Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: House of Flying Daggers (2004)

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Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 01-13-2005, 08:30 AM:

I got to see this a few weeks ago when I went to London. Haven't gotten around to a review.

Just like Hero and Crouching Tiger, the visuals where absolutely amazing. The music, fight scenes, and most of all use of color were all incredible.

It also had some good plot twists, sort of like Hero. It will lead you in a direction for awhile and then completely change. Really cool.

I didn't like the story of this one. I really don't want to give away the ending, so I will just say that it is all about a romance. I wasn't finding very much a deeper meaning or message. Just tragic love.

It is just difficult to not compare movies like this to Hero, because its up on my favorites of all time.

3/5 stahs for style over substance.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 01-14-2005, 07:08 PM:

[Eek!]

MASSIVE SPOILERS [Eek!]

I thought the ending sucked, or maybe I didn't understand it. I don't even remember now what exactly happened, except they were all locked onto each other and could all have died if the one guy had killed the other, and she pulled out the dagger from her chest, killed the first guy and then bled to death. But somehow she threw the dagger at the first guy and deliberately misaimed, so she bled to death pointlessly. Or am I confusing this?
Also, we never saw what happened to the Flying Daggers. Were they all killed? How? Before, they did the most amazing things with the daggers, and then they were just hacked to pieces by ordinary swordsmen? Is that why she practically killed herself?
But I still enjoyed the movie for its great visual style and for the enormous visual pleasure of seeing Ziyi Zhang again on the screen. Yes, I am that shallow.

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 01-18-2005, 09:37 PM:

I can believe that a blind person can hear knives and spears and arrows and tiny beans flying through the air and dodge/catch/deflect/whip/kick them. But a thrown knife will not somehow stop spinning just before it hits its target. I told Zhang Yimou my opinion but there wasn't a translator around and I don't think he got my point.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 01-19-2005, 03:07 AM:

So you talk at people even when you know they don't understand the language you are using? That's weird, Dave!