Warriors of Heaven and Earth

If you're looking for period accuracy in a pic about Chinese history, look elsewhere. If you're looking for film about the transmission of Buddhism from India to China, look elsewhere. If you're looking for an "action pic" about Chinese sword fighting, you might like parts of the film, but much of it will bore you. If you're looking for a film that uses Buddhism to support a Sino-centric worldview, you've found it.This film purports to be based on a historical episode, but in fact represents a fundamental corruption of the Buddha's teachings. The Buddha taught a simple way for people of any and all nations to strive toward enlightenment. He did not teach magic or martial arts, both of which are contrary to his Precepts:1. to abstain from taking life2. to abstain from taking what is not given3. to abstain from sexual misconduct4. to abstain from false speech5. to abstain from intoxicantsIn so patterning our lives we learn the meaning of the three refuges taught by the Buddha: To take refuge in the Buddha, the fully enlightened one To take refuge in the Dharma, the teachings expounded by the Buddha To take refuge in the Sangha, the community of Buddhists that practice Dharmas.Why do we do this? In recognition of the dharma that the Buddha taught: the reality of suffering, the truth of Buddha nature, or impermanence, and the reality of enlightenment that comes with the acceptance of impermanence and our Buddha-nature.Contrast that to the magic repeatedly portrayed this film, where relics, supposedly the Buddha's bones, produce a kind of magical emanation enabling a monk to rise from death and kill an enemy. Then we are told that when these bones were placed in the care of a Chinese emperor, brought about a period of Imperial peace and prosperity. Could any act be less true to Buddhism? The Buddha is not a god or angel, only a fully enlightened human being - having taken a path we can all know and practice.. A true Buddhist, should she or he come upon the bones of the Buddha would simply bury them (some Buddhist saints would say "kick them to the side of the road") and get on with living an ethical life in the path to enlightenment.

This is the best film from China, I've ever watched. I checked it out of the library last year and remembered it vividly a year later Not only is the cinematography spectacular, but the actors and story are superb. The underlying history of early China and the vast population living in the country are displayed in vivid and sometimes comical ways.He Ping, the director of the cult classic SWORDSMAN IN DOUBLE FLAG TOWN and the better-known RED FIRECRACKER, GREEN FIRECRACKER, enters the big time with WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, an epic battle between two heroic figures fighting for themselves and for their countries. When Li (Jiang Wen) refuses to kill innocent women and children, he becomes a rogue soldier without a land. Master swordsman Lai Xi (Nakai Kiichi) is ordered to assassinate him if wants to get back to to his home in Japan and see his mother before she dies. First they join together to help a caravan carrying precious cargo make its way safely across the desert--with a beautiful woman, Wen Zhu (SHAOLIN SOCCER's Zhao Wei), caught in between them. The gorgeous cinematography is by Zhao Fei, who shot such Asian epics as RAISE THE RED LANTERN as well as such Woody Allen films as SWEET AND LOWDOWN and SMALL TIME CROOKS. The lush look of the film is echoed by A.R. Rahman's marvelous score and outstanding costuming and set design. Ping masterfully recreates seventh-century China as horses and camels lead the protagonists down the famous Silk Road during the time of the Tang Dynasty.

I HAVE THIS MOVIE ON CD BUT WHEN WE STOPPED DIRECT TV WE WENT TO THE FIRESTICK AND I WANTED TO HAVE IT WHERE I COULD VIEW ANYTIME ON THE BIG TV. I HAVE WATCHED THIS MOVIE OVER AND OVER AND IT STILL KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER. THE ACTION IS NONSTOP AND THE ACTORS AND ACTROESS'S ARE SUPERB BUT SADLY ONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS GETS KILLED AT THE END AND IT SORTA MADE ME FEEL WRONGED HE DID NOT MAKE IT HOME TO BE WITH HIS FAMILY AGAIN. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO EVERYONE!

This has all the ingredients and marketing of a good action adventure. Great locations and budget and all. But if you go in with that mindset to compare with a market full of blockbusters in that genre, this is going to feel very amateur. The characters were each doing their own thing rather than playing off each other. And the interactions were shallow. I guess if you like good historic scenery, and a simple plot that doesn’t much rock the boat, then this might fit the bill.

Absolutely beautiful and moving. Many of this genre are often gauged with a statement such as "well, it is no Red Cliff but it is pretty good...". In this case, though, it easily stands at the same stature as Red Cliff. The story is, however, even more focused on fewer characters and thereby raises the intensity level that much more. The casting is superb - Jiang Wen (Cao Cao in "The Lost Bladesman") holds the central role perfectly, and Kiichi Nakai shines equally. Zhao Wei is as utterly stunningly beautiful and strong as in Red Cliff.The scenery is large and beautiful, the fighting is intense, personal, gritty and realistic - no wire work or eye-rolling combat here. Without spoilers, there is a supernatural element in the movie but it does not affect the realism, and instead only intensifies the struggle. Must see.

It said English no English audio. If I wanted to read I'd get a book.

Enjoyed the film despite the usual poor dubbing of foreign films that we have to put up with.Beautiful cinematography which does justice to the scenery and lifts the film into a 'Chinese Epic' status. The acting is solid, plot convoluted but if you stick with film it does make sense as you go deeper which made the film worthwhile to watch.If you don't expect this to be a straight martial arts fest it's entertaining with some excellent fight scenes that are really well handled and provide the impetus that drive the story.

Alright I'm biased - I love this film, its one of my all-time favourites.I have many Martial Arts films, although Sci-Fi is my preferred genre, but this one is special.The acting is first class, the storyline is excellent and (as another reviewer mentioned) the cinematography is superlative. Some of the scenery is just breath-taking.The cast is good too, particularly the two main characters although Master An (the main protagonist) provides just the right amount of menace.The fight and battle scenes are also good and no 'wirework' to speak of. Surprisingly, the inclusion of a modicum of 'supernatural' special effects only enhances the film. There is also the odd bit of humour to relieve the tension so, all in all, a wonderful mix of action and adventure.I have this as a DVD but have now upgraded to Blu-Ray and even though I could upscale the former the picture and sound quality is now much improved.

He Ping's Warriors of Heaven and Earth starts off in traditional Eastern epic fashion and with a few similarities to Musa/The Warrior - one of its protagonists is a Japanese noble eager to earn the Emperor of China's permission to return home after 25 years in his service - but it soon develops into something much more satisfying: an all-out Western, and one that's played straight for once. It may be set along China's Silk Road, but the landscape is classic American Western, from pine valleys to buttes that could have come straight out of the smaller corners of Monument Valley. Even the Turks who attack the wagon train - sorry, camel caravan - at Red Rock Gorge do so with Apache war cries.There are some imaginative action scenes, including a neat swordfight between the two protagonists on opposite sides of a log cabin's walls, and the classic Western friendly enemies archetypes transpose surprisingly well to an Eastern setting. It's a shame that the caravan's cargo has supernatural qualities, because the film really doesn't need the fantasy element, but they special effects are at a bare minimum, as is wirework for once. This made little impression at the box-office, but it's well worth tracking down. Great fun.Unlike the UK DVD, which has 7 seconds of censor cuts, this Region 1 NTSC disc is uncut. The 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is superb, with both original Chinese and dubbed English soundtracks available. The extras aren't plentiful - 25-minute making of, music video and brief trailer - but are adequate enough.

He Ping's Warriors of Heaven and Earth starts off in traditional Eastern epic fashion and with a few similarities to Musa/The Warrior - one of its protagonists is a Japanese noble eager to earn the Emperor of China's permission to return home after 25 years in his service - but it soon develops into something much more satisfying: an all-out Western, and one that's played straight for once. It may be set along China's Silk Road, but the landscape is classic American Western, from pine valleys to buttes that could have come straight out of the smaller corners of Monument Valley. Even the Turks who attack the wagon train - sorry, camel caravan - at Red Rock Gorge do so with Apache war cries.There are some imaginative action scenes, including a neat swordfight between the two protagonists on opposite sides of a log cabin's walls, and the classic Western friendly enemies archetypes transpose surprisingly well to an Eastern setting. It's a shame that the caravan's cargo has supernatural qualities, because the film really doesn't need the fantasy element, but they special effects are at a bare minimum, as is wirework for once. This made little impression at the box-office, but it's well worth tracking down. Great fun.There are slight censor cuts totalling 7 seconds in one action sequence, although otherwise the 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is superb, with both original Chinese and dubbed English soundtracks available. The extras aren't plentiful - 25-minute making of, music video and brief trailer - but are adequate enough.

This film is made of lots of scenes made by sphagetti western techniques & cliches, with no coherent plot to support its claimed association with Tang dynastic history, and little story telling. Some computer graphic effects. Mandarin dialogue with poor english subtitles. I can detect no creativity in this film.Views of some of China's desert landscapes is worth seeing as it explains quite a lot about its history in the Tarim basin.My personal preference is 2.5 stars rather than 2 = I don't like it, and 3 = it's OK.