House of Flying Daggers

[kenny chim 4]

I don't go to the cinema much and, daft as it sounds, I tend to buy DVDs on a whim (has worked well- The Station Agent, O Brother Where Art Thou, The Straight Story to name but a few gems). Anyway, HOFDs is released this weekend and looks interesting in the telly ads- plus, it got good reviews upon release.

Sooo, as the search facility is disabled just now and I can't check past threads, can I ask those of you who have seen this movie if they feel it's better than Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?

Much as I enjoyed CTHD, at times it seemed like watching a PlayStation game that you had no part in. Is HOFDs going to be the same?

PS- they're trailing this DVD release with the Hans Zimmer/Lisa Gerrard soundtrack music to Gladiator. Do these movies share this soundtrack?

Thanks in advance O Great PH Collective..

[JonRB]

I actually found Crouching Tiger very hard going and ended up turning the DVD off halfway through with a view to coming back to it another night. I never did.

However, House of Flying Daggers looks really interesting. I'd be interested in hearing what people thing of it. Likewise Hero (starring Jet Li).

If you look on IMDB it has a rating of 7.6/10 (from 8,048 votes) which looks promising.
Having said that, Crouching Tiger has 8.2/10 (from 51,882 votes) so who's to say?

>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 28th April 22:30

[Pulsatingstar]

I found House of Flying Dagger much better myself and it looks stunning. But I prefered Hero myself other both of them.

[gooby]

Crouching Tiger is one of my all time favourites and the soundtrack is superb. I was really busy when HOFD was showing at the cinema so I am looking forward to the DVD.

[pesty]

I thought crouching tiger was ok,nothing special even though it had chew on that in it. All that wire work just turns me off.

I really did enjoy flying daggers though, good film. wouldnt say it was my favourite film ever but I did enjoy it.

[JonRB]

pesty said:

All that wire work just turns me off.

Precisely. I've never been a fan of wire work - I guess a degree in Physics makes it hard for me to will a sufficient suspension of disbelief (no pun intended).

I think that's why I enjoy Jet Li's "Fist of Legend" so much. If there is any wire work in there then it is so subtle that I don't notice it.

So if there is little wire work in 'Daggers' then I could well enjoy it.

>> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 28th April 22:50

[kenny chim 4]

[quote=pesty]I All that wire work just turns me off.

/quote]

I guess this is what I was getting at re my PlayStation reference. If HOFDs does not use this (fairly preposterous) style, then I'm more interested.

Yeah, I also need to check out Hero.

Thanks guys.

[pesty]

I can't remember if there was much wire work in it. This probably means there wasnt too much or at least not enough for me to get annoyed at.

Havnt seen all of Hero only one scene set in a writing studio where thousands of archers fire arrows at the students and they keep writing. very stunning imagry.

[alexkp]

JonRB said:

I actually found Crouching Tiger very hard going and ended up turning the DVD off halfway through with a view to coming back to it another night. I never did. >> Edited by JonRB on Thursday 28th April 22:30

I think you should give it another try - CTHD is very easy viewing IMHO - simple story, strong characters, great action and stunts.

I certainly don't think it is difficult to watch - especially with English subtitles (better in my view).

[bilko2]

I can't wait for it. I loved crouching tiger.
There was a film i saw a few years back called BLADE. Not the vampire one ( the new one is only good for an armchair p!ssup incidentaly ). It's about a peasant chinese chap who only has 1 arm if i remember rightly. Anyway he has half of a sword which he attatches to a chain and shackles to his leg!. Some of the fights are realy good.

[davidy]

I've had all three films on DVD for some time, Hero and HOFD bought Region 3 from eBay for less than £10 each! The Region 3 Discs have English Subtitles on them, though navigating the menus in Hero is a bit hit and miss!

In my opinion:-

CTHD - Great film but much more Hollywood in its production than the other two. It looks more like a Western Film (or a film made for Western consumption)

Hero - Absolutely stunning cinematography, uses colour in a way no Hollywood director would undertake. This one's my wife's favourite of the three but I personally prefer the story line of HOFD. Region 3 Disc has slightly longer film on it.

HOFD - My personal favourite, again great cinematography combined with some superb effects, shots are not as jaw dropping as Hero but to me its got a better story.

I enjoyed them all, (all played with original soundtrack, with English subtitles) but they really need a screen bigger than a Plasma/TV to do them full effect, I'm fortunate to have a PJ with 92" screen and big sound. These films really explore another avenue of film making and are really refreshing to watch in comparison with the slick Hollywood productions.

Watch them with an open mind!

davidy

[WingChunDave]

Hero is an absolutely stunning film cinematically but I was very disappointed at the level of the martial arts. If you want to watch a film with lots of fighting this isn't one for you.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon still hasn't managed to make it into my vast collection as yet. I can't bear to pay £6.99 for it. I think that says it all, although I intend to get it at some point.

I've not seen House of Flying Daggers but the trailers look excellent. I'm always wary when a film is compared to CTHD since I didn't rate it as highly as the critics seem to. Once again the camera work was excellent and I hope that was what they were comparing and the style in which the film is shot too.

I just hope there's better fight scenes in House of Flying Daggers.

Dave.

[edc]

House of Flying daggers/Crouching Tiger - nothing special in plot or story for me. More money gives them a better/flashier look.

[robdickinson]

Havnt seen HOFD yet, but love CTHD and seen hero recently and thought it was excelent and am looking forward to seeing HOFD at home.

[tobeee]

I'm with Pulsatingstar on this one. Hero wins. HOFD is a good film too, though it did tend to climb up its own ar$e a bit!

>> Edited by tobeee on Friday 29th April 10:41

[big_treacle]

Haven't seen HOFD but Crouching Tiger always makes me laugh thinking about the first time I saw it. It was a cinema in Cleveland Ohio - I was with my sister and the only other people in there were these 2 guys who looked like they were straight-outta-compton (YO! mofo). Anyway, part way through the film and the girl is lost in the desert. It was really quiet when one of the maybe-gangstas shouts out, "Man, she don't know where the F * C K she's at!". I think I finally stopped laughing about 2 hours after the film finished. Good film too.

[Fidgits]

I hated Crouching tiger, but really liked Hero - so i just dont know what Ill think to HOFD...

[GlenMH]

I found all 3 to be great films with strong stories in them. The use of colour and cinematography in them (Hero and HOFD particularly) is great. They tell their stories in a way Hollywood seems incapable of - the saccharine ending is never going to happen. I do agree that they are best experienced in a cinema as I found them to be an engrossing experience there

I will certainly be getting them all disk for my collection!

Glen

[Vee-X]

yeah hurray, to non saccharine endings,
give me a japanese blood fest than all lives happiliy ever after anyday.

and ending of Hero is stunning, absolutely brilliant and change of autumn to winter in fight scene is top notch.

colour, stories and all hats off dont notice the subtitles just follow the flow of the story and the play of the characters with each other.

[mastiff]

A litle O/T but did anyone see the (i think) Oscar ceremony when Steve Martin said the he was a little disappointed with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon when he went to see it as there ware no Tigers or Dragons in it, then he realised that they were all either couching or hidden.....

made me chuckle anyway...