Wächter über Himmel und Erde

Warriors of Heaven and Earth is a decently made movie with some good plot developments.

The fighting scenes. All of the fighting scenes were done relatively well, being more towards the real side of battle, instead of the fighting scenes from the other big names (Hero, House of Flying Daggers). My only complaint with the action scenes, is that nobody is affected by the death of their comrades. I understand you cannot stop fighting unless you want to join your brother in heaven, but they all took their deaths as the grim reality. I suppose in a way, it is more realistic (we're all going to die anyway, maybe he was lucky to get to heaven sooner). The camera work and plot however did do an excellent job of making you feel sorrowful when a character died.

The romance. Wait, excuse me, romance? Vicky Zhou? What?

This point nearly ruined the movie for me until I got back into the mindset of hey, there are good fight scenes, let's enjoy them. Vicky Zhou's character is completely extraneous and was a waste. Although her voice is nice as the narrator of the story, and she still has a pretty face, she was utterly useless. Not only did she not fight (unless you call the one to two minute scene in the end "fighting"), she had about 10-15 minutes of full, on-camera footage - mostly devoted to questioning Li's criminal activities.

Overall. Lai Qi (Kiichi Nakai) and Li Zai (Wen Jiang) carry the entire movie. It's interesting that Jiang is not in the credited cast as he probably had the most screen time in the entire movie.

Should you see it? There are a couple things to take into account. 1) If you're not used to HK films, this isn't a good one to start with, unless you abhor the Chinese humor in older less epic films 2) It will probably make you depressed. Maybe it's just me... What else has made me depressed you might ask? Let's see: So Close, Hero, House of Flying Daggers...

I give it a 7 out of 10. I had hoped for something slightly better, but then again, it was realistic and the final battle scene reminded me of what the LOTR battle for Helm's Deep would have been if the good guys hadn't all survived -- Classic.

Everything that makes for a great Action Adventure film can be found in Warriors of Heaven and Earth.

Chemistry between actors, excellent music, directing and cinematography, and a good story combine with some decent action sequences to make this tale of warriors a memorable one.

Fans of Gladiator, The Four Feathers, or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

should enjoy this. Solid if understated special effects and and some excellent dramatic moments with a few surprises along the way make Warriors of Heaven and Earth a beautiful experience to behold.

As for Sound if you Can't see it in theatres... at least try to see it with an AC3 or THX/Dolby Surround System the sound and music is worth it!

If 100 is perfection this gets a solid 90.

This is not a Kung Fu action movie, so those looking for fight scenes will be disappointed. It is a thrilling story of two warrior knights acting under their own sense of honor and called to action in circumstances beyond their control, against the backdrop of the turbulent and multi-cultural Silk Road. China being the vast country it is has birthed many such thrilling adventures of wandering warriors, itinerant mercenaries, Buddhist monks and pretty maidens. Think of romance or adventure novels based on the Middle Ages! The thrill of the story is to watch the two warriors meeting, one supposedly as the imperial agent sent to eliminate the renegade and intent on his mission, the other as the free agent warrior trying to live a life according to his own personal code of honor. When the two of them unite to fight hordes of greedy bandits, we see hand to hand combat, pursuits on horseback and sieges of a fort.

The unusual angles in this movie, for most movie goers, comes from the time and place: the warriors are from 700 A.D, a T'ang Dynasty era. The location is in the far western reaches of China and the locales are not traditionally "Chinese". The landscapes change from mountainous to woodsy to desert. There are thrilling scenes of camel caravans and desert towns and forts. The protagonists wear battle gear and the long hair of that period, which remind me vividly of French and English knights and crusaders of that era! The final siege of the desert fort reminds of the male warrior bonding in desperado scenes like in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"; or the "Alamo"; or the "Three Musketeers".

The Buddhist relic transported by the caravan reminds me of the Catholic relics from dead saints found in many mystery or adventure stories based on the Middle Ages. The finale reminds me of the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark" when the bad guys seem to be on the edge of acquiring the treasure, only to be annihilated, leaving some of the good guys to move on...

It is great entertainment and gives one yet another view of the Chinese culture about warriors of its complex past.

This movie is the story of an Imperial Agent sent to bring to justice a murderer, his final mission before he is allowed to go home to his family in Japan. The murderer, a former army officer accused of mutiny when he refused to kill a group of women and children. The movie is the tale of their trek across the desert fighting against each other and with each other. The dialog was great, short and delivered impeccably by an incredible cast of characters. It has been a long while since I have seen such thoughtful, dramatic acting. The movie is shot mostly in the desert but it is all done beautifully and with exactly the right tone and feel. I enjoyed the period costumes and the fight scenes were extremely well choreographed. It is seldom that I watch a hollywood movie and come away feeling satisfied, I can only hope that Asia continues to pump out incredible movies like this one and that Hollywood will wise up and stop trying to feed me drivel like the Last Samurai.

I knew nothing of this movie before I watched it.

I wish people would stop comparing every single Asian film to CTHD. The film is not trying to be CTHD or better it. It is trying to be something different from the wire-fu extravaganzas that are coming out of China.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this film. Certainly one of the better Asian films to be released in recent years. It's not perfect but I found it to be entertaining and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates simple adventure yarns. The story is simple but why should stories be complex to be good? The best stories are often simple ones.

Go and see it but don't expect a wire-fu spectacle and you won't be disappointed.