braddugg An intense drama with superb production design.It's the kind of drama that we used to see in our childhood with family politics involved and the fight is for the throne. Who is going to be the heir? How to take the throne from a king who is good at fighting but not so kind at heart? This forms the whole story and indeed that is what is the whole movie.Characters are shown as they are, and slowly as the film progresses, their real motives are revealed. From crown prince to the empress to a doctor, everyone is doing something for themselves and its their selfishness that has drowned them. At the beginning, I thought it would be hard to understand story, but as things got simpler, I started actually disliking it. It's a complex story with every character being pivotal to the culmination of the story, yet with each detail revealed I was getting to know more of the story and as knowledge grew, interest reduced and that's what happened. Yet, this is a very hardcore drama and a great drama too. We don't see so much of politics involved and each character plotting against the other in many films. Now, before I go ahead reviewing anything, costume design and set design which combine into production design are aspects I loved this movie for. The climax fight that is choreographed superbly shows a glimpse of how authentic the whole film is. From beginning to the end, the palace, the kings costume, the queen's embroidery each has it's own distinct artistry and all are beautiful. Gong Li as the empress has showed great variation in emotion and so did Chow Yun Fat as the emperor. All others showed emotion well. Sound design was good tooNow, this is good movie and not a great one though, a 3/5 is what I think is apt.

Mike Naughton Yes, this is a visually beautiful film. The manipulations of the entitled classes is the main plot point. The ending is not at all positive or happy. I know life is not always pleasant, but it is amazing to realize how much of life's unhappiness is artificially caused by those in power. To me the bad guy in this drama is merely an *******. Same as Henry the 8th and all those who abuse power. I was disappointed in this movie, but I can see how others might find it a beautiful, even a great film. I have another kind of movie that I would like to make.

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 .

marqus-2 I was not planning to watch this movie. I zapped right into the movie starting on German TV. I recorded it to watch it some other time. But since I was so fascinated by the movie's sounds, colors and interesting and mysterious story line, I just kept watching it until the end. I am not good in writing reviews like a pro with that special structure and conclusion and things like that. I prefer writing what I think or what I would tell a friend talking about a movie. In my opinion this definitely is a great movie to watch especially if you like Asian movies, the old Chinese emperor times or even fighting scenes, which btw fit great into the movie, not too dominating, not too ridiculous. Overwhelming are the colors in that movie. A must see! I loved the scenes with walking people in the palace corridors, the flowers for the big event, everything! The emperor, embodied perfectly by Chow, really knows how the rule and reign. The palace is gigantic, the people are just drones, the army is so big...unbelievable. But topping everything is the empress. So strong, breath-taking beautiful, loving. It is more than goose-bumping, watching her in that movie. The clothes, hair, costumes in general are very nice in this film. And really, is there anything sexier than the moving nose wings of Gong Li in excitement? :-) I doubt it...