House of Flying Daggers (2004)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A lot of fun.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The acting in this movie is really good.

"House Of Flying Daggers" starts out a marvelously visual experience but eventually suffers from being too driven in its desire to offer same. Taken as an adventure, a character study amid civil war, or as a love story, it was a letdown, albeit a highly sumptuous one.In 859 AD, China is riven by a longstanding struggle between a collapsing dynasty and an insurgency which has the support of the people, the House of Flying Daggers. After one apparent high-ranking member of this group is revealed as a blind dancer in a Feng Tian brothel, two captains agree on a plan to get her to take them to the Flying Daggers' mysterious leader. In time, we learn more than one game is being played."Don't turn a game into reality and spoil our plan," the senior captain, Leo (Andy Lau) warns his partner Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro).But Jin styles himself too much a lady killer and can't help himself, especially when the lady is the gorgeous and deadly Mei (Zhang Ziyi): "If I die under a skirt, I can still flirt as a ghost."The film sets up an epic confrontation between the government and the Flying Daggers, to which Jin and Mei will discover themselves just "pawns on a chessboard." Yet the only chessboard we see used is that of director and co-screenwriter Zhang Yimou, who employs his trio of charismatic actors in the foreground of gorgeous scenery and head-spinning stuntwork.In his DVD commentary with Ziyi, Yimou acknowledges the influence of the earlier wuxia classic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (which featured Ziyi) as well as Sergio Leone's epic "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly." You see the latter influence show up especially at the end. But those films, for all their rich visual textures, had stories going for them, too.This time the story amounts to frequent repetitions of similar activities, such as government ambushes, or else spectacles that grow less focused and more obtrusive as the movie goes on. The point of the movie, we are led to believe, is this big battle "that will decide the fate of the Flying Daggers," yet we end up knowing no more about that than when we began.I can watch Ziyi feed squirrels for two hours and not complain. She has an especially stirring opening sequence playing something called "the echo game" which works as a setpiece not only because of its fantastic visual design but also because at that point in the movie, the plot is only getting started and Yimou's tendency to bask in visuals is not yet a deficit. It's a classic setpiece.The other main actors are also good company. Kaneshiro especially takes the seemingly thankless role of a playboy officer and turns it into the film's central role. To the extent I came to care for anyone, it is Jin, more even than Mei. Kaneshiro with both his devil-may-care attitude and deeper sensibilities draws you into this fantastic setting, enough that the first half of the film with its endless stunts and color schemes takes on elements of a quality joyride.Eventually, the story bogs down around numerous hidden identities. Artifice, ever-present, takes over. By the time I was watching an ambush in a bamboo forest conducted largely 20 feet off the ground, I no longer felt engaged but rather manipulated. And it gets even more protracted in a long and sloppy ending.As a cinematic experience, "House Of Flying Daggers" merits viewing. I just felt as little as I found myself caring about the way it ended, Yimou cared even less.

I remember seeing this title in the Cinema with a friend I have missed ever since. I recall this being an emotional watch back then as the war within my own heart helped to afflict the character's predicament upon myself. It has been 10 years since that day, and it shall be another 10 years before I brave this title again. One thing you have to take into account when watching this film, is that it involves profound yet subtle emotional plots. I know it's "not real", but ultimately you are either the kind of person who is uncomfortable with investing themselves emotionally, or you open up & start to relate everything to your own experiences. It's not for everyone.Apart from a few POV shots that become tiresome & some choppy editing of premeditated martial arts, this isn't a bad film. The debate of whether or not a sad ending makes a film good or bad is besides the point to me. The lesson is still learn't, & that is a simple question of "Love vs. Duty", "Desire vs Honour".The actors do a spectacular job of conveying deep concealed emotions, & you feel their conflict as their love begins to suspect ambiguity amongst their intentions. Although the translation of an already cryptic script isn't forthcoming, you realise near the end that not everything is in the script. The House of the Flying Daggers is less about small cgi knives, & is more an allegorical interpretation of how both sides send small measures to test each other's resolve. Even near the end, when (the rather suspect) Nia reveals herself, she is manipulating all 3 characters. She needs all 3 dead, because they know too much & emotion has made them unstable. And in a remarkable way, pits them against each other. It's a perspicacious way of surviving through the middle ages.I remember my friend was slightly bemused about the performance; she humoured me at best. But for me, it made me cherish the small amount of time I suspected I had with her even more. Often role playing the final scenes in my head. Today, alone & lonely it cannot possibly have that effect on me. But I remember the feeling well as though I carry a dagger or a wound with me to this very day. House of Flying Daggers is not an easy watch for some. It is beautifully tragic. So often liberating; love can purify the heart, opening your eyes & ears to an endless array of colours & sounds as though you are reborn anew & immortal. But in it's absence, it can throttle your soul; turning everything white, cold, & mute.. as though you are dying a thousand deaths with each fleeting day. Indeed, the only daggers are those flying around inside.

(Credit, IMDb) A romantic police captain breaks a beautiful member of a rebel group out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.This is a very beautiful movie. Not only is it full of twists and betrayal, but it has some mesmerizing action scenes as well. I'm normally a fan of wires, but I couldn't help but get into some of the fights. The photography is quite memorable, as are some of the comedic sequences as well. We also get great costumes. It does run a little long in the tooth when all is said and done, but it is genuinely a solid movie. Overall, if you like Crouching Tigger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, etc, this will be right up your alley7.8/10

Overpowering visuals with kinetic sound editing highlight this wonderful to look at Film. But, the back Story is more spoken than presented and it lacks intrigue that was lost somewhere between the sappy and sentimental Love Triangle and the impressive Fight Scenes.Undeniably rich and rewarding Cinematography with more Colors than Crayola do save this maudlin Shakespearean wannabe. Focusing and lingering on the Beautiful outdoor landscapes and Hyper Stylized Wirework with a broad lens and awe is understandable. But what is incomprehensible is the amount of Screen Time and attention given to close up Faces and Bodies kissing and hugging, lying in a Field, looking up, looking at each other and it all looks rather boring.Especially when everything else is so vibrant and stunning. The Love Scenes and Dialog are so weak that they distract and stop the Movie. So there are things here that work wonderfully, the Art Design, the Fight Choreography, and the Ambiance in general. But what falters is the pale Political Story and the Love Story languishing with sometimes laughable lines. "I am like the Wind. I too would like to be like the Wind", or some such Poetic pretensions.