A Man Called Hero (1999) User Reviews

A flawed movie

[trejodunesea · 6/10 · 30 April 2005]

I have not read the comic book, so I don't know how accurate the adaptation was. It might help explain some of the flaws as well.

In my opinion, the first act of the movie is the weakest. There were times where I was bewildered at how quickly the director cut from one scene to another, and moreover, how quickly he introduced plot elements into the story. One of the characters, Shadow, barely registered, and yet becomes a central character later on. Andrew Lau should know better than this! The second act moves at a much more steady pace, and while it could be too melodramatic for some, I found myself actually touched by the movie, and actually empathizing with the characters, particularly Hero's son's quest to find his father. However, a lot of the themes are handled in an extremely heavy-handed manner, to say the least.

As for the third act... I'll be honest, I watch a lot of anime. So I took it all in stride, including when they began to shoot ki blasts at each other. It's certainly no less absurd than your average US action movie where the hero can kill hundred of people with a machine gun without ever reloading... or being hit once.

HK cinema is heading in the right direction.

[nickthegun · 7/10 · 28 November 2002]

Its really hard to write a review for this kind of film. On the one hand AMCH wants to be a credible story led film. OK, So what about the story. Well it is a strange affair. On the one hand, the hardship the Chinese felt, the bad guy and his ninja squad and a lot of the quest to find hero were pretty good. But on the other hand too many loose ends are left and some things seem to happen for no reason. What's with the weird gay subplot with hero's best friend? What's up with shadow? Why didn't he try and kick invincible's ass, instead of letting 'boss' get his handed to him (I know they were played by the same person, but, hey)? And what the hell happened to Hero's daughter (I accept that it sort of implies that's his latest quest, to find her, but they could have let us know. And why did he blow up the one man who knew where she might be?)?

As a martial arts film it is a strange beast. The only actual bit of traditional kung fu is when hero is showing off his talents to his prospective teacher. The rest is mostly wire work and hardcore CGI, which, for the most part, is pretty good. Shadow zips around, the Ninjas all have captain planet style powers and the face off between Pride and Invincible is awesome. But there just are not enough moments like these. I suppose ructions all the time would take away from what the director is trying to achieve (a man who hates fighting and death), but just one or two more or the existing ones eked out a bit would have been nice, if only to break up the slightly laborious pace.

On the whole, though, it is hard not to like AMCH. The sets are fantastic. The costumes and cast are all uniformly good and the cinematography is superb. The plot holes are forgivable and if you want to see non-stop kung fu action, go rent an old Shaw Brothers flick. The good far outweighs the bad, as far as I'm concerned and the two-disk set is a proud edition to my DVD collection. Its far too easy to cuss up this film, simply because the typical western audience for a martial arts movie don't seem to be ready to try something different. Shaaaame

Fantastic comic book action based on The Blood Sword!

[Movie-Misfit · 7/10 · 2 July 2014]

A cinematic adaptation of one of my favourite comic books, The Blood Sword – this FX filled fantasy has enough going for it, but there's just something about it that keeps me jumping between 3 and 4 stars. And I don't know why…

At times I find it quite entertaining, and other times, not so much.

If I'm honest, I have to say my main complaint would be the CGI – but not all of it. A Man Called Hero was the follow-up to Storm Riders (which suffers from the same problems) and back when they first came out, they were the dogs balls by HK standards. And now, with the fast growing and ever changing standards of CGI work, they seem a little out- dated. But hey, that's all I can really say bad about it..!

CGI aside, A Man Called Hero is a pretty damn good show, made more enjoyable if you know the comic book and characters that go along with it.

Director Andrew Lau has put together a strong cast which also included the big screen return of the superb Yuen Biao, and everyone does a pretty good job at what they do. The super cool Ekin Cheng plays Hero, while the handsome Nicholas Tse plays his son.

The action is aplenty, although carefully spaced out, and even though it is sometimes hindered by the aforementioned CGI, it's handled pretty well and should keep most fight fans happy.

The highlight of the action department is the fight on the Statue Of Liberty which really does, put X-Men to shame. Another great looking battle is the one between Francis Ng and Anthony Wong in the rain, which really looks like a fight scene straight from the pages of the comic.

Check it out…

You will enjoy it at least once, if only for Yuen Biao's appearance in traditional Peking Opera gear.

CHINAAAA SECRET!!!

[Jordan-M · 18 December 2002]

I actually saw "A Man Called Hero" before "Storm Riders", which came first - and subsequently is compared due to the fact that the same production company, director, and cast is used this time around.

Regardless, I have to say that contrary to other reviewers, I enjoyed "A Man Called Hero" far more than Storm Riders. Don't get me wrong, Storm Riders is a great movie, but as far as pure entertainment is concerned, "Hero" does the job better. I just feel that the story, characters, and settings do a better job of drawing you in than the typical "Mystical Ancient China" backdrop that Storm Riders gives you.

Sure, there are plot holes - but these are easily overlooked seeing as these holes are filled with amazing spectacle fights. The fight scene most people mention is the duel between Master Pride and Invincible. I have to say that this is the most visually impressive battle in the movie - and one of the best I have seen in HK movies to date.

I have to say that the Ninjas in this movie look really cool. I think it's the fact that they look like chauffers makes them seem even MORE hardcore than they are to begin with. Either that or it's nice to see ninjas other than the way they're typically shown.

Another thing is that I enjoyed seeing how the characters interacted with eachother and changed throughout the story. In Storm Riders, for the most part, they were just like "I am a warrior. I will fight you now and conquer your land... for the fire monkey!" There was really little depth in them. Hero, on the other hand, is "born under the star of death" which essentially means that whoever Hero has an emotional connection to is in danger of dying. This obviously has an effect on the man, and you can tell by Ekin Cheng's solemn performance. Most of the time he is intensely emotionless. Yeah, that doesn't really make too much sense, but I think you know what I'm trying to say! He seems like he doesn't care, but you know he could make you combust with the wave of a palm.

Lots of people complain about the Statue Of Liberty duel. Why? It was far better than the Statue Of Liberty fight in, say, X-Men! Stop whining.

As it is, A Man Called Hero is a movie you should definitely see if you're into SFX Battles, Turn of the Century Dramas, Ninjas, Ekin Cheng, or HK films in general. This movie is what woke me up to HK cinema. Go for it!

Great!!

[shoguntee · 7/10 · 10 July 2004]

I can't believe this movie only has a 5.5!! What's wrong with you people? This movie has everything. Great story, awesome fight scenes. What else could you want? The only thing I can think of is that people expected it to be more about martial arts than it was, but for me this movie is superb. My only gripe is that they never clear up what happened to Hero's daughter. I also think that Shadow should've played more of a part in the final battle, but that's very minor. I think the final battle atop the Statue of Liberty is one of the greatest fight scenes in movies. Period. Everybody who gave this such a low review should definitely give this movie one more look.

Entertaining

[dworldeater · 7/10 · 17 April 2024]

A Man Called Hero is a late 90's swordplay film based on a comic book. Having a comic book/ manga style mixed with a lot of CGI special F/X. Starring Ekin Cheng, he is backed up by Yuen Biao, Shu Qui, Francis Ng and Elvis Tsui. Having a solid cast and directed by Andrew Lau, the film is ready to rock n 'roll with a mix of comic book type action and solid choreographed kung fu. The film looks really slick with nice camera work. The story is all over the place and is on par with a lot of other Chinese swordplay films in that regard. A Man Called Hero takes a different approach. It is not among my favorites in the genre, but is certainly good enough to warrant a watch. Ekin "The Man With The Hair"Cheng and friends did enough to entertain me this evening.

This is so bad....

[aj-to · 3/10 · 6 April 2007]

The cover of this film claims it to be 'In the spirit of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. How dare they make such a comparison?!? The film looks no more like Crouching Tiger or, for that matter, Hero (with Jet Li) than my granny looks like Pamela Anderson. 'A man called hero' is one of those cheap and cheesy Chinese martial art films that were produced by the ton, all with unconvincing action effects. Moreover, it's stuffed with flaws. The story is of a cheap emotional level, with a weak storyboard, dumb would-be comic attempts and bad acting. In short, it's your average China movie. It's trash and bad imitation, a waste of your time and money. Skip all the surplus reviews; you'll be deceived. Trust me: there's accounting of tastes. This earns no more than a 3 on a scale of 10.

Impressive Kung Fu Drama Based On The Blood Sword Comics!

[Movie-Misfit · 7/10 · 16 March 2020]

I've often flitted between ratings for this late turn-of-the-century kung fu drama based of one of my favourite comic books, The Blood Sword. It's nothing massive - just that sometimes I am entertained more by it than at other times. However, with this review I guess I need to settle on something...

Created by Ma Wing Shing, acclaimed director Andrew Lau brings a very lavish and very large scale adaptation to the screen, with a Hong Kong cast to make anyone want to see it. At the time, it also harked the big screen return of a certain Yuen Biao (which got my attention)!

The highest grossing Hong Kong movie upon it's release, A Man Called Hero is beautifully filmed in a classic Hollywood way, and is huge on sets and characters, with no expenses spared on production values. The follow-up to Lau's own Storm Riders (another Ma Wing Shing adaptation from the same studio), the visual effects were the dogs balls at its time of release in terms of Hong Kong movie standards. And while they do the job in bringing Shing's comic book to life, they just haven't dated well considering.

Ekin Cheng is great as Hero, getting plenty of action and drama to play with and is joined by a few of his Young & Dangerous co-stars (also from Andrew Lau). The handsome Nic Tse plays his son, who comes about a lot of years later when his father is in-hiding in the US after killing a Westerner for murdering his parents...

Understandable I guess! This in turn leads to Nic and Jerry Lam heading to the States to find him, and a host of flashbacks that tell Hero's own story of his life there.

Although he has a prominent role, Biao's character unfortunately doesn't get the acrobatic, fast kicking, fight scenes we all love seeing when he is in action. Don't get me wrong - I still enjoyed seeing him move, but the overall choreography and editing seemed to hinder his return for me. It was nice, however, to see him return in full Peking Opera gear for an action scene that looked great (towards the end of the film).

Fight director and actor, Dion Lam, plays one of my favourite characters from the comic, Shadow, a masked fighter with no arms who uses his ponytail with deadly precision! Action star Mark Cheng leads an odd group of (ninja inspired) Japanese assassins, which also include the super cute Shu Qi, as well as Sam Lee, who conspire with the great Elvis Tsui to kill Hero Hua!

While the action isn't terrible, it just didn't have enough 'oompf' for me. In a time where we are spoilt with big-screen comic book movies, its all about impact and hard action - but this didn't have it. If the fight scenes had have been under the control of Sammo Hung, I reckon that would have worked. Director Andrew Lau is all about the cinematography and drama, which works fantastically, but I guess I just wanted more.

Kudo's though to the end battle on the Statue of Liberty between Ekin Cheng and Francis Ng, that makes the X-Men finale seem boring...

Overall: Drama heavy, this comic book action film visually impresses and pleases as a fan of the original material..!

Very disappointing

[hingcheung · 3/10 · 1 June 2002]

As a fan of "Chinese Hero", it is very disappointing to see this movie. These are the reasons: 1.Acting is very very bad.

2.Story doesn't have anything to do with the original comic. Except the characters are in this movie.

3.Special effects are very very bad, except the scene with the swordfighting with water.

4.Story is very very boring...

5.It's directed very very crappy, totally not interesting. Bad usage of flashbacks.

6.Fighting scenes are too short

7.characters lack any depth. No personality...nothing...just saying their lines.

8.It was DUBBED!!! $^&%#@&(#@&^@#%^*

Even though stormriders was a bad movie, at least it was entertaining.

It's a shame they released this movie. The TV-series by ATV were much better.

Good but not great

[stormruston · 7/10 · 10 March 2003]

Well first off let me say that I bought this movie because ekin cheng was in it.This is not his best.

Good story, good acting,better the average special effects for a Chinese movie,they are getting better every year.

It lacked good fighting sequences to much talk and gloom not enough action,still worth the 4 bucks I paid for it.

oy...i rather watch golf than this

[ballazrus · 1/10 · 27 January 2003]

i've heard of this movie, but i've never really paid attention to its review, for those who enjoyed this movie...by golly, i don't know how you guys manage to but we all have our differences.

this movie as most other recent HK martial arts movies (with young unexperienced actors when it comes to chinese kung fu movies) is too dependent on CGI, what's the point in watching a movie filled with CGI's??? (Computer Graphic Images), the actors gets to do nothing, the viewers is watching a bunch of incompetent scenes. they should just make the whole movie in animation, there's nothing great nor close to decent in these kind of movies (talking about Legend of Zu, Legend of Tekken, all bunch of crappy CGI movies).

now if it was wire fighting, it would've been better (like yuen woo pings movies). enough of how bad the movie is, let's move on to the plot of the movie

so Hero's parents are murdered and he decides to move to America, his wife becomes pregnant on the night before he moves and the wife and her brother decides to look up Hero to tell him the good news, on the day that she concieves her twins, one (the daughter) is taken away by a corrupted chinese guy co operating with the japanese ninjas that are looking for a duel with Hero and his master Pride. his wife passes away, and Hero is told to be "born under the star of death" which basically means all his dearest will meet a tragic end, which the movie has successfully implied. so he decides to stay away from all his dearests and live a lonley life.

the movie either intentionally leaves some of the things incomplete for whatever reasons or it simply forgot to explain what happened to Hero's daughter. this movie reminds me of a chinese fantasy movie because of Shadow

Shadow depicts the same character in that fantasy movie as he is armless and carries an identical mask to cover his face and his fighting style is based on footwork and his ponytail. anyhow all in all this movie is really bad, if you absolutely find NOTHING to watch or do then fine go ahead and give this one a shot, but beware of it's absolute ridicule plot and directing.

0/10, i'd rate it even lower if it had negative.

Underrated.

[veganflimgeek · 8/10 · 19 November 2003]

Only 5 out of ten on votes? What are you people thinking? I am affraid maybe people or taking this movie too serious. Personally I think this is an awesome Comic book movie. While I am not sure what Chinese comic book feels like, this felt like a comic book. The Epic, Sometimes tragic birth of a super hero is prime comic stuff. While Yuen Biao is wasted in a small role This film has alot to offer Fantasy fans.

Hardcore Kung Fu fans will be bored but Wire Fu addicts will enjoy.

A martial arts movie for those with complex tastes.

[Prophet-9 · 7/10 · 28 October 2000]

Finally a film that combines good visual effects, impressive martial arts skills and an interesting storyline. This film is the second venture by the makers of Storm Riders. It surpasses it's predecessor in that it doesn't use special effects to such an extent that it becomes a crutch. The actors actually do some real life physical fighting which was greatly missed from Storm Riders. The jumping from past to present maybe confusing too many, but it gave the film an Art House feel. I enjoyed the retelling of the title characters life through 20 years worth of flashbacks and totally support the story set up. I was impressed even more when my wife, who despises all I adore in film, told me she was getting into the movie. I have been watching Asian cinema for a long time(before it became popular to do so) and like to believe I know what I'm talking about in all genres. This movie has been given some negative reviews by other viewers. My only explanation is if all you've consumed your entire life is liquids, the first time you have something solid you'll probably dislike it. If all you want is action and bad acting bring your bottle and bib. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to get off the breast milk and have some steak and potatoes. Go see A Man Called Hero and bring the A1.

It was lacking uniqueness...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 22 May 2012]

I remember having this movie on VCD when I lived in Hong Kong, and did remember it as being a good movie, so I finally got it on DVD here in 2012. And now having seen the movie again, I must admit that the movie was not really as good as I initially remembered it to be.

The story in "A Man Called Hero" takes place in the first half of the 20th century where we follow Hero Hua as he comes to America, struggling to make a living, dealing with racism, intolerance, hard labor, poor working conditions, and apparently suffering from a curse (being born under the star of death). Hero Hua and Jade have twins, but tragic events keep them from being together.

The storyline in the movie was, well for lack of better words, dull. It was not really captivating and I found it hard to fully buy into it. And how come that no one had grown a day older and looked older even after 17 years had passed? They just dyed Hero Hua's hair gray and that passed for having aged 17 years? That was just ludicrous, and I was laughing so hard at this.

Now that we are on goofs and mistakes in the movie. Then lets take a moment to talk about the Japanese ninjas, whom all were speaking Cantonese. Are you kidding me? They should be speaking Japanese, not Cantonese. I will say that the idea with the earth, fire and water for the ninjas was actually quite good, though. Moving on, try noticing the large clusters of dynamite that the white guy was throwing in the showdown at the work camp in the canyon, and then look at the small firecracker explosions that they produce. Hilarious.

One thing that "A Man Called Hero" had working for it, was the ensemble of people on the cast list. There was a lot of big names from Hong Kong cinema here. Of course there was Ekin Cheng (playing Hero Hua), Anthony Wong (playing Pride), Shu Qi (playing Mu), Fracis Ng (playing Invincible), Sam Lee (playing Fire) and a couple more. If you are familiar with Hong Kong cinema, then you will definitely recognize a good deal of the actors and actresses here.

There wasn't a whole lot of martial arts going on in the movie, so don't sit down to watch "A Man Called Hero" with the hopes for seeing something in the likes of a Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movie. There is a couple of martial arts scenes and some swordplay scenes, but nowhere on the scale of movies like "Hero". I, personally, could have wanted to see more martial arts and swordplay throughout the movie. But then again, it was more of a story-driven movie, not an action-driven one.

"A Man Called Hero" is an adequate, although fairly standard, Hong Kong action movie from the late 90's. It might be worth a watch if you enjoy Hong Kong cinema as much as I do, or if you are a fan of any of the people on the cast list.

The movie was lacking something crucial to make it unique and memorable. I am sure that it will quickly fade into nothingness in my memory and just stand on the DVD shelf as a filler in the collection.

Has what the Stormriders lacked

[gohmifune · 27 June 2002]

Well, some believe that this movie is bad, but it isn't. I found rather incredible, comparing to the Storm Riders. It has better special effects, also, the version I saw was dubbed compared to the rather dissapointing subtitles on the american DVD release of the Storm Riders. Sadly, the Strom Riders is the the only movies you can compare this to, but in many aspects this wins out. It's about the same length, with most of the same actors. The shinning points are the action, music, and the story. The story is kind of tragic in a way, but it's perfect, and doesn't leave you crying or smiling, just with you r mouth open at all the jaw dropping scenes. Though I wish it did have a lot more action, there are many fights, and they are all fantastic.

To sum it up, it's a really good film, leading up to the final battle, which is the best fight scene in any live action film I have ever scene, and the fact that it takes place in some what modern America is a plus.

Disappointing compared with The Storm Riders

[leekandham · 6/10 · 21 August 2002]

After watching The Storm Riders, I was expecting the same delights from A Man Called Hero. However, I was to be sorely disappointed as this film just looks like a rush job to capitalise on the back of The Storm Riders' success.

A Man Called Hero is made by basically the same team as that behind The Storm Riders, with many of the original cast making a return (with the noteable exception of Aaron Kwok). The style of the original story, however, is really very different from Storm Riders, but the back room team failed to acknowledge this and tried to copy exactly what they did in the earlier film and in a hurried manner.

What we've ended up with is a film that lacks any continuity and pace. The bulk of the film is slow and arduous to watch as you're dying to get it moving. There are gaps in the story, leaving questions in your head that are never answered. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen Hero, there is the "But what happened to...?" question at the end of the film.

Where there is comfortable pace in the film, that turned out to be in the action sequences, but these itself was very lacklustre. The scenes were way too short to give any significant enjoyment, and relied too heavily on the special effects capability of the film, which in itself didn't excel itself as well as The Storm Riders. One example is the rendering of the Statue of Liberty compared to the Giant Buddha in the earlier film. The Giant Buddha had amazing attention to detail, making it look very realistic, whereas Liberty looks very artificial. And in Hero, all the action scenes rely on the SFX, as opposed to the SFX adding to the scene.

In Hollywood animation studios, it usually takes many years of painstaking work to render and animate a film. I somehow feel that the production companies involved here felt more concerned about bringing in revenues quickly than to really pay attention to detail, which I feel is a big shame. But having said that, that is something that can be rectified, and a future film that features the real achievements of The Storm Riders and A Man Called Hero

Disappointing!!!

[ethan-29 · 2/10 · 9 September 1999]

I waited along time to see this film, and it was certainly not worth the wait. The story was too boring and slow, 80% of the movie was flash back and you don't really get a chance to relate to the characters, except for Wah Yin Hung. Plus could they please change the cast, this was the exact cast from Stormriders and the Young and Dangerous movies, can't they find some other actors? I think the audience is tired of seeing the same actors all the time. And Ekin cheng's performance in Stormriders was only average, Aron Kok did a much better job. Over all the film was a disappointment especially coming from the Stormriders team.

A film that saves money on effects.

[jazzian · 4/10 · 20 July 1999]

It is a very disappointed film. We have waited long to see a film of actions and effects, but the film makers delivered a lousy long story with made up politics. You have to waste the first hour for a weak story to develop. Nevertheless, the effects are still worth waiting for, just too short. And the ending also too standard and fast, just like all the HK films, the film makers seems to spend all the money and have to wrap up with anything on hand.

All in all, you should go to the cinema 60 mins after the show time and for the remains, don't expect too much, just watch effects.

Unresolved Issues

[gpsmall · 3/10 · 21 November 2005]

There was much to be appreciated about this HK martial arts flick. The action was subordinate to the plot rather than the reverse as is the case in all too many martial arts films. The characters did have some emotional dimension as well. Its failing, however, was its failure to develop some plot lines to a conclusion. After watching the film, I immediately went online to discover the name of its sequel, but there is none. Maybe there was going to be one and finances did not permit it. I don't know. What I do know is that I felt cheated after it ended with no revelations about the missing daughter and without retribution for the jealous ninja who burned the place where the birthing occurred and contributed to her death. It was as if Kill Bill ended after Volume 1 and Volume 2 was never made. Don't watch this movie if you like plot lines to be wrapped up nice and tidy by the film's end.

If you liked storm riders this is well worth watching

[luke_bale · 8/10 · 30 April 2003]

Do not expect a lot of martial arts as you will be disapointed however what it lacks in fight scenes it makes up for with a lot of character depth and a good story line which makes the fight scenes even more enjoyable as you actually care about the characters. Special effects, like storm riders looks great and is used very effectively. Not really sure why this film got such an average rating personally I thought it was just as good if not better than storm riders as the characters had a lot of depth, I think that people were disapointed with the lack of action in the film. The brother of the main character is very cool and I think he should have his own film and for some reason he wears a mask through out the film. The dvd I have has 2 versions, dubbed, fullscreen and subtitled, widescreen I found that for some reason the dubbed version was actually around 8 mins longer but to take it seriously it is better to watch with subtitles on the other version.

Tiny English subtitles

[Pro Jury · 5/10 · 8 February 2004]

The other reviews offer a complete enough picture about what this movie offers and fails to offer. However, potential viewers might want to be aware that at least in one version of this release, there are tiny, difficult to see, English subtitles. You may want to think twice about trying to watch the subtitled version with a group of people because many people will be asking what is being said throughout the film.

Also of note, the famed Asian picture book model Hsu Chi plays Mu. Moving or still, she possesses the same unique magnetism.

Great if you don't compare to comic.

[dylanstaxes · 8/10 · 22 February 2022]

Cool magic kung fu action with lots of weirdness and cgi. This story has basically zero to do with the source comic. But it's a fun silly kung fu romp.

A Man Called Hero

[TheVaderCollector · 21 August 2004]

This movie is best known in the US as "A Man Called Hero". It is based on the comic book by Wing-Shing Ma that follows the adventures of Hero Hua, born under the Star of Death and cursed to bring unhappiness to those he cares for. This adaptation tells the story from the point of view of several people that knew Hero, told to Hero's son, who is searching for his father. We follow the path of Hero from his early student days in Mainland China and up to his eventual migration to the US. There are many characters from the comic book making small cameos. The final battle between Hero and his nemesis Invincible (what's in a name!) takes place on top of the Statue of Liberty!. Best enjoyed by someone who has either read the comic book or likes Asian Fantasy/Martial Arts films. An overall great movie for a Friday Night with a group of friends.

You'll believe a martial artist can fly!

[ncc1205 · 10/10 · 23 May 2004]

While I've been a longtime fan of the Woo-influenced Hong Kong action pics and I've been any even longertime (is there such a word?) fan samurai films, I've had a dubious love/hate affair with the more traditional 'martial arts' films where would-be superheroes dance on air whilst wiggling and waggling their magical swords to dice and slice the villains. I've loved CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, and I've meddled with THE BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR. I don't know. Something about traditional martial arts films have seemed to extremist entertainment to me ... but then AZN Films recommended A MAN CALLED HERO and I find myself in a curious predicament: I'm hooked.

I won't go into a massive rehash of the plot b/c the film does suffer a bit from some of the hallmarks of Hong Kong cinema: there's far too much story to be told in two hours, but, somehow, it all manages to fit together. There are a few plot points (Sword Hua's search for his sister, Hero's love-hate relationship with the Elements, Shadow's real intentions, etc.) that don't get enough screen time -- surprisingly -- but sacrifices were made, and what's left for the story is more than enough to chew.

This film is dazzling to watch, and I think it so for a variety of reasons. It takes the traditional martial arts formula of the mystical hero, and it turns the film upside down to avoid going overboard in every way possible. Also, it strives to be much more of a contemporary 'period piece' -- set in what one could guess is America, circa 1920/1930 (I honestly don't remember that a date was mentioned) ... a creative choice that does give the principal characters far more of a 'superhero' feel and less of battling martial artists. That and EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY BE WRITTEN ABOUT THE FILM'S CLIMAX ON THE STATUE OF LIBERTY MUST BE BELIEVED! While there are a few parts of the Statue's final battle that are hard to swallow, it's easy to look the other way and just be dazzled in the way many other blockbuster films have tried to do.

A MAN CALLED HERO (not to be confused with Jet Li's HERO) is a remarkable find, and it's a remarkable piece of work from a man called Andrew Lau.

This is a definite owner. While parts of it are more guilty pleasure than anything else, A MAN CALLED HERO is wonderfully entertaining and even manages to tug on a few heartstrings along the way.

this movie is a tragic tale of love lost and destiny

[efrazier0217 · 8/10 · 6 March 2007]

Coming from a comic book, you can understand the fantasy of this film. Like the Japanese comics, The Chinese are filled with fantastic feats of fighting with mind over body. Dragonball is a good example, If it was made into a live action it would be like A Man Called Hero or Stormriders Wind and Cloud. Most Asian film fans enjoy not only action, but deep stories. In fact they enjoy stories more than action. This movie has a tragic tale of destiny and love lost. In order to save what is left of his family, Hero lives in obscurity and forever alone. he cares so much for his loved ones that he wont allow his lonely destiny affect them. This is a movie that is worth the time to watch. But, do not watch dubbed, watch in Chinese with sub-titles. Dubbing is a crime to any film. I enjoyed this film so much that i bought it. A movie that is macho enough for any guy and yet will tug at the heart strings of all. A great tale and a great movie. Anyone will find that Ekin Cheng does not make bad movies. You don't have to be "Mikey" to enjoy this film. So, give it a try.