Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

David del Real Over the years, we all have read and seen hundreds of different stories about "Evil Emperors", and in most cases these Evil Emperors are focused either in conquering more territories (with an excessive use of power and aggression) or in making the poorest people within their lands suffer. In this case, nevertheless, we find ourselves with an emperor whose evil, or at least his flaws of character, are suffered mainly by his close family, more precise by his own wife and sons, Of course, consequently sometimes ending up creating suffering for pretty much everyone in the Royal Palace.As in many great plays, the story is preceded by a number of "tragical mistakes", that lead us to the present moment and circumstances, that are very unfortunate and sad.Talking about the constitutive elements of the production, we can appreciate a lot of outstanding characteristics: great and amazing colors throughout the film, great martial arts fights; both one-one-one and massive, nice wardrobes, great scenography, etc...Another point that we could remark about the movie, is the detail that the emperor seems to be instructed (as the old emperors of China were actually supposed to) in a number of disciplines, including medicine, which the emperor in our story sadly uses for malign reasons.Finally, we can say that the performances of Gong Li and Chow Yun-Fat both achieved what they were meant to; they gave us a great emperor we could hate and an empress we could both love and commiserate.Thanks for reading. IMDb by David del Real. Ciudad de México. México. October 11th, 2017.

SnoopyStyle The Emperor (Chow Yun-fat) returns with his second son, the Empress's first son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou) after a northern campaign. The Empress (Gong Li) has been having an affair with her stepson Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), the emperor's first son. She's planning to overthrow the Emperor but he's been slowly poisoning her. It's palace full of intrigue as the youngest Prince Yu arrives.The brightly-colored grand sets and costumes set this off. Although it can be a distraction. Some of the action is great. The final battle is a massive color explosion. The melodrama is over the top. Everything is over the top. None of the characters are appealing. It's hard to care about any of them. This is interesting to look at but not that compelling to watch.

esmorr I caught this movie on TV the other night while flicking around, and could not turn it off! As a Westerner with little knowledge of Chinese history or culture, (any knowledge that I do have has come from a smattering at school as a child and some movies as an adult), this visually spectacular work grabbed my attention and would not let me go.As has been said by others here, this picture is set during the reign of the famous Tang dynasty, where the Emporer lusts for complete control of everyone in his kingdom, including his immediate family. If he cannot gain this by twisting their lives to his will, he will do so by blood-lust. The machinations which surround his ambitions involve every member of the family, and his personal army, as well as his doctor and his relatives.I am not normally a fan of martial arts movies, but the fighting scenes which sew this story together are extremely well choreographed and spectacular to see. Be aware that the blood does flow though. The scenery in this movie is mostly of the Forbidden Kingdom palace and grounds, but is spectacularly offered. Hollywood could certainly learn something from the way that these sets are presented.Masterful performances by the two leads steer this movie through twists and turns which demand the viewer's full attention. Chow Yun Fat is wonderful as Emporer Ping, and the very beautiful Gong Li is quite incredible as the dutiful Empress Phoenix, and grabs your attention in every scene. While on the subject, from a male's point of view it is notable that the push-up bra's are doing overtime in this movie!This is a great picture which I believe that any fan of Chinese cinema, and also those who enjoy Hollywood's offerings about ancient China, will love. It is more than a martial arts movie, and more than a drama involving family. It is a thoroughly engrossing story told in spectacular fashion. I look forward to seeing this picture again, subtitles and all !!

ma-cortes 10th Century , during China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest . On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous . The control of emperor over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself . For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison and unspeakable secrets are hidden within the Forbidden City. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, the emperor relocates the medic's family from the Palace to a remote area . While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. At the night, thousands of soldiers are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace in a spectacular final battle .This luxurious epic film was marvelously filmed with impressive production design , colorful cinematography and breathtaking scenes . The picture is full of tumultuous sequences with dark surprises , thrills , fierce combats and groundbreaking battles . Amid the glamour and grandeur of the scenarios is developed a familiar intrigue in Shakespeare's King Lear style , including betrayal , incest , crime and exploring the dark side of Chinese empire . Impressive and rousing fights with thousands of golden armored warriors reenacted by lots of extras . Overwhelming attack on the fortress where is relocated the doctor's family , being subsequently copied in ¨Kung Fu Panda¨ . Wonderfully photographed especially when against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace. The motion picture was glamorously directed by Yimou Zhang who often works with the actress Li Gong and as well as most of his films , it begins with the title displayed in Chinese calligraphy style. Zhang forms part of China's Fifth Generation of filmmakers, who began making films after the Cultural Revolution , others from this group include Chen Kaige and Jinzhan Zhang . He is an expert on Chinese epics such as ¨Shanghai Triad¨ , ¨Hero¨ ,¨House of Flying Daggers¨ , ¨The flowers of war¨ and of course the Oscarized and successful ¨Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon¨ . Rating : Better than average . Worthwhile watching .