Zhang Yimou's lushly color-coded, RASHOMON-esque historical fable is a beguiling blend of traditional martial arts epic and operatic Western a la Sergio Leone, reworking a much-adapted story set in the second-century B.C., about the emperor who unified China's seven warring kingdoms and the assassins who conspired to dethrone him, into a sumptuous spectacle as tightly choreographed as a classical ballet. Told in a framing story and four flashbacks, it begins as a nameless warrior (Jet Li) relates to the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (Chen Daoming) the circumstances under which he, an unknown prefect from insignificant Leng Meng county, killed three legendary martial artists ...
Released:
2002
Rated:
PG-13
Length:
96 mins