La Légende de l'aigle chasseur de héros

This is one of the wildest, most confusing and most enjoyable films I have seen in awhile. There are 6 or 7 plotlines (I think) and I couldn't even keep straight who was male and who was female much less what their story was. Granted I can't speak cantonese and I don't get a lot of the cultural references but I think even if I was Chinese I would have a hard time figuring out what the heck is going on.

But ultimately it doesn't matter! If you like HK epic costume/swordfighting/kung fu period pieces, then don't miss this. There are love triangles/quadrangles/pentangles, guys running around in gorilla suits, centipedes crawling around in people's stomaches. They put everything they could think of in this one. I particularly like the announcement of all the ridiculous "techniques". (try and guess what move "monkey stealing peaches" is)

If that doesn't convince you, Bridgette Lin AND Maggie Cheung. Just turn your brain off and watch.

It should be well established that Hong Kong's martial arts movies are usually excuses to show off a series of stunts and gags. Always enjoyable. However, I don't know if any of these movies has been as over-the-top as Jeffrey Lau's "Se diu ying hung: Dung sing sai jau" ("The Eagle Shooting Heroes" in English). This is truly one of the wackiest, insanest movies that I've ever sat through. In addition to the stunts, it simply has the most bonkers plot ever. They just throw in one thing after another. Seriously, it's like they mixed Looney Tunes cartoons with Chinese mythology, and then went with a throw-anything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks plot.

And I loved every second of it. Movies like this are what makes life worth living. I'll have to see more of Lau's movies. I hope that they're as fun as this one.

Wang Kar Wai Present's...it's absurdly funny, especially after just having watched "Chungking Express" and "In The Mood For Love", because a lot of the same actors, are here at their most ridiculously over the top.

The first scene, is like Kill Bill on a Bollywood stage, and one of the best fight sequences, anywhere in general. Outside of the lightning fast camera moves, and garish bright colors oozing with 70's Kung Fu Fantasy nostalgia, there's a very Stephen Chow type rhythm kept between slapstick gags and zany skits, and flying feet and fists.

The movie does slow down a bit, as it starts mixing together a diverse array of characters and stories, a prince trying to achieve immortality by meeting his true love, a ruthless villain who can't kill a suicide beggar, as a favor, no matter how much the beggar begs, without injuring himself , a cross dressing Kung Fu master determined to avenge her lover or find someone with suitable "pecks" to substitute, and then there's a an ape and a dinosaur in a cave (the worst movie monsters since Ed Wood), which are there because....

It's fun, and immaculately casted. But a bit of a drag of times. It's hard not to smile at the silliness of it all though. Still, Wang Kar Wai and his crazy friends, are alright by me.

It's a rainbow Sake shot of Hong Kong screwball fury, with flying boots and invincible killer bees.

This movie has gone cult classic. it was filmed at the same time as another movie. Same actors. Same Costumes. This one was just done for fun. the other movie(the name escapes me), was supposed to be this HUGE hit(like Men In Black by today's standards) and it flopped majorly! but this movie lives on. go fig.

Fast in pace and rich in adventures, extravagance, color and music, "Eagle Shooting Heroes" adopts the same characters of "Ashes of Time" but, unlike Kar-Wai's epic movie, here they stand on the screen with the sole purpose of entertaining... and they fully succeed!

The movie can be roughly divided into 3 parts: in the first part, which takes place over a wide landscape, we get to meet the 9 (!) protagonists one by one, and learn about their quest (it can be love, world domination, revenge or achieving nirvana). Lin Ching Hsia and Chiu-Wai in particular shine and deliver the first ferocious confrontation of the movie, by showing us two terrific kung-fu moves: the "Sea can't be Measured" and the "Toad Shen-Kong".

Once we have met all the characters, the second part gathers them together in the enclosed space of an inn, so we see them interact. Hysterically funny is Joey Wang, who may be Leslie Cheung's sweetheart, but apart from that bears very little that can be referred to as sweet. Highly entertaining are also Ka-Fai and Jacky Cheung, who try to win the resistance of their loved ones with their musical talent.

Finally, the third part shows the ultimate confrontation. The ending may actually be the only flaw of the movie, and I personally agree with the character interpreted by Leslie Cheung, who at one point states "too ridiculous!".

However, apart from the bizarre ending, this is an excellent movie... but be prepared for many surprises! And if you thought the cross-dressing of Ranma and Final Fantasy VII are extreme, be ready to change your rankings, as far as extravagance is concerned! 9/10

PS: The DVD (from Ah-Mei) allows selection of Mandarin or Cantonese language (with English/Chinese subtitles burned on the movie), but other than that, no extra feature is included at all.