Artivels Undescribable Perfection

SunnyHello Nice effects though.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Matti-Man MOON WARRIORS is without doubt one of the best examples of Wuxia (not "sword and sorcery" as some reviewers have labelled it) cinema. Wuxia, as I've noted in my other reviews, is a genre akin to the Japanese samurai movies, in that it is about honour, loyalty and the code of the warrior as much as it's about kick-ass fighting. There should always be a bit of romance in Wuxia movies as well, something that's almost always missing from its sister genre, kungfu films ...If the story seems a tad corny to Western sensibilities, that's probably because Wuxia films take their inspiration from the traditional writings of the Qing and Ming dynasties. But then, STAR WARS (a film that MOON WARRIORS resembles) is pretty corny too, and we don't love it any the less.Starring a whole flock of Hong Kong pop singers (Andu Lau, Kenny Bee and the late, great Anita Mui), MOON WARRIORS is chock full of astonishing moments. The "ninja" attack as Yuet (Anita Mui) and her ladies-in-waiting fly their kites and the 14th Prince's (Kelvin Wong) incredible skill with the bow when he ignites the logo that reads "Heaven and Earth" (not his name as another reviewer writes).It should also be pointed out that Sammo Hung also cast his female leads against type deliberately. It would have been more obvious to have cast Maggie Cheung as the delicate princess who knows martial arts but has never used them before and Anita Mui as the hardened assassin. But Sammo is a film-maker who avoids the obvious.MOON WARRIORS has just about everything - great action, epic storyline and it's achingly romantic - and seems to work best for those who are not kungfu film fans and thus have no preconceived expectations.But the killer whale - what was Sammo thinking of?

movieman_kev Sammo Hung is one of the VERY few actors who is a joy to watch in front of the camera AND he's a pretty damn good director as well. This well done period/fantasy piece is no exception. Andy Lau (another favorite foreign actor of mine) is Fei, a common fisher-man who falls in love with the Emperor's daughter, who is bethrothed to the King. The king is secretly loved by his adviser who was sent to kill him. It's a tad convoluted, yes. And the part with the whale is rather silly. But all in all, it's pretty good. Not among the best of these type of movies though.My Grade: B-DVD Extras: Commentary by Hong Kong film expert, Ric Meyers; 'Alternate Ending' (which really is just the same ending, but instead of fading to black for the credits, it goes to whale outtakes); Cast Filmographies; Trailers for "Dragon Inn", " Duel to the Death", "the Master Swordsman", "the Duel", and "My Schoolmate, the Barbarian"

min11586 I really enjoyed this movie since I love Chinese history. Andy Lau is also one of my favorite singers, so obviously this movie was great. However, they made a big mistake on choosing Anita Mui as Yue Ar Yee. I thought Maggie Cheung Man Yuk would fit the role better.

Dr Worm The only reason I rented this was due to the fact that Maggie Cheung was in it, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a very enjoyable film. All the good guys are like-able and the bad guy is a right b******!! Excellently choreographed fight scenes, great cinematography (especially the scenes with the Fei and the killer whale Hai Wei(sp?)), and an extra bonus surprise about a third of the way into the movie - Anita Mui!!The ending shocked me somewhat, but didn't detract from my enjoyment the movie in any way. Well worth checking out.