warlokc

The scope, depth, and attention to detail of this 10 episode miniseries are awe inspiring. Though they share some big name producers, Band of Brothers makes Saving Private Ryan look like a cartoon. The story is compelling and accessible, yet it demands the viewer's active attention, and every episode rewards repeated viewing. Despite the enormous cast, acting is consistently of the highest quality. BoB is so good that you may forget that you already know how WWII comes out. In every scene, you see what's happening as the soldiers themselves saw it. BoB recalls the grandeur of WWII movies made in the 50's and 60's, yet it focuses unflinchingly on the price paid by the soldier, including the intense psychological damage done by combat. By the end, you may have slightly different definitions of valor and courage. An achievement; a demonstration of what can be done in the medium of television; absolutely not to be missed.

This is where it all went wrong -way before the lame modern films. Return of the Jedi was lousy in almost every way a movie can be lousy. How did the following "ideas" not get thrown out on day one? -Have a climactic saber battle between Luke and Darth Vadar so someone can get their hand chopped off again. -Build a new deathstar so we can blow it up again. -Reveal that one of the good-guys is the child of one of the bad guys again.

The script is awful, the directing is awful, the score is a witless mish-mash of the first two movies, Mark Hamil couldn't act, Harrison Ford had long since forgotten the difference between the Han Solo and Indiana Jones... I could go on and on but I don't want to think about it anymore. God, it was just... awful!

This is not a movie about fighting; it is a movie about values, honor, and sacrifice. We see tremendous sacrifice from nearly every character as they journey closer and closer to realizing perfection in their martial arts. Ultimately this journey, and the movie itself, transcend martial arts, and we are left with souls grappling with the question of what, truly, is the highest possible of ideals.

The conclusion that Hero draws may not be fully understood by western audiences, but that only underscores the essential Chinese-ness of this movie.

This is the most breathtakingly beautiful movie I have ever seen, and no movie without Zhang Ziyi in it will ever be able to rival it. In addition to the sublime beauty of miss Zhang, the landscape, the colors, and the imagery are all dazzling.

This movie is flawless in form and structure, order and symmetry, beauty and correctness. This movie gets a 10 -if only to prove, as the movie itself seems to posit, that perfection is humanly attainable.