Hero
Rating: PG-13
Director: Yimou Zhang
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video
If you missed this movie in the theater, you owe it to yourself to rent or buy it. This visually appealing story of a nameless Chinese warrior who defeats some of the greatest assassins in the land in an effort to protect the ruler from certain death is one of Jet Li's finest performances. Qin, the ruler, invites the warrior to his palace after hearing of the great conquests, subsequently relaying his own interpretation of events leading up to the death of each assassin. The story is retold through a series of flashbacks portrayed differently by both the hero and the ruler. Gorgeous visualization comes into play as each flashback is drenched in a specific color to articulate the shifting mood of the story. The DVD version of the movie offers a conversation with Quentin Tarantino (who brought the film to the United States) and Jet Li, which is one of the more interesting special features on the disk. The movie is offered in Mandarin, with English and French dubbed tracks. Cinematic quality is on par with both House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.