Legend of Zu

[hkopinions]

I dont get the part where LOuis heals the demon-girls wing...Is he suppose to be in love with her and thats why he didnt kill her when she left the Blood cave? Anyone who understand the story--explain about the demon--girl and Louis being taken control of.

[PJ]

To me, he felt sorry for the helpless "girl" (ehmm) and tried to help her.

[chungieboy]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="80%" bgcolor="#dcdcdc" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee"><font size="1">Originally posted by PJ:
<STRONG>To me, he felt sorry for the helpless "girl" (ehmm) and tried to help her.</STRONG></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would agree to that. Red was a good guy, and being one of the higher disciples of the Omei sect(?), he would probably have a brotherly affection towards everyone. And that was from the kindness of his heart.

[Ian Liew]

I believe Louis just felt sorry for the poor helpless-looking thing, who I think was named Amnesia. He was ordered to guard the cave, and to destroy anything which came out, and Amnesia did. He lashed out at her and she got completely thrashed, but then she looked so helpless and pathetic that Louis probably felt a bit bad about hitting such a small little fairy, especially since she didn't do anything to hurt him in the first place - he attacked her. So, being a heroic type, he decided to be nice and heal her (ignoring his sifu's orders), and she sort of hung around with him like a groupie, keeping him company through his lonely vigil. Later, when Insomnia (the big demon) awakes, and Amnesia gets dragged into the cave, and after spending so much time with her Louis had already treated her as a friend, and goes in to save her, and of course, he get betrayed. His teacher did say to kill anything which came out, and Amnesia, for all her cute looks, was a demon, and he got possessed when his guard was down. If I were in his position I'd find it hard to kill a cute little fairy like Amnesia as well, though.

The bit about Cecilia was a bit more confusing. Apparently Cecilia used to be the head of the Kunlun sect, but once she passed her weapon to Ekin she got attacked and destroyed by Insomnia, who was waiting for the chance to attack her when she was defenceless. Samo, the head of Ermei, recovered her essence, and somehow formed it into a new person, who he trained as the wielder of the purple sword. Apparently the wielders of the purple and green swords can be reborn when killed as the power of the swords sort of create new hosts (perhaps the old purple sword died and Samo used Cecilia's essence to remake the new purple sword). When green sword dies we see that a new green sword is reborn and eventually gets to wield it, and when Cecilia dies a second time a new girl takes over the purple sword. It's all very airy-fairy, but at least there's some semblance of a plot. It's not a particularly good plot, but there is one somewhere.

It was quite a special-effects extravaganze, but I believe it was done fairly well. At least there wasa lot of creativity involved with Ekin and Louis' weapons, rather than the standard sword/dao (even though Louis was ripped of the X-Men's Deathangel). Even the Purple and Green Swords were not basic swords, but the purple sword took on a slow ribbon/dancer's sash effect, while the green sword was fast, straight, and flashy. The effects don't save the plot, but they do make for some entertaining watching.

I'm personally annoyed that they chose to kill Cecilia at the end. It seemed absolutely pointless to do so other than to make Ekin a lonely, single, cool wanderer kind of person. They had virtually defeated Insomnia, and for some stupid reason Cecilia decides to enter Insomnia and hold him while Ekin stabs at him - suddenly creating some arbitrary reason that Insomnia would escape if a mortal shell didn't hold him in. I'm a sucker for good endings, and had Cecilia ended up with Ekin I'd have rated it a 3.5, and as it is I rate it a 1. =P Apparently this time Cecilia was gone for good - the purple sword spawned a new wielder but it wasn't Cecilia. I hate sad endings.


Ian

[hkopinions]

I guess. Didnt the Amnesia try to kiss him--is that why she betrayed him after he brushed her off?

In the entire movie, the sadest part would be Red's death. He was a model disciple, friend, heroic, and compassionate. Ekin on the other hand, was stone cold and lacked emotions. The part where Louis kept repeating "kill me, kill me" something like "you cant save me because my soul is too weak to return to my body and my body is back in the blood cave." So sad. Ekin didnt show that much emotions when he killed Louis.

Louis' death put a bummer to the movie. I agree that they shouldnt have killed off Cecilia. Although Ekin smiled at the new girl who was born of Cecilia. Another down side was Zhang ZiYi's role---so minor. Is she in love with Cecilia's big brother?

[chungieboy]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><table border="0" width="80%" bgcolor="#dcdcdc" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"><tr><td width="100%"><table border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" bgcolor="#DCDCDC"><tr><td width="100%" bgcolor="#eeeeee"><font size="1">Originally posted by Ian Liew:
<STRONG>The bit about Cecilia was a bit more confusing. Apparently Cecilia used to be the head of the Kunlun sect, but once she passed her weapon to Ekin she got attacked and destroyed by Insomnia, who was waiting for the chance to attack her when she was defenceless. Samo, the head of Ermei, recovered her essence, and somehow formed it into a new person, who he trained as the wielder of the purple sword. Apparently the wielders of the purple and green swords can be reborn when killed as the power of the swords sort of create new hosts (perhaps the old purple sword died and Samo used Cecilia's essence to remake the new purple sword). When green sword dies we see that a new green sword is reborn and eventually gets to wield it, and when Cecilia dies a second time a new girl takes over the purple sword. It's all very airy-fairy, but at least there's some semblance of a plot. It's not a particularly good plot, but there is one somewhere.

Even the Purple and Green Swords were not basic swords, but the purple sword took on a slow ribbon/dancer's sash effect, while the green sword was fast, straight, and flashy. The effects don't save the plot, but they do make for some entertaining watching.

I'm personally annoyed that they chose to kill Cecilia at the end. It seemed absolutely pointless to do so other than to make Ekin a lonely, single, cool wanderer kind of person. They had virtually defeated Insomnia, and for some stupid reason Cecilia decides to enter Insomnia and hold him while Ekin stabs at him - suddenly creating some arbitrary reason that Insomnia would escape if a mortal shell didn't hold him in. I'm a sucker for good endings, and had Cecilia ended up with Ekin I'd have rated it a 3.5, and as it is I rate it a 1. =P Apparently this time Cecilia was gone for good - the purple sword spawned a new wielder but it wasn't Cecilia. I hate sad endings.

Ian</STRONG></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE>

First, the purple and green swords are known as the Heaven Sword, and the Thunder Sabre, if I remembered correctly. The heaven sword consisted of three energy beams, which took the form of smokes.

And I don't think the ending is that sad, because the girl that was Cecila reincarnated, is still young (notice the same hairstyle), so I think that as she matures, she will look like Cecilia before. And well, King Sky can do other stuff while waiting for her to mature now.

As for the part where Dawn (King Sky's sifu/lover), gets destroyed, I thought it to be particularly weak, because she was just sitting by those statues, and then hears something coming. But once she stood up, Insomnia just broke through her, which is still extremely sad.

[chungieboy]

So they're trying to make her seem important and all, but her character was pretty much useless.

[chungieboy]

Here's some pic of Zu

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.arkania.org/~makako/zonaasia/data/media/18/zu800.jpg')

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.arkania.org/~makako/zonaasia/data/media/18/zu2800.jpg')

[Southern Crane]

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/laugh.gif')

I don't know if I would agree that her character was useless. I just don't think Miramax had enough material to make Joy the central character they wanted in their version...

I think I read somewhere they wanted the story narrated from her perspective too, which seems impossible imo. The result probably made the film even less understandable than it already was, which is why I think the test screening failed. Besides, it's pretty clear that Tsui Hark wanted King Sky to be the central character in this film. No matter the character, any attempt to deviate from that imo just wouldn't have worked.


Cool wallpaper! $this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/smokin.gif')

[Dagger Lee]

I don't like it that much though Ekin is in it. It relies too much on the special effects and is kind of confusing. I liked The Storm Riders a lot more. Does anyone agree or not?

[Metamorphosis]

I prefer Storm Riders but I also like Zu, the mirror match between King Sky v himself and Red v himself was well done (That set of metal wings rocked!)

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Originally posted by Dagger Lee
I don't like it that much though Ekin is in it. It relies too much on the special effects and is kind of confusing. I liked The Storm Riders a lot more. Does anyone agree or not?

Yeap.

[James Ko]

I thought the reason Tsui Hark is not directing any films is he is tire of it

Look below that is a lot of film and some are really bad but some of them are classics...

The Butterfly Murders (1979)[director]
Dangerous Encounter of the 1st Kind (1980)[actor][writer/director]
We are Going to Eat You (1980)[director]
All the Wrong Clues (1981)[director]
Chasing Girls (1981)[actor]
Aces Go Places (1982)[actor]
It Takes Two (1982)[actor]
Aces Go Places 2 (1983)[actor]
All the Wrong Spies (1983)[actor]
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (1983)[cameo]
Zu: The Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)[actor][director]
Aces Go Places 3 (1984)[actor][director]
Shanghai Blues (1984)[director]
Working Class (1985)[actor][director]
Yes Madam! (1985)[actor]
A Better Tomorrow (1986)[producer]
Happy Ghost 3 (1986)[actor]
Peking Opera Blues (1986)[director/producer]
A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987)[writer/producer]
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)[producer]
Final Victory (1987)[actor]
Just Heroes (1989)[producer]
The Big Heat (1988)[producer]
Gunmen (1988)[producer]
I Love Maria (1988)[actor][producer]
A Better Tomorrow 3 (1989)[director/producer]
Web of Deception (1989)[producer]
The Killer (1989)[producer]
A Terracotta Warrior (1989)[producer]
A Chinese Ghost Story 2 (1990)[producer]
Spy Games (1990)[producer]
Swordsman (1990)[co-director/producer]
The Banquet (1991)[writer/director]
A Chinese Ghost Story 3 (1991)[writer/producer]
Once Upon a Time in China (1991)[writer/producer/director]
The Raid (1991)[writer/producer]
Swordsman 2 (1992)[writer/producer]
Dragon Inn (1992)[writer/producer]
King Of Chess (1992)[director/producer]
The Master (1992)[director/producer]
Once Upon a Time in China 2 (1992)[writer/producer/director]
Twin Dragons (1992)[actor][writer/director]
The Wicked City (1992)[writer/producer]
Green Snake (1993)[writer/producer/director]
Iron Monkey (1993)[writer/producer]
The Magic Crane (1993)[writer/producer]
Once Upon a Time in China 3 (1993)[writer/producer/director]
Swordsman 3: The East Is Red (1993)[writer/producer]
Burning Paradise (1994)[producer]
The Lovers (1994)[writer/director]
Once Upon a Time in China 4 (1994)[writer/producer]
Once Upon a Time in China 5 (1994)[writer/director]
The Blade (1995)[writer/producer/director]
The Chinese Feast (1995)[writer/producer/director]
Love in the Time of Twilight (1995)[writer/producer/director]
Black Mask (1996)[writer/producer]
Shanghai Grand (1996)[producer]
Tri-Star (1996)[writer/director]
A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997)[voice][writer/producer]
Double Team (USA 1997)[director]
Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997)[producer]
Knock Off (USA 1998)[director]
Time and Tide (2000)[writer/producer/director]
The Legend of Zu (2001)[writer/producer/director]
Master Q 2001 (2001)[writer/producer]
Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters (2002)[writer/producer]
Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002)[writer/producer/director]
Xanda (2003)[writer/producer]

[Eliar Swiftfire]

None of the Tsui Hark movies that came out after 2000 were considered hits (commercially or critically). The guy's way past his prime. But look at the bright side, he has Ringo Lam and John Woo to join him.

[James Ko]

Was that Ringo lam the one in the New Journey to the West where he play Dicky (monkey king)'s heaven assistance (the horse stable guy)?

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Oh my god. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ringo Lam's a director! The one behind such classics like Prison on Fire, City on Fire, Full Alert etc.

[Floo..]

I split thread in REVIEW. Pls talk abt this movie here (and came back to Review if you wanna disagree w/ the reviewer )

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Oh. Cool.

[James Ko]

I like this movie... although lots don't but is nice to see wuxia and fantasy mix in one and is really neato.

I wish the series was longer and there was a sequal... and I still can't find the connection between the original except for long bows and the world...

[Eliar Swiftfire]

Isn't this supposed to be a remake?

But anyway, yeah, I freaking despise this movie. I mean, yeah, Wuxia and special effects mixed into one, big deal, if every single movie out there with Wuxia and special effects mixed into one are great stuff, all HK film awards should be dedicated to them only.