Cheap The Legend of Zu (DVD) (Ekin Cheng, Louis Koo, Ziyi Zhang) (Hark Tsui) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Legend of Zu

Sounds good, looks good, pity about the convoluted plot.
Tsui Hark's 1983 special effects extravaganza, "Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain", was one of my all time favorite Chinese swords and sorcery movies. Using Hollywood-style special effects not seen before in Chinese cinema, "Zu: Warriors" broke new ground and created a new generation of Tsui Hark fans. Tsui would go on to create other Chinese movie classics such as the "A Chinese Ghost Story", "Swordsman" and "Once Upon A Time In China" series. So it was with great excitement that I greeted the news in 2000 that Tsui was in the process of remaking his 1983 classic for release in 2001. However, I must admit that I was absolutely disappointed when I finally got to watch "Legend of Zu" on the big screen in the summer of 2001. The plot of "Legend" is totally convoluted - it seemed Tsui was more interested in stretching the limits of what he can do with computer generated special effects than in telling a good yarn. And don't get me wrong - the special effects are mind-boggling for a Chinese movie and look fantastic on the big screen. The sheer imaginative scale of the visuals created by Tsui's special effects team is amazing - the magical Zu mountain range is innovatively presented as a series of upside-down islands floating on top of mountain peaks - words cannot quite describe the scene, you have to see it on the big screen to feel the magic Tsui has created. As most Chinese folk will tell you, the mythology of the Chinese swords and sorcery genre is full of gods, demons, superhuman powers and fantastic weapons, and "Legend" delivers all these in spades - so much so non-Chinese may be overwhelmed by seemingly nonsensical superhuman feats that make Superman's powers look like child's play. The sound effects complement the visual effects well, making "Legend" one of the best sounding Chinese movies I've seen in a long while. The Hong Kong version of the DVD that I recently bought includes a DTS soundtrack, which sounds absolutely perfect on my surround sound home theatre system. But stunning visuals and great sound do not a good movie make. While the lead actors (Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung, Louis Koo and Zhang Ziyi - all great looking and talented young actors) make valiant efforts to flesh out their characters, the script's frenetic pace simply lets them down. It took me at least two viewings to grasp all of the important plot points and to understand what the story was all about. Too many special effects and not enough story telling made the whole movie look like a computer game. Three stars from me and would someone restrain Tsui the next time he shows signs of going over the top?

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Hard to Follow but Visually Stunning
This movie's plot is a bit hard to follow (or pay attention to ) but the action and effects are absolutely incredible! I bought this movie because I absolutely loved Storm Riders and was hoping this would be as good if not better. You are better off renting it if possible.

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Nice to Look At, but Utterly Empty
This is a great film -- if you're 10 years old, that is. If you happen to be older than 10, you'll find the story lacking, the visual effects overly done to the point of being gratutious, and the action to be horribly unreal. Hong Kong movies have recently deferred to these CGI spectacles in recent years, with actors covered in a sea of CGI, wireworks, and such elaborate special effects that they don't need to know actual martial arts. The result? A standard Hollywood movie on par with anything Keanu Reeves has done. To wit: Nice to look at, but utterly empty.

Note: To the previous reviewer who claims to know so much about Asian/Hong Kong movies -- You don't have a true understand of Asian films, my friend. Your rant is based on anti-American bias and blind devotion to Hong Kong films. The Hong Kong film industry is like any other industry, if not worst -- when they see something that makes money, expect 100 more exactly like it in the next couple of months. Only in Hong Kong could two -- count them, TWO -- sequels could show up in the same year to a successful movie in the PREVIOUS year. Say what you will about Hollywood's output, but they ARE the pioneers of moviemaking. All of the CGI and effects in LEGEND OF ZU were tossed around a zillion Hollywood movies for YEARS before they ever made it to Hong Kong. To say that ALL Hollywood movies are born out of Hong Kong/Asia is to simply show your ignorance and blind devotion to all things Asian, and negativity towards all things American.

My grade: 2 out of 5.