FILMMAKER MOVIE REACTION!! Hero (2002) FIRST TIME REACTION!!
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- Опубликовано: 23 мар 2021
- Hope you enjoy my filmmaker reaction to Hero . :D
Full length reactions & Patreon only polls: / jamesvscinema
Original Movie: Hero (2002)
Ending Song: / charleycoin
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Probably the TOP 5 most beautiful film I've ever seen! Something new I'm excited to add to the mix here!
Want to vote on what I should watch next? Click here! www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
Have a THE DAREDEVIL SEASON 3 Episode on Friday and Band of Brothers on Saturday Enjoy the day!
a masterpiece in terms of use of color
If you like the red seriously check out the war documentary called 'The Enclave' by Richard Mosse it's shot using Kodak areochrome film. Highly recommend it.
If you want to see a film that more closely follows the history that this event is based on, check out Chen Kaige's "The Emperor and the Assassin," it's a very tragic film in a more Shakespearean tone.
Bro I was so excited to see you watched this movie. I knew you'd appreciate the color and the editing!
the next best is "reign of assassins"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This movie its the definition of "every frame a painting"
I feel like another film in a slightly similar vein is The Grandmaster. This film is arguably one of the most stunning films ever.
I miss that RUclips channel
It is one.
Barry Lyndon. Ran. Dark City. Pan's Labyrinth.
You'd think he wouldn't be as surprised given that he's seen BARRY LYNDON already.
I miss that channel so much
If any movie needs a 4k upgrade, it's Hero.
Yeah how long do we need to wait geesh
Fuck yes. This movie changed my life as a kid. Broken sword deserved better
Broken Sword I think probably in a way hunted at the fate of the character with the name being that haha
@@JamesVSCinema Jet Li's Fearless you should watch next.... The composing/score is the best I've heard in any film and I've seen over 2000
@@JesseJ.Speigner also kiss of the dragon, jet li has many good movies to watch.
@@JesseJ.Speigner Feerless will have several shots blow him away
Did you see him in Shang Chi?
James a few minutes in: "This film is beautiful"
me: Just wait...
I was thinking the same thing! lol
@@fubar1217 and I was thinking the same thing. 😂
This film and House of Flying Daggers, pure art.
From yellow to red in the Autumn fight scene between the two women is repeated in House Of Flying Dagger where the men fight in a rainbow landscape into a white snow-filled horizon, Zhang Yimou is such a visual master.
Yes house of flying daggers is one of the most beautiful cinematic film I’ve ever seen. Can’t believe it was filmed for less than 50 million. The set design and costumes look exactly how I imagined ancient China looked.
Hate to say it, but HOFD left me cold. It might have been the matte on the DVD I watched but the framing was off, the color scheme seemed uninteresting and the story wasn't as powerful as HERO. I don't hate on the people who love it, but I feel it's overrated.
@@Theomite I completely understand. Much different films. Understand though hero had a 31 mil budget compared to the 12 mil of house of flying daggers. It’s just a couple more mil but what you can do with that as a true filmmaker is extreme. I completely agree that hero has a more dynamic plot. But something about the set design and costumes of house of flying daggers really hits me. As well as the younger girl from crouching tiger a bit more grown up and just as badass. I really love the dance sequence and the use of bamboo forests in house. I’d love to him to react to it either way. Would you agree or no?
@@Theomite I also would never say it’s overrated. If you asked 1000 people in the US if they have heard of house of flying daggers...I think you would get maybe 1 who’s heard of it. I respect your opinion simply on the fact you’ve actually seen it. But watch the dance scene again and tell me the colors and costumes aren’t top notch.
This is, IMHO, one of the most beautiful films ever made. The cinematography is insanely beautiful.
I saw this in the theater and it was just STUNNING. It’s the only time, as far as I remember, that the lights came up at the end and the audience members just all started talking to each other, raving about how good it was.
The cleaners had to shoo us all out so they could get ready for the next audience.
The forest fight scene took place in Mongolia. They had to wait months for the leaves to naturally turn yellow. The director, Zhang Yimou, hired local nomads to collect leaves to make sure that the forest floor was completely covered. He even sorted them into four colour "classes" to place at increasing distances from the camera.
you mean inner-mongolia, the north province of China, right? not country Mongolia. Inner Mongolia my hometown I been those places.
3 words for HERO: Pure Cinematic Poetry
They did a pretty poor job translating this movie, especially the last line "our land" because thats not what it means. The word they mean that broken sword told the assassin and that the assassin told the emperor was 天下 which literally means "under heaven". It means that everything under the heavens is united as one, i.e. one land. It is still used to refer to China to this day.
I seen this movie when I was around 12yo, my mother rented it for the weekend. the movie sticks with me to this day and is one of my all time favourite movies.
I am from Australia and I believe I remember the translation being different as well, it was something like "one kingdom" or maybe as you said "one land".
@@redned7771 I can tell you with certainty that the translation "kingdom" is an insult to the film.If translated as "king", the king of Qin would have died by the sword of the assassin.
The version I have (which was the only version available in the US for a few years after this movie was released) came from China and the translation was "all under heaven"
The Cinematographer for this film is Christopher Doyle. He’s a frequent calibrator with the director Wong Kar-Wai. I highly recommend checking out some of there films together.
100%
And "In the Mood for Love" is the most beautiful movie I've ever seen.
Came here to tell him that - not disappointed to see you being faster. I absolutely adore his cinematography in Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. Its magical and hypnotic.
I think Hero is more visually stunning; it unquestionably has the more spectacular locations. But I love In the Mood for Love more as an experience because of the feelings of contemplation, nostalgia and melancholy that it evokes. I love love Doyle’s cinematography in general tho.
@@RyoMassaki fallen Angels is my favorite film. I adore all his movies and it always so amazing to here that others do to.
Wong Kar-Wai is a must-watch director in my book! His work is so fantastic!
This movie is based on a true story by the way. The story of Jing Ke who really prepared for 10 years to kill the King of Qin.
LOOSELY based. You made me look up the real story. I'll pretend that the movie version is the real version as it is so much better.
Jing Ke (according to written records, which we all know is not going to be unbiased, especially back then when only the royalty wrote their own history) didn't succeed in assassinating the emperor because of an accident and bad luck. You could say that this is a reimagining, where it asks, what if he did have the ability to succeed, and intentionally decided not to.
there is an ancient painting displaying the sword of the assassin stuck on the pillar just like in the film, it's really great
Zhang Yimou is one of the top Chinese filmmakers of all time (or I suppose I should say filmmakers of Chinese cinema, but all the same). He has an exceptional filmography well worth checking out, but Hero is top tier stuff. The visuals alone are outstanding.
I heard that "Shadow" was a great return to form. I haven't seen it yet, but I really want to, because for a few years it seemed like he was starting to lose his touch with a few mediocre movies.
Damn I love this movie. The martial arts are great and all, but the storytelling and cinematography is next level. It is so gorgeous, filled with thematic color and dripping with style.
Another freaking level
the theme of perspective in this film is incredible, perspective on events and perspective on people, the duality of nature and how someone viewed as an enemy can be someone that you identify with on a level that is beyond words or explanation. I love that Nameless 'kills' the emperor by changing who he is with an epiphany of understanding something fundamental about existence in a new way
My film teacher told us the leaves in that fight were all hand painted! That must have been how the colours changed so dramatically
@Joe Smith Agreed, I think CGI is a great tool for enhancing what's already there, but there has to be something physically grounded for it to latch on to in the first place. It's why pure CGI feels weightless and floaty, and therefore has less of an impact and feels inherently fake.
when I tell friends and family to watch movies like this, they just don't get it. You get it.
We get it 👌🏽
The message is very deep and difficult to understand the different perspectives of characters
Which makes it too smart for the average audience
There's a lot of symbolism in this movie, here's what I enjoy understanding when i watch it:"broken sword" is a character that's supposed to represent the people of the kingdoms, beaten warriors that keep fighting despite the endless generation wars between the lords of feudal china. As the unending wars go, their resolve fades , hence broken sword, in search of meaning warriors grow to become philosophers and scholars. "Snow" is often compared to purity and innocence, She used to be in deep relation with "the people" (broken sword), but as time passes "the people" looses his innocence as he understands more about the world, the acceptance that the war will end when all kingdoms are united under one empire, and that the best they can do is lie down their weapons and be invaded is the better solution than keep the senseless wars going, whose reasons for are long forgotten. Purity(Snow) ofcourse will never be able to understand this as it is a very immoral solution to a complicated problem."Nameless" is supposed to be hatred, to strike down at the powers that keep this war machine functioning, it doesn't matter where it comes from, or who he is, and how it was created, hatred is destroying of all. He kills ""Sky", supposed to represent heaven, the ideal of order and belief, the persuit of a greater meaning of life. That the king's officers try to arrest Sky and failed, means that the unification is trying to achieve something righteous and good, but can't quite reach this ideal. Hatred(Nameless) and Order(Sky) have a mind battle, in a chess background, symbolizing the deep phylosophical moral dilemmas of war and peace. Hatred wins, showing that Nihilism gets a hold of the times. Nameless(hatred) lost his meaning as Broken sword (the people) makes him understand that the emperor is actually trying to end the wars, the emperor himself understands that he is a necessary evil, he becomes a mass murderer in order to achieve peace, he atones for this by living in seclusion, fearfull for his life, his own sacrifice in order to achieve ultimate peace. In my understanding, all characters in this movie are heroes, since all of them sacrifice themselves in order to achieve a greater goal.
Wow. 😲😲😲
thank you for this
Thanks for this narration of the symbolism. Loved the fact that I can have another perspective of my all time best loved movie
I went to see this in the theaters and it was easily one of the greatest theatrical experiences of my life. The music, the cinematography, the Rashomon-style of storytelling, the fight choreography... breathtaking film. When you said you were nearly on the verge of tears at the film's beauty, believe me, you weren't the only one.
A movie that director Yimou Zhang did in 2018, Shadow, is definitely one I'd recommend if you haven't seen it.
"This film is gorgeous!"
We told you! ;)
Sure did!
Had a chance to ask Quentin Tarantino about this movie, when I met him at the DMV in Hollywood. It's a great movie. Quentin was the one who brought it to America, he said it was made by one of his favorite directors.
House of Flying Daggers is the perfect movie to cap the trio of these style movies. Great story and acting, and visually it's incredibly beautiful. The vivid colors and the way it is shot and edited is so damn good.
I was in a film class my junior year and my teacher was a huge fan of Asian cinema and in a span of like a 2 weeks or so we watched crouching tiger, house of daggers, fearless and this. Best 2 weeks of class ever lol
Definitly not wasted time
I actually loved this one even more than Crouching Tiger. Sooo glad this won the poll so you had the opportunity to watch it!!
I am the other way around, however only for the visuals and the usage of colour of Hero, Moving Paint! It is stunningly beautiful!!!
As James put it: if Aliens or another species asked "Humans show us the best of what you call art!" I would begin with this epic movie.
Omg I’m really hoping you will do Kung Fu Hustle for a Thursday Movie. It’s such an obscure and underrated movie I don’t know if a Kung fu musical could win in a poll. Hopefully if I drop the name enough you’ll get curious, lol. It is directed by and starring Stephen Chow.
Seconding Kung Fu Hustle.
I'd take that or Shaolin Soccer!
@@HextimusDuex Both are great, and laugh-out-loud funny.
Fifth'd
Yes, indeed.
And seeing this movie before that is preferable.
Whereas "Hero" is beautiful and all business
"Hustle" is a sorta Bugs Bunny martial arts film, like Jackie Chan on drugs.
I love that wobbly spear fighting that's in a lot of kung fu movies, speaking of, I recommend Kung fu Hustle.
You missed a lot of dialogue due to the commentary, but I'm sure you re-watched the film already for the edit. The primary colors red, blue, & green combine to make white while the absence of all three is black. My take on their use is that the kingdom is given the color black as a representation of fact. No layers, just what everyone knows. The assassins are given the color white, representing the truth that has been taken apart into the three primary colors. Hence, we get the real story after combining details from all three tales. They can also be interpreted as different layers of character writing. The red section portrayed the characters as shallow, blue overromanticized them, and white gave them complexities w/ the revelation of the green section's backstory.
Historically black was the colour for Qin.
In red (nameless’ version), everyone was acting based on passion and emotion; also all the problems were ultimately solved by violence.
The king noticed this from nameless’ story and commented on the matter - in his mind he had high regard of the wanted people were true heroes and would not have acted so naively or killed so easily. As your said, his version was the romanticised ideal of a true upstanding hero, therefore it’s calm and in blue (still contains fighting because some events were eye witnessed by his army).
White was the truth. Green was the past and signifies broken sword’s calmed mind.
@@donkeybro6368 To be fair to Nameless, the candles are a key reason that his story failed. Then again, he was already in position for the kill. My guess is that he finished the red tale to ensure that the king had his guard down.
@@jp3813 My interpretation is that Nameless was undecided whether he wanted to kill the King initially. He wanted to observe and see whether Broken Sword's assessment was correct (that this king can bring ultimate peace to the world). If the king was worthy, he would spare him; if he wasn't, he would kill him.
Nameless told the red story which he had prepared, but the king commented how emotional broken sword couple was. Nameless was alerted by this, therefore releasing his "murderous intent". He still didn't want to kill the king yet here otherwise the king would've died right this moment. He needed to get close to the king by telling the story, but there was no need to let his guard down because nobody could react to his sword in this distance.
The king then told the blue story. Here Nameless observed that the king was intelligent (spotted small flaws in his story and his intention), calm (not jumping into defensive position or screaming for help), had great understanding of his enemies, and also had great respect to the heores. Therefore he decided not to kill the king and simply corrected the king by telling the white story.
@@donkeybro6368 I base my stance on the candles detecting Nameless' hesitation only after the king got him to confess his mission. Before then, he was non-hesitant despite Broken Sword's message lingering on the back of his head. His technique may be invincible, but he has to suspect that the king might still have some hidden defenses even up close especially after the two former lovers stormed the castle. Fortunately, the candles wouldn't be enough to stop him.
red, blue, and green don't make white.
This movie got Zhang Yimou the gig to direct the 2008 breathless opening Beijing Olympic ceremony. It is mind-boggling of its technicality and beauty on a grand scale of epic proportion.
This has always been one of my all time favourites. Someone had the crazy idea of using the best actors, martial artists, film/fx team etc. and then put someone who had absolutely no experience at all with martial arts movies in charge of the directing. :) The coordinated colours is the main theme of this movie, the director used patterns as the theme for his second martial arts film but he never managed to make anything near as good as Hero.
Calling it a 'movie' is almost an insult, it's really a pure work of art. :)
People who refuse to watch a film with subtitles, don't know what they are missing. Your reaction mirrored my own when I first saw it. I've seen it many times since. It is a joy.
Hero was film art at its pinnacle. Every scene was a piece of art, from the colors, the story, the music, like omg!! It was amazing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this movie.
The color motif in Hero has been expanded to include red as a symbol for imagination, blue for perceived reality, white for truth, and green for enlightenment and peace. The tale is a simple one of love in the time of revolution.
I was fortunate enough to see this movie in theaters back in college. One of the best cinematic experiences I've ever had, I left in total awe.
This movie changed the way I looked at film. Its use of colours to accent the story telling from different viewpoints showed me that narration and dialog isn't the only thing that can help tell the story. I can watch this movie over and over. Your analysis was spot on, and your excitement and praises of the cinematography mimicked what I have been saying to my friends for year. 30 mil budget back in 2002.
There is a great write up about the use of colour in this film by Xioyi Fu. Its basically the narrator of the story defines the colour, mostly based on his intent with the story.
I watched this film five times at the cinema during its limited run and I use it to judge any new HDTV I buy, to ensure it properly portrays its beauty. I’m so glad you loved it, as it often goes unsung!
Great reaction; it was amazing to see your growing love for it!
A swordmaster ascending beyond the need for a sword is such a beautiful concept. Those two key scenes with him drawing characters changed everything. Changed the emperor, changed the assassin, changed the fate of a nation. He won the battle without violence.
100% agree that Hero has some of the most beautiful shots in cinema history. It's up there with the like of 2001, Blade Runner 2049, Apocalypse Now, Tree of Life, The Thin Red Line, City of God, etc. It's top-tier. You could literally take a still from nearly every frame of this film and hang it as artwork in a museum. Just gorgeous. It was so fun to watch you gush about it in your reaction.
This film is on my top 5 of all time, absolute masterpiece.
My wife sat me down to watch this when I told her I hadn’t seen it, and the cinematography and storytelling just repeatedly blew my mind over and over, I’m so psyched to see you digest this movie, man. It get so so so pumped when you watch films man.
All the actors in the film are legends in their own right, from Tony Leung, to Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi. Award winning actors all.
Whoaaa, James finally dropped the F bomb. Very well deserved. Love your reactions, stay safe and stay healthy brother.
It's a bit long, but I think you will really enjoy John Woo's Red Cliff. It's based on the Three Kingdoms era in China, centered around a famous battle.
Definitely watch the original 2-part release, the international edited version guts way to much of the story.
@@ronin7997 Definitely gotta put out two different videos on YT then. No way you can condense that reaction into ten minutes.
Dynasty warriors the movie
@@eldeano9964 Heck yes.
Probably the most beautiful movie I ever saw. And not only an image, but also music, story, characters... everything.
The unification of China is a very important theme in their culture.
If you haven't already, you should definitely check out Jet Li's "Fearless"
Hero, Barry Lyndon, Come and See, Master & Commander. You covering all the great obscure films i'd never expect to see on RUclips! Utterly fantastic watching this journey.
It's so sad that nobody is doing reaction on this master piece
Finally someone reacted to one of my favs. I was a bit disappointed about the US box office at the time, What can I say... Not a lot of Americans appreciate movies with subtitles... Even if it's the finest masterpiece that ever existed.
Can't they read in their own language?
God i remember watching this in like year 9 of high school, the visuals have always stayed with me with the colors and the fighting was just one beautiful dance to another. A true masterpiece and true work of art.
This film is just an absolute masterclass in visual storytelling. I think Crouching Tiger was a bigger hit here in the West, but as good as that movie was, IMO Hero completely blows it out of the water.
I was lucky enough to see this in the theatres (back in the day). Still one of the best films ever made. Great video James! Keep it up!
Alternate title: James gushes over Hero for 30mins
For another movie that will instantly jump into your top 5 most beautifully shot films, please check out Tarsem Singh's The Fall.
Yes!! Such an under appreciated gem!
YES.
AHAHA! I literally just commented the same thing and scrolled down and boom.
The Fall is not only a really good looking film, but it's also very cute and very sad and very haunting all at once.
Was scrolling through the comments hoping someone had already said it. Such a beautiful film. Fantastic performance from Lee Pace, too.
He added The Fall to a poll after I suggested it, but not many people have seen it so it got low votes 😭
This movie is the perfect example of using colors as a way to represent symbolism. Red is passion, lust, jealousy, rage. Blue is love, empathy, sacrifice. Green is the past, regrets, guilt. And finally white is ideals, meanings, and peace.
The calligraphy scene is a major meaning, what the old teacher is meaning that "it doesnt matter what Qin does, we will continue writing our beautiful language and words to leave a meaningful message that we wont be forgotten" calligraphy was a major benefactor to helping unifying the entirety of china so they can all speak one version of chinese
I saw "Hero" in cinema when it came out and was blown away by the colors and music and pace and emotion and poetry, later bought the DVD.
Color grading was the same as this one. Stunning.
Regarding wuxia films (Chinese martial arts fiction), “Curse of the Golden Flower” should be your next. It’s a gut-wrenching yet gorgeous drama by the same director of “Hero” (Zhang Yimou). He also directed another popular wuxia film called “House of Flying Daggers” but I haven’t seen that one yet, so I can’t comment on it.
I can recommend House of Flying Daggers. It's a beautiful film about love and betrayal and complex political situations, and it really utilizes the incredible dance training of Zhang Ziyi.
Flying Daggers was awesome
Curse of the Golden Flower is Chow Yun-Fat at his finest, such a tremendous performance in that flick.
Curse of the Golden Flower is another great one, but I would personally put House of Flying Daggers above it. If you haven't seen it yet, fix that asap.
House of flying daggers is a banger
i liked how your brain short-circuited during the leaves changing color part lol. so glad you watched this.. i knew it would blow your mind!
'Our land' is a bad translation. The original Chinese means 'under heaven', and refers to the entire world.
Very interesting! This is a really late reply but j just watched Hero today so watched James' video just now. Thanks for sharing this, although there are some things that simply cannot be translated through dubbing or subtitles, "under heaven" is something that is way different than "our land."
I know that I'm 3 years late.
But at that time the "entire world" that they speak of is pretty much just main land China
@@sentryward8744 well, the Chinese have never been good at geography.
I knew you'd gush over this movie. It's absolutely stunning. So beautiful it almost makes you mad. I'm glad it finally grabbed enough votes.
The fight in the rain with Donnie Yuen is one of the greatest sequences ever committed to film.
Literally stopped another video right as it began because I saw this pop up on the side. Great reaction!
The message of this movie
And the moment that King shed a tear realising his worst enemy was the only man who understood his perspective
Wow
As i understand, red is a festive, merry color over there. Conversely, white is a color you would wear to attend to a funeral. Look at the progression of color from the first account by no name to the last one where everyone is wearing white (not sure if the other colors have a cultural significance, tbh). On top of it, the first account is all wuxia-tastic, with jumping on roofs to deflect clouds of arrows, but towards the end, the action seems more grounded on reality
Easily top 10 best motion pictures ever made. A showcase of not what can be done, but what should be done. Truly beautiful to behold.
I refrained voting on anything else to help get this through. The most beautiful movie I've ever seen. Had to have watched it a dozen times growing up and definitely enjoyed the full length with ya as well.
Additionally, I'll second the call out for Kung Fu Hustle for a Thursday. Absolute brilliance and hilarity.
Keep 'em coming! 🤘
It's so underrated. Best Chinese film I've ever seen.
The use of color to separate each section of the film is just incredible. This plot is inspired by Kurosawa’s Rashomon. Retelling an event with different narratives through different characters.
Hero and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon are so good man. Jet Li has unfortunately been going through fighting a life threatening illness. I hope he'll pull through.
I suspected something in his sparse appearances in films recently. Hope he pulls through too.
@@musicaleuphoria8699 This was a long time ago (like 2013). Hyperthyroidism. A few years ago he said he was fine and recovered and his reduced film appearances were mostly due to focusing on his charity and philanthropic work. Dude's coming on for 60 to be fair.
The trilogy of Crouching Tiger, Curse of the Golden Flower and House of Daggers is great. Would recommend watching the other 2 if you liked Hero! Grand scale, amazing colors and visuals, great action
Would you consider Shadow to be their equal?
@@RESTITVTOR_TOTIVS_HISPANIAE Love Shadow too! Available on Netflix for those interested
«Curse of the Golden Flower» is not that famous sadly and isn't mentioned often among others, but it definitely deserves watching. Magnificent as well, one of my favorite. Moreover, almost all of Zhang Yimou's filmography is delightful and very impressive.
I would equate these to be the Eastern Lord of the rings trilogy.
Also as far as battle films go Red Cliff is gorgeous.
Not this good, but quite epic. Has Tony Leung as the protagonist, Broken Sword in this movie.
I am using this film for my research paper and I'm just browsing for some well done analyses and I gotta say, your commentary made me just so happy. Seeing your reactions to the beautiful shots in this film just filled my heart with happiness. So thank you!
One of my all-time favorite films. The making of this film stunned me with its beauty. Whoever the cinematographer was, killed it. Nothing was remastered when I saw it in the theater I FLOORED me! The colors, Man, the colors!! I kept watching your video to see your reaction to the ending.
This is my go to film for whenever I want to watch something beautiful. After so many viewings I can saw that it never ceases to blow me away, it's just a gorgeous film.
I loved your reaction, Hero is definitely one of my all time favorite movies ever! Nice to hear a reaction from the perspective of a filmmaker, I enjoyed hearing your analysis of the cinematography, and more technical details. All I have known of this film is that it’s a beautifully told, beautiful story. Thank you!
Definitely one of the greatest movies of all time. Super happy that you got to experience it.
Thank you for reacting to this underrated masterpiece. I've recommended this film in comments on other channels, but yours is the first to feature it. I hope your video generates more interest among others because so many are missing out. Peace and health to you and yours from a new subscriber.
I love how much you love this movie! :D
I too appreciate this film alot and clicked super fast when I saw you uploaded it. It's one of my favorites of all time. It's just beautiful in so many aspects.
To understand the movie, you have to know the historical context any Chinese would know. Basically, China as such did not exist back then, you basically had 7 different kingdoms fighting each other. And tge king of Qin basically aims to end the suffering of the people through endless warfare between the 7 kingdoms by walking a bloody path but aiming to unite the kingdoms to one empire. In the end he becomes the first Chinese Emperor by annexing the other 6 kingdoms.
The assassin in the end makes the decision to forfeit his personal revenge for the dream of a unified country.
many great film says the director writing a poem, but this movie cinematography is the poem
You wouldn't be surprised that Zhang Yimou began his career as a cinematographer before turning director with Red Sorghum in 1987, followed by 1990's Ju Dou and 1991's Raise the Red Lantern, all of which starred the great Gong Li. It is interesting to watch the evolution of his visual style from these first films to the the films he made in the 2000s.
Ghost of Tsushima is such a good game, and watching this made me want to play it all over again!
Thanks for highlighting, we all deserve this on UHD, can you imagine the wide colour gamaut on this one! It is one stunning film, had the same jaw on floor experience in the cinema all those years ago...
Love that you're watching this. This is one of my favorite films ever. Such amazing use of color and cinematography. Glad you're appreciating such a work of art.
Every scene a painting should also be applied to The Fall-which I highly recommend if you haven’t seen it already.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. This is the movie I saw that year which opened my eyes to what cinematography is on another level. Also, this was the first movie I watched on my 4K TV when I first bought it. This film is an absolute masterpiece.
I have so many nostalgic feelings about this flick. When I was 17 my dad took me to NYC for the first only time I’d been there. I fell in love with the city, and one of the nights we were there we went and saw this movie. Beautiful movie, love how you can see Tarantino’s touch on it. Just amazing. Thanks James, love your take on film.
Seeing you get that happy watching this movie makes me smile ☺️
I think what sets this movie apart is the filmmaker was an award-winning dramatic director, not an "action" or martial arts movie-maker, so the story and the scenery were the real drivers. I think this is an all-time great, great epic movie.
The story of the estranged lovers was so gripping and heart-breaking.
YES JAMES! This is one of my favs that allot of people i know never seen
I absolutely love this film. I saw it in the theater, bought the soundtrack, and bought it as soon as it came out for home release. It stays with you - the fight scene in the poplars, the lake fight, the death of the lovers … so beautiful.
This is nearly a perfect movie. The visuals are top notch, and so is the story telling....
My favorite reaction of yours. Your passion comes through here. Great stuff
First time I saw this was at a dollar theater and the subtitles were below the screen, so I had not idea what anyone was saying, but Hero is such a beautiful film with so much visual symbolism that it was honestly better without the spoken context. Much less distracting from the visual storytelling.
This was you best reaction so far, and given the quality of your content, it is saying a lot.
Glad you appreciated this amazing film so much. I saw it in cinema when I was in grade 9 and had pictures from it all over my school books. Another film that has astonishing visuals and cinematography is The Fall (2006) by Tarsem Singh with Lee Pace. It's really something ✨
I’ve been waiting so long for you to react to this movie ❤️🙏😊 loved it! Favorite reaction by far that you’ve done!!
The music really sends this film to another dimension.
It’s one in the better movies I’ve ever seen. Gorgeous filmmaking. It’s hard to describe its so beautiful.
James' right. It's poetry. It's art. Been my fav film for 20 yrs and James just summed it up perfectly. Thank you. Best wishes. For those curious, the colors do mean something. Have fun ;)
So, my interpretation of colour coding in this movie was: gray/ black: close recreation of the real story, Red: lies but ingrained in passion; blue: doubtful guesses; white: faithful retelling. It’s kinda close to how Peking opera use colour in their face painting.
This movie goes all in on color every chance it gets, and wins every time. Bold choice after bold choice. My experience of watching this involved a lot of feeling on edge - a feeling like I needed to concentrate to catch every little thing, without losing stream of the story. That really helped me see things from the point of view of these characters, who live every moment that way.
I swear every part of this movie is beautiful.