World Famous Comics: Curse of the Golden Flower [Blu-ray]
Curse of the Golden Flower [Blu-ray]
Starring: Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Liu Ye, Ni Dahong Directed By: Zhang Yimou Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: Blu-ray Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen Label: Sony Pictures Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: May 29, 2007 Running Time: 114 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 12, 2007
Product Description: Sony Pictures Curse Of The Golden Flower (Blu-ray) From the director of "Hero" and "House Of Flying Daggers" comes the martial arts epic masterpiece whose savagebeauty and exquisite elegance has mesmerized and captivated audiences around the world. Set in the lavish and breathtakingly colorful world hidden from the eyes of mere mortals behind the walls of the Forbidden City, a tale of a royal family dividedagainst itself builds to a mythic climax as linesare crossed, trust is betrayed, and family blood is spilled in the quest for redemption and revenge. Starring Chow Yun Fat of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as the embattled Emperor and Gong Li of "Memoirs Of A Geisha" as his poisoned Empress, "Curse Of The Golden Flower" grants you entry into a dazzling and spectacular world of betrayal, vengeance and passion that will change the way you thinkof martial arts forever.
Amazon.com: Curse of the Golden Flower, a fictionalized historical glimpse into the brutally complicated politics of Emperor Ping's (Chow Yun Fat) reign during the Tang Dynasty, shows the viewer just how far a megalomaniac must go to gain and retain power in medieval China. Lavish sets, massive ceremonial displays, and perversely fascinating battle scenes impress similarly to the special effects Americans have come to love and expect from Chinese action films like Zhang Yimou's previous House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. An intricate plot involving the Emperor's wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li) and their three sons, Crown Prince Xiang, Prince Jie, and Prince Cheng, most closely follows the Empress's secret plan to force abdication upon her corrupt husband as revenge for his slowly poisoning her with Black Fungus tea. Opening on the eve of the Chysanthemum Festival, 928 A.D., the Empress obsessively embroiders gold chysanthemums to adorn her army's uniforms while hatching plans with Jai to overthrow the Crown Prince for control of the throne. Meanwhile, a side plot develops as the Emperor's ex-wife and mother to Crown Prince Yu reemerges as Yu's lover. By the time the Festival occurs, family members are pitted against each other in a King Lear-ian web of lies that can only result in demise. The most sophisticated narrative aspect of Curse of the Golden Flower is that as the royal family crumbles, the Emperor's death grip on China remains unwavering. Gorgeous scenes set in the palace and costume design displaying China's upper class decadence cannot fail to entertain. The paradox between good and evil, here, is highlighted by how the Emperor successfully rules despite, and because of, his utter cruelty. --Trinie Dalton
Incest from Historical Perspective A Beijing-2008 opening/closing ceremonies look bleak comparing with epic actions this work presents, and 300 (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD], computer-assembled digitally-mastered blood-thirsty action is a children tale-look either.
This is intriguing complex drama of historical family affairs not to miss for knowing nothing of Chinese history especially.
A lauriat for the senses Curse of The Golden Flower, despite a few flaws, deserves a place in your DVD collection for its visual style alone. The story is a tad soap opera-ish, with royal family members squabbling over the Imperial throne, shifting alliances and motives. The first part starts slowly but picks up when the Empress decides to not keep her motives a secret. For the action fans, there are some truly exhilarating ninja scenes and a huge battle sequence. Although some CGI work are obvious, the art direction is unmatched. Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, along with the other actors portray their roles with restrained intensity, so effective that even though you'll know what's going to happen, (especially the relation of the 1st son and the daughter of the doctor), which is a flaw of scripting, you still feel the full brunt of the emotion. Still, it's a keeper.
Colors are amazing Great Colors, Beautiful picture quality. All-in-All a decent film.
Worth having in your collection if you are a drama/kung-fu junky.
Not as much fighting as i wanted, but the drama did keep me guessing till the end.
Agree with a few of the criticisms, but still very much liked this movie! I can agree with a few of the criticisms offered by other Amazon reviewers. The drama was a bit overblown at times, and the start of the movie was a tiny bit slow. The end was an unholy slaughter and didn't leave off on a good / satisfying note.
That aside, the movie was beautiful. The sets were colorful, the costuming was over-the-top, but I rather liked it. This is not a "happy story." It's a drama about internal politics, deceit, back-stabbing, betrayal, and a little bit of good martial arts thrown in for good measure.
Having just come off watching Butterfly Sword and Warriors of Heaven and Earth, neither of which I cared for much, this movie was a welcome relief.
It was more in the artistic style of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Iron Monkey, all of which I enjoyed very much (Flying Daggers slightly less than the other 3).
So, if you like this movie, you'll probably like the 4 mentioned above. Or if you liked any of those 4, there's a good chance you may like this one too. Granted, the end of this one is quite bloody and doesn't end happily like some of the others. Won't say much more than that so as not to "spoil" anything.
It was beautiful to watch, but a bit too over the top with drama We loved to watch the cinamatography was amazing, one of the best I have seen in some time, worth watching, just a bit soap opera-ish. I love Asian artistic movies and this is a touch more dramatic. A bit bloody, but over fun to watch.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
![Curse of the Golden Flower [Blu-ray]](http://www.worldfamouscomics.com/shopping/largeimage/?back=B000MRA59C&image=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MFcaK563L.jpg&title=Curse+of+the+Golden+Flower+%5BBlu-ray%5D)
