Wu ji - La légende des cavaliers du vent

Most comments for "The Promise", or "Wu Ji", on the IMDb forum are mainly negative. While it's obvious a film that could have been better, it still offers a stunning look that Chen Kaige has given it. It helps he was working with an excellent cinematographer, Peter Pau, who photographed this film with lovingly care. The result are exquisite images that might not mean a lot to the fans of films of this genre, but will delight others, like this viewer, who is not into this type of fantasy film. The music of Klaus Badelt plays well in the context of the movie. The film has some of the fabulous costumes of any film in recent memory.

It's easy to dismiss the film as a total failure. Other, more recent fare is cited as being much better, which could be true. But actually to experience the film as a gorgeous fantasy out of the talented director Chen Kaige's mind is worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, judging by the screening we attended recently, this film has not found an audience.

Dong-Kun-Jang is impressive as Kunlun. Hiroyuki Sanada also does good work as the General Quianming. The gorgeous Cecilia Cheung lends her beauty to her character, Princess Qingcheng.

The director will surely recover from this experience and concentrate on a more worthwhile story for his next venture. Chen Kaige deserves better and he will surely rise from the ashes like the magnificent phoenix he is.

When I was a kid, going to the movies gave me a rush like nothing else, but for the last few years my movie-going experience has been one disappointment after another. "The Promise" was a very rare exception.

I'm not saying this movie is for everybody. It's heavily stylized, and the mythical nature of the story requires a certain suspension of disbelief. BUT, if you crave stimulation for your eyes, your ears, and your imagination, this movie will deliver. The score is incredible, and every frame is stunning, visually. The story is a fairy tale. If you let yourself get lost in it, the experience will be magical. If you spend your time analyzing, breaking down the laws of physics, and worrying whether you're getting all the intended messages, you will most likely come away unsatisfied.

This film could have been very good if only they would have allocated that huge budget to better special effects. The other important thing that needed to be accomplished was to write a much better script.

There was some great visuals in this which hit the spot and were quite pleasing. Some of these scenes can be viewed in the film trailer.

I do not fault the actors for the shortcomings of this film, with the exception that they should have challenged the director more regarding some scenes and dialog which were absolutely stupid. Enough has been said by other reviewers concerning this.

I felt sorry for Cecilia Cheung in the fact that the director Chen Kaige seemed to try his best to make her look like a wax corpse, rather then a beautiful Princess.

This film had a lot of potential, but it got wasted. It is a shame. It is not the worst film in the world, it's just that it could have been really something special.

I challenge you to watch it and make your own conclusion. I am pretty confident you will agree with me after doing so.

I've seen the movie and I liked it very much, even more than "Hero" or "Crouching tiger, hidden dragon" (and they were excellent!). The movie is colorful, the actors are good, the plot is magical and captivating, lots of battle scenes and martial arts.

The one thing that you should keep in mind when you decide to go and watch it, however, is that there's one important difference between "Promise" and "Tiger/Dragon", for example. While the latter was mainly about the martial arts, magical swords and true warriors searching for their destiny and characters' relationship remained peacefully in the background, "the Promise", despite its many combat scenes and stuff like this, is a love story, a fairy tale. Which makes it sort of similar to the "House of flying daggers".

The flaws? Well, I suppose there're some, because nothing is perfect. But, personally, I didn't notice any.

It's a beautiful love story and it's worth watching. There's a right time for everything and there are not many bad movies....

Enjoy it!

The 'promise' of 340 million yuan (Chinese dollar) turns out to be CGI, CGI, CGI. Kind of hard to believe that Kaige Chen would want to make a film like this. Many of Kaige Chen's former fans are probably appalled and disappointed. As for me, I bought the ticket for sheer entertainment, spectacles, and visual delight. Plus I like Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung (and they're finally married, hurray!). I know the plot is weak, but that's fine with me. Just maintain an open mind, and see how 340 million yuan was lavishly spent- the film certainly contains magnificent spectacles, and the costume and makeup are eerie but beautiful. The film is pure fantasy; don't let logic ruin your viewing experience. To appreciate this film, you can't take it too seriously. And don't compare it with previous works of Kaige Chen... just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.