedicated and talented she is since it doesn't show. Other dancers have tried, often with poor results.
That's what's incredible about movie fight choreography -- what matters is the end result. That's also the beauty of film-making. An unassuming female dancer is part of the best movie fight sequence I've ever seen. She had help from legends, of course, but still, that's impressive and only possible because it's a film.
You can watch the sequence in Full HD here (only link I found to the complete sequence, sadly without subtitles):
If you're wondering what the characters are saying mid-fight, it's something like --
Michelle Yeoh: “This isn't your sword, give it back.”
Ziyi Zhang: “Come and get it if you can.”
Michelle Yeoh: “The sword does all the fighting for you.”
Ziyi Zhang: “Don't blame the weapon if you can't win. Pick any weapon... go on...”
So why is this sequence #1?
The bests of movie fights have a certain rhythm, a visual melody to them, and although they can be elevated by having the bests of martial artists of all-time star in them (like Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen, etc), it's certainly not the only element that matters!
This particular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fight sequence is awesome, thrilling, rhythmic, relevant to the story, and beautifully choreographed, scored, edited, and directed. It's like watching an hypnotic dance session doubling as a deadly sparring contest, with an Oscar-winning soundtrack to boot. Plus it's from arguably the overall best martial arts movie around. What more do you want?
Congratulations to @Brainbug for winning a Gold account. It won't take into effect immediately, I'm very busy this week-end but know it's coming!
Cheers guys, and thanks for following!
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So I'm really happy about this guys, we have a winner!
Gonna announce the #1 shortly
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#2
Donnie Yen vs Jing Wu / Jacky Wu
SPL: Kill Zone (2005)
Hong Kong (Cantonese)
Directed by: Wilson Yip
Fight Choreography: Donnie Yen, Jack Wai-Leung Wong
Starring: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Jing Wu
Worldwide Box office - $954,211 (never released in the USA)
Synopsis: A near retired inspector and his unit are willing to put down a crime boss at all costs while dealing with his replacement, who is getting in their way. Meanwhile, the crime boss sends his top henchmen to put an end to their dirty schemes.
My rating for this movie: ★★★½
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★★★★★
SPL: Kill Zone isn't known for the richness of its story, nor its clever writing. This is an action movie first and foremost, and although the plot may surprise more than a few viewers, it's all about the action... which is fine with me if you know what to expect.
Here's an interesting review from matt lynch on letterboxd on this movie:
Quotereally terrific heroic bloodshed throwback, with its sudden dives into outlandish melodrama and shifting allegiances. plus you get to watch Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung, aka the two fastest men alive, go after each other like a couple of fucking professionals. personally i'd prefer a little more ass-kicking and a little less emotional handwringing, but this is a blast overall.
The sequel landed a spot in this list, albeit significantly lower.
What this fight's all about
After going through this top, just reading "Donnie Yen vs Jing Wu" above should tell you all you need to know about why this sequence landed at #2 on this list.
They actually shot the whole sequence in one night, which suffice to say, goes against most Chinese fight sequence standards. According to CineFix, it was mostly improvised and was actually a contest between Jing Wu and Donnie Yen to see who would hit the other first, seeing as they both know each other's stances well. Donnie Yen apparently broke 3 of his police batons on Jing Wu's forearms while filming this scene!
It's a one-of-a-kind fight sequence, and upon release, was instantly hailed as an all-time classic by martial arts fans, and I'm inclined to agree. It's probably the most realistic, kinetic, and legitimate fight sequence in this whole top. In a sense, we owe this sequence to Tony Jaa as it was revealed in an interview with Donnie Yen that Ong-Bak's popularity in 2003 led to him feeling he needed to top it, not only for himself but to bring China back on top. And he did!
Hopefully Jing Wu does martial arts again too, but that's highly improbable now that he directed, produced, and starred in the highest-grossing Chinese movie of all-time (Wolf Warrior 2).
Breaking bones in his body performing stunts doesn't seem like the best move to do nowadays
The full sequence:
The fight right after that between Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung is also pretty damn good! Watching them back-to-back with a bowl of chips seems like a good evening plan to me.
I think I'd just forget about the bowl 30 seconds in though.
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#3
Donnie Yen & Cynthia Khan vs the bad guys| Final fight sequence
In the Line of Duty 4 (1989)
Alternative title: Red Force
Hong Kong (Cantonese)
Directed by: Yuen Woo-Ping
Fight Choreography: Yuen Woo-Ping, Donnie Yen, Yuen Shun-Yee, Paul Wong, Wing Cho
Starring: Cynthia Khan, Donnie Yen, Michael Wong
Box office: HK $12,100,193
Synopsis: A Hong Kong cop and two American cops are onto a suspected harbor worker and are forced to team up when they discover that the suspect is a witness on the run from CIA agents and their schemers; two corrupt cops.
My rating for this movie: ★★★★½
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★★★★★
This is the third time a movie from the In the Line of Duty franchise makes this top (after #36 Royal Warriors and #11 Yes, Madam!), and this is the big one. This is the movie from the franchise that's firing on all cylinders on the action front, and with a new action girl in the starring role too: Cynthia Khan, who replaced Michelle Yeoh from the 3rd one and onwards.
This is the only appearance for Cynthia Khan in this top, but a worthy appearance it is.
Here's a review by one of my favorite reviewers on letterboxd, Tao A, on this movie that I can only agree with:
QuoteI keep saying "some of the best action and craziest stunts I've ever seen" with every Hong Kong movie I see so I should probably stop saying that. That said this has some of the best action and craziest stunts I've ever seen.
There's a stunt performed by Cynthia Khan in the middle of this movie that's so mind-bogglingly dangerous I can't believe they did it (the sequence inside, under, on the side, and on top of the ambulance on the highway). One slip of the foot and under the wheels it is! In typical Hong Kong fashion, no one has any safety on while performing.
And believe it or not, but it's not even the most dangerous stunt performed by a woman in a Hong Kong movie, or any movie ever in fact. That award still goes to Michelle Yeoh for the WTF stunt she performed in Jackie Chan's Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) AKA the most dangerous stunt ever performed by a woman where, while riding a motorcycle, she jumped on a moving train with a helicopter rolling on it. And Jackie Chan's own stunts in this movie are even worse. Quentin Tarantino went on record to say the stunts performed in Supercop are probably the greatest ever put on film, and I'm inclined to agree.
Police Story 3: Supercop (1992) missed this top because the main focus is clearly on the stunts.
Anyway, back to this movie, I clapped not once, not twice, but three times watching this movie! It's pure bonkers!
You know that move in Austin Powers where Goldmember kicks his leg past his head?
Well Donnie Yen does that FOR REAL in this movie and he does it 3 TIMES!!!
In the Line of Duty is definitely one of my favorite film franchises right now. 7 installments, all starring kick-ass girls roundhouse-kicking left and right, with great male sidekicks too (like Donnie Yen here) and everyone doing death-defying stunts one after the other.
But this installment absolutely takes the cake.
Sadly this franchise isn't really known in the West, although it has its fans. This one really is THE hidden gem of action movies and this top overall. Hong Kong were really ahead of the curve with this. So many kickass female performers!
What this fight's all about
This fight sequence is long and brutal.
This is that kind of fight where you might have to pick your jaw off from the floor about halfway through, only to realize it's not done yet. Ohh noooo it's not done, not even close... because that's when the huge, deceptively agile black guy comes in!
Then Donnie Yen gets his shirt ripped off and you realize that the size difference between the 2 of them isn't quite as big as it seemed.... because Donnie Yen was fucking RIPPED back then!
Damn can they film a fight in Hong Kong.
I lost count of how many reverse roundhouse kicks happen in this sequence. And apparently there's a sword fight too, because why not?
Yuen Woo-Ping in his early days... man, I appreciate what he has done later in the 90's, and in the 2000's, but as a director, In the Line of Duty 4 (along with the similar Tiger Cage and Tiger Cage 2) are the magnum opus of his work in my opinion.
Tiger Cage 1's opening shoot-out scene alone cements that fact for me.
In case that wasn't clear, yes you should watch both Tiger Cage movies. I left them out of this top only because I watched them for the first time fairly recently, after this top was finalized, but the action and fights are truly incredible. Donnie Yen stars in both of them.
Oh and, the main villain in Tiger Cage 2 is Liu Kang! Sold?
So the whole final fight in this is on YouTube because well, the full movie is currently on YouTube, so watch the sequence there if you're intrigued. But c'mon, you can rent the movie in HD for $2 on amazon (it's even free with Prime)... do it?! :D Or buy the DVD or something?
I promise to you, you will never ever regret watching (and paying for) this movie if you've enjoyed any of the fight sequences in this top so far... or action movies.
So basically everyone reading this.
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5 minutes ago, baumer said:
Gotta say, shockingly, that Jet/Yen fight really didn't do it for me. I think the Raid one is much better and so is the Yen vs the 10 black belts. But I realize you like what you like and it's cool to have different opinions.
It definitely has its own style, one which is quite different from the fights in this top so far!
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So that's it for today, tune in tomorrow around 11 AM EST for the grand finale!
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#4
Tony Jaa vs The Bar
Ong-Bak (2003)
Thailand
Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew
Fight Choreography: Panna Rittikrai, Tony Jaa
Starring: Tony Jaa
Worldwide Box office - $20,112,926 ($4,563,167 domestic)
Synopsis: When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
My rating for this movie: ★★★★
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★★★★★
Ong-Bak is known as the modern martial arts movie which reinvigorated the love for fight sequences filmed without wires, without huge special effects, just 2 martial artists punching each other in awesome fashion (along with an incredibly dedicated stunts team). It brought Tony Jaa to international audiences in spectacular fashion.
Ong-Bak could have made this top twice with the ending sequence (different from the bar).
- Quick action movie review by yours truly -
Stunts - 95/100 | Panna Rittikrai (RIP) said in an interview that his idol was Jackie Chan, and that he watched his movies hundreds of times. If the quality of the stunts in this movie are any indication, he was paying attention.
Narrative - 69/100 | Doesn't flow really well, but I liked the build-up in tension to the bar sequence. Just for that, the movie gets a thumbs-up from me on the narrative part.
Fight Choreography - 100/100 | Those guys... it seems like they're taking those elbows and knees head-on to the face. And they probably are? Unreal choreography.
Enjoyment - 90/100 | Might have something to do with the hilariously bad French dub, but damn that was something. The girl with her constant stream of "Moi j'ai 9 points!!!" (I have 9 points!!) had me in stitches! She says that sentence at least 10 times.
What this sequence's all about
The bar scene in this film is really something else. The whole movie so far has been building up the tension up to this point, and although there are other awesome fight sequences in it, like the cavern sequence, it's the most popular and well-remembered one, and for a good reason. Watching it without context sort of undermines its value, but if you really want to know what this is all about, just search for it on YouTube. The videos are low quality and incomplete so I highly recommend popping this movie in your player instead. It's special in its own, charming way and Tony Jaa is hilarious in his fish-out-of-water kinda role. The dub is definitely in the "so bad it's good" category.
If you understand and can watch it in dubbed French, please do so, you won't regret it. It's pricelessly bad but oh soooo good at the same time.
I could post gifs of the bar sequences but I think it would undermine the build-up to that point, hence the kata training from the beginning instead! Just know that Tony Jaa is the epitome of athlete-built and that this sequence is legendary.
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2 minutes ago, Rthanos said:
The DL Friday ests for all films looking about right
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#5
Jackie Chan vs Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez | feat. Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Pepe Sancho, Keith Vitali
Wheels on Meals (1984)
Hong Kong (Cantonese)
Directed by: Sammo Hung
Fight Choreography: Sammo Hung
Starring: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao
Box office - HK $21,465,013
Synopsis: Cousins Thomas and David, owners of a mobile restaurant, team up with their friend Moby, a bumbling private detective, to save the beautiful Sylvia, a pickpocket. Action and humor abound in the streets of Barcelona, culminating with a battle in the castle hideout of the evil gang.
My rating for this movie: ★★★½
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★★★★★
Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung strike for one final time in this top with this action-comedy that takes place in... Spain.
Wheels on Meals is a mostly comedic movie following the unfortunate adventures of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung being involved in all sorts of random things. It's silly, over the top, but it's a lot of fun and Jackie Chan is at the top of his fighting game here.
Think Rush Hour but replace Chris Tucker with Sammo Hung, and more fights.
A nice little review from Dave Edwards on this movie that I fully agree with:
QuoteThis may contain the best fight choreography in Chan’s filmography. The Chan/Urquidez brawl more than lives up to its legendary status — brutal and lightening quick. What a final showdown.
What this fight's all about
Benny Urquidez's kick to Jackie Chan is so fast it actually extinguished a set of candles on the table behind!
You can't fake awesome.
Also, there was a sort of rivalry between them as apparently, they didn't get along very well on set. Bennie Urquidez is reported as having toured the local dojos to challenge the black belts, and hopefully, win (he did).
Here, Jackie Chan does his classic furniture fighting but mixed in with impressive MMA-style fight choreography, as his opponent is a tough one! In Dragons Forever (1988), featured earlier at #9, these 2 have a rematch (since it came out after).
Sammo Hung meanwhile has an impressive swordfight with Pepe Sancho.
You also have the added presence of Yuen Biao, who fights various people throughout. 3 for 1 package deal!
Sequence:
The quality is pretty terrible. My recommendation would be to watch the movie instead
It's on Amazon (rent), Amazon Prime, and iTunes Movies.
In all, I think this is the best fight scene in Jackie Chan's career! And what a career he's had.
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#6
Jet Li vs Donnie Yen
Hero (2002)
Hong Kong/China (Mandarin)
Directed by: Yimou Zhang
Fight Choreography: Siu-Tung Ching, Wei Tung, Jack Wai-Leung Wong, Cai Li
Starring: Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Donnie Yen
Worldwide Box office: : $177,394,432 ($53,710,019 domestic)
Synopsis: A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
My rating for this movie: ★★★★
My rating for this specific fight sequence: ★★★★★
If you love Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), you'll probably love this too.
Hero was Hong Kong's biggest budget martial arts film ever at $30M and the widest asian release of all-time in the US (2175 theaters), and achieved #1 rank the week-end of its release, something which no other Foreign Country Movie release has ever managed (not even smash hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). It's a movie known for its superb cinematography and non-linear -- if not plot-defying -- structure.
It was nominated for a Best Cinematography oscar.
Of course I love this movie.
Here's a review by Raul Marques on letterboxd that I think strikes home for me:
QuoteEvery time people make a huge deal out of the action sequences in a superhero movie, something like this comes to mind. One could argue that the dancing dynamic fail to communicate any sort of stakes to the viewer, however, as entertaining as most blockbusters can be, it's not like there's an actually convincing work by the filmmakers in that aspect. Either way, this film is competent even beyond its famous jaw-dropping set pieces, the cinematography is particularly stunning.
What this fight's all about
I love that this fight mostly takes place in their minds. I love the old man and the music he plays, I love the black and white shift, I love the choreography, the feel, the flow, the cinematography... it's just an amazing looking fight starring legends Jet Li and Donnie Yen.
I guess I don't have much else to say except that it's freakin awesome. Watching Donnie Yen and Jet Li fight is always a treat.
Behold:
Even the 'Wire-Fu' fights in this movie are something to behold, visually. Really, this is a martial arts movie you don't wanna miss.
Definitely the most beautiful-looking film in this whole top.
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3 more entries coming tonight!
The first is the most beautiful-looking movie in this whole top
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Brainbugs Top 50 Best Horror movies of all time - Baumer's top 50 starts on page 18
in Archived Lists and Countdowns
Posted
Honestly The Sixth Sense is even better to me once you know the twist. I absolutely loved re-visiting it knowing what happens and why.
Masterful movie.