Legend of the Black Scorpion

The movie is a true epic, set in Ancient China during the time of the 10 Kingdoms where areas of the land were restless coming under there own rule ,small kingdoms cropping up often through much blood shed and misery. This tale is an interesting version of a female Hamlet type love story that has its breath taking rises and falls as the story progresses. The costumes,uniforms, and background scenery the colors the padgentry is truly romantic and true to the age as well as the breath taking artistic input, it is simply a must see. The martial arts fighting scenes through-out the film, the flowing rythmic dance moves during the banquet, the tragic empothy you feel in each melody comes together so gracefuly without over shadowing the drive of the tale and feeling true to each scene. The icing to this marvelous mixture is the soul stirring theme song composed by Tan Dun titled "Only For Love", that plays prominently from the last scene through out most of the credits and the stiring vocals in Mandarin is a touch of class as this movie leaves you weeping and awe stricken for the ride you just took. It is incredible. The cast was strong and wholy satisfying in the portayal of the tale. I recommend srongly this movie to all of us who love a great story.Legend of the Black Scorpion

The Good Things:*Actions scenes are pretty darn awesome. They are well-choreographed, have lots of slow-motion, and are quite bloody. Some of it even looks beautiful.*Filming style is good. It has plenty of good camera angles, and has a lot of vivid imagery.*Sets and costumes are very imaginatively designed.*Music is interesting.*Acting is good; characters are interesting, and it is easy to see how they correspond to Shakesphere's "Hamlet," from which the story is derrived.*Even though this is an adaptation of "Hamlet," it is a very different and liberal one. The story and characters stands well on its own.The Bad Things:*A little slow at parts.As with other great modern martial arts films (like "Hero," or "Shinobi"), this one has a very lavish, mesmerizing style and lots of impressive fight scenes. It is not quite Shakesphere, but it is definately artful martial arts. Even the bloody scenes are done with style; Stanley Kubrick would have been jealous. I would definately reccomend this to anybody who likes martial arts.

Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet aka The Legend of the Black Scorpion certainly lives up to its reputation as one of the most beautiful looking films ever made. A spectacular Chinese adaptation of Hamlet filmed on an epic scale with no expense spared and with all the action scenes that Shakespeare forgot to write, it's clearly aiming to be another Hero, with nods to Akira Kurosawa's Japanese samurai Shakespeare films along the way. Although it never quite hits the same highs, it works surprisingly well, with Daniel Wu's Crown Prince brooding over his father's murder by his uncle while his former beloved Ziyi Zhang is consumed by revenge in her desire to kill the new emperor as courtiers plot and intrigue around them. With superb art direction by Tim Yip, excellent cinematography by Li Zhang, striking fight sequences courtesy of Yuen Wo-Ping at his best and a fine score by Tan Dun (Andrew Lloyd Webberish end title song notwithstanding) and filled with colour, light and movement, it's always a treat for the eyes and ears, especially in this 2.35:1 widescreen transfer.

A marvelous expression / Interpretation of Hamlet within the culture of China - concerned with the ideological aspect of Shakespeare and not a word for word translation. Artfully scripted by Gangjian Qiu and directed by Feng Xiaogang (look these guys up if you don't know their work. They put out many worthy works) the movie is a beautiful wedding of Greek, English and Chinese elements. Staged in a theatrical style the presentation is executed at once in a limited view (the stage) and expansive as the stage often explodes in action with players floating around and one time they enter the scene floating on bamboo tree tops as seen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They also display three dimensional movement by floating in and out of view and fighting / flying to the various levels of a multidimensional structure built on a beautiful set.The incorporation of Greek flavor is accommodated by Greek style mask worn by the players in some beautifully executed performance. Their contribution to the films artistry and imaginative makeup is wonderful. The acrobatics performance of the wushu players is done with a visual grace and refinement throughout that should please any fan of wushu theater.The director displays remarkable restraint in maintaining an even, steady purposeful pace throughout the production. I've read that some consider the pace slow at times! I sometimes found the films pace a challenge to my will and my ability to hold my emotions in check so I did not race ahead of the presentation. This excertion of self control created a level of suspense and tension between the film and myself that I very much appreciated as it forced me to match the pace of my emotions with what I saw unfolding before me. A wonderful experience as I was able to see and appreciate the refinement of the players brilliance. Every moment is well done and should be appreciated for the quality on display throughout. For example; I enjoyed the performance of the masked players as so well done I found myself completely drawn into their visually artistic and, I thought, ingenious performances.Singing is an important component in the Chinese traditional theater. The singing in this interpretation is wonderful. Teeg Geer has a vocal ability capable of summoning the spiritual expression of any soul listening to his wonderful interpretation of the play. Of course, this is Shakespeare, and lust and ambition drive several characters to the conclusion which is a who done it killing. You will be well rewarded for the scant price of this blue ray. You may even find yourself watching it several times finding new gems with each viewing, ENJOY