Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

m-a-elsewhere A stark, brilliant, uncompromising tale of imperial intrigue and self- fulfilling prophecies, with a star cast helmed by Yun-Fat Chow and Yifei Liu, TONG QUE TAI (THE ASSASSINS) is one of the better Mandarin films in recent years, and easily ranks with such lush historical epics as CHI BI (RED CLIFF) and MAN CHENG JIN DAI HAUNG JIN JIA (CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER).A fictionalized account of the events leading to the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 220 CE, as seen primarily from the point of view of Gong Ling Ju—one of many refugees abducted as children, then brutally trained for a decade solely to murder the powerful Duke of Wei, Chancellor Cao Cao. A military genius, adored king, scholar and poet, Cao Cao has been unswervingly loyal to the Han, even feckless current Emperor Xian. But an astrological prediction cast years before foretells that Cao's destiny is to end the Han era—and Xian's courtiers will stop at nothing to thwart "heaven's will". Might their sneak attacks and murder plots only push Chancellor Cao into the rebellion they want to prevent? Or might Cao's growing affection for and trust in his concubine, Ling Ju, prove the weakness that gives her an opportunity to kill her lover? Solid performances, gorgeous cinematography, and a taut script weaving spectacle with reflection make TONG QUE TAI a skillfully wrought Asian history-based drama.

nmorales3142 Let me just say, don't waste your time with this film. How many cheesy lines and how much boring, inane dialogue can you handle? Try watching this movie if you care to answer that question. The story is stunningly unoriginal. The character development is nonexistent. The relationships between characters are about as deep as watching two dogs mate. When the action isn't scripted to hell, its blatantly ripping off other movies. It goes to show, that just because you can throw money at something, doesn't mean it will turn out good. Cinema has evolved over time; if this film had been released 60 years ago, it would have had a better chance of succeeding, but to a modern audience, this is garbage. If I could give this zero stars, I would.

dworldeater The Assassins is a epic drama in The Three Kingdoms period in ancient China. Centering on Wei Kingdom warlord Cao Cao played wonderful by Chow Yun Fat. This film focuses on military tactics, politics ,and relationships of Cao Cao in his later years. This deals with Cao Cao 's relationships with his son, the emperor as well as a love triangle between his would be assassin /concubine and her lover. Really, a good character study of Cao Cao and well done drama . The sets, cinematography, costumes and acting are excellent . While this is 'nt an action piece, the action /battle scenes that are included are well done.People who only want action are better off sticking with The Three Kingdoms ROTD, and Red Cliff. I love those movies too, but I did enjoy this film also. Great drama from Chow Yun Fat . Thumbs up.

Jeff Lee I'M a big proponent of non-violence in movies and am critical of movies such as The Expendables 2, Taken 2, The Raid and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.However, after watching the painfully dry and laborious Chinese period piece The Assassins, I may have to reconsider my views. It's weighed down by its own importance and can't get out of a maze of drudgery.Even the presence of Chow Yun Fat, the Gerard Depardieu of Chinese movies, isn't enough to save the movie.Chow instils charm, charisma and integrity in his emperor-like roles, so he can play a ruthless leader who exudes compassion for his lover in his sleep.Director Zhao Linshan's The Assassins is a drama about royal court intrigue, fighting for power and a woman torn between two lovers. Yet viewers won't be able to relate to most of the characters, and even the confusion experienced by the woman in question is inexplicable. It's as if she was forced into that position.Cao Cao (right) tells the killer concubine that they can pin the blame on the many subplots in the film. Chow is chancellor Cao Cao, who rises to the No. 2 position in the Han Dynasty by virtue of his ruthlessness in wars. The numero uno is effeminate Emperor Xian (Alec Su), who sings songs of male lovers. The emperor's sycophants see Cao Cao as a threat to them wanting to keep the former in power, so they devise many ways to assassinate the latter. One way is by snatching kids whose parents were killed in wars by Cao Cao.As teens, Lingju (Liu Yifei) and Mu Shun (Tamaki Hiroshi) are forced to attend a camp that trains them to be assassins. Mu Shun is castrated so he can join the emperor's group of eunuchs, while his lover Lingju becomes Cao Cao's concubine to get close to him and to kill him.Cao Cao, meanwhile, must contend with hordes of assassination attempts against him, including that of his concubine's, but he wins her over with the milk of his human kindness. He's not as bad as he's portrayed to be. You can see why taking on this role isn't a stretch for Chow.Mu Shun realises that his lover is falling for Cao Cao, and tells her that Cao Cao can provide many things for her that he can't. A man needs a lot of balls to say that to a lover.www.jeffleemovies.com