Les guerriers de l'Empire céleste

Warriors of heaven and earth

This is an excellent film. While I do not personally think it is as good as Hero I can see why the film commission in China choose this film as it's official selection. This film is somewhere in between the magic and fantasy of Hero and brutal realism of MUSA. The Wire-fu is kept to a minimum only used to slightly punctuate certain scenes. There is a element of fantasy but it does not make it'self apparent in every frame of the film.

The acting was good, the battles were pretty good. Personally however if you had not seen either and were thinking about a film to buy I would suggest MUSA. The most major complaint I had with this film was the costumes some times looked a little corny.

One last thing…While the marketing department tried to sell the lead female role as a woman warrior empowered much like the characters of Crouching tiger or Hero don't buy it. She is window dressing and while her characters has awesome dramatic and story potential is mostly wasted.

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.

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.

This film was a really great surprise.

The characters were a lot of fun without being goofy or two-dimensional, and the story was complicated enough to be interesting without being overwrought and confusing. The locations were beautiful, and the costuming was great, too. The action was practically non-stop -- lots of chases and sword fights. It didn't have any of the hokey mysticism that so often appears in films like this (although there was a lot of acrobatic swordplay), opting instead for a grittier approach (with a notable exception or two).

Definitely worth seeing.

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.