Curse of the Golden Flower is gorgeous

[vercity]

Wondering if the transfer is a good one watched the dvd and enjoyed this film

[bluflu]

The Blu-ray release doesn't come out for another two weeks. The preview on the Blu-ray disc Volver looked pretty good.

[Gremal]

The film is really well done except it was depressing, cold and there was no character to relate to...gimme something!

It's Sony...you can bet the transfer will be immaculate.

[Shadowself]

Originally Posted by Gremal

The film is really well done except it was depressing, cold and there was no character to relate to...gimme something!

Oriental theatre often does not comply with typical occidental concepts of a strong leading character (hero or protagonist) or verifiable good guys and bad guys. Often it is about the interplay of the gray areas. This movie fits that style.

It's definitely not for everyone -- thought the imagery is quite impressive. Many areas remind me of Hero.

[goodstuff]

I've seen a few of the "wuxia" (is that correct?) movies, but the only one I can say I really enjoyed was Crouching Tiger. If I loved that would I like Golden Flower enough for a blind buy?

[Sir Terrence]

I really did like this movie alot. In a two weekend span, I saw this move, and Pans laybrinth. I was in foreign film heaven, a place I have never been before.

[DavePS3]

I thought the movie was more of a drama than an action flick. It's much to do with the interplay between thr royal family - the deceit etc. There ARE some well executed battle scenes which are fairly bloody but the bulk of the film is a drama. The action that IS there is more swordplay between groups or armies than one on one kung-fu stuff. I liked it but I thought it left a few unanswered questions. The exterior shots are spectacular but the bulk of the film takes place in the palace.

[vercity]

I just asking as moviethyme website have this in stock £12.99 was thinking of ordering it but have the dvd so was thinking is it worth it

[Gremal]

I took issue with the fight scenes similar to the rest of the movie. It seemed cold and lifeless. You had ninja fighters repelling seemingly out of the sky...you never see where their ropes come from. Too much of the fighting was CGI. I recognized the artistry of the film maker, but it was like he was trying to be epic on the scale of Return of the King for a cheap payoff. Still, stunning visuals.

Originally Posted by Shadowself

Oriental theatre often does not comply with typical occidental concepts of a strong leading character (hero or protagonist) or verifiable good guys and bad guys. Often it is about the interplay of the gray areas. This movie fits that style.

The lead characters were strong just the direction was weak, and I found the subject very much in the western tradition--Shakespearean or Greek in its handling of tragedy. What was missing was more of a human element which the director managed to snuff out by going for a more epic scope in his vision of the story. I found it disturbing. The way the pieces of the story unfolded purposefully to try to tug at the emotions of the viewer was too clinical, self-conscious and telegraphed. The problem was that you had a very convoluted plot in the hands of a director who was trying to out-do fantasy/action films. Something had to give and that something was firm ground or emotional accessibility that could be enjoyed by the viewer.

WARNING SPOILERS
Seriously, the direction was bad. The character who you intellectually most wanted to relate with--the emperess--seemed cold, uninvolving and underhanded. Even though I knew I should root for her, I found it hard to. The character who turned out to be most evil--the little brother--was hardly in the movie before he lashed out in violence in the defining scene. The other evil character, the emperor--was oddly cool and charismatic throughout the film in typical Chow Yun-Fat fashion. And no matter how twisted he was, I found him the most accessible. With minor tweaks and some recasting, this good film could have been seriously incredible. Instead I felt let down. I'm tempted to buy it on blu-ray because the imagery and set design was seriously top-notch, but I can't imagine ever wanting to watch this again. I'd rather read King Lear or Hamlet, and how often am I in the mood for that? Never.

[Alex Pallas]

curse of the golden flower was disappointing for a zhang yimou film, but i bet this will be great, GREAT eye candy on blu-ray, this is indeed the MOST EXPENSIVE film in chinese history and it uses incredible imagery.

[Ascended_Saiyan]

I watched the movie yesterday. The PQ was excellent (around 4.5). The AQ was around 4.5. The cinematography was so beautiful I was having eye-gasms! I could hardly take all that beauty. The visuals were made to look that beautiful to show the viewer the contrast between the outward beauty of palace life and the complete rot within its occupants.

This is an amazing film. Anyone that enjoys or wants to start watching Asian cinema should be proud owners of this great film depicting the Tung Dynasty!

[k20king]

Gong Li's Cleavage was Amazing in HD!

[Ascended_Saiyan]

Yeah...that too

[TJandBLU-RAY]

I thought it was pretty good!

[Scorxpion]

Just i would to mention this about HD-DVD why it is a loosing format.

link:

http://www.dvdfile.com/index.php?opt...=6098&Itemid=3

Video:
"I think I’m beginning to recognize the characteristic artifacts of advanced video CODECs. When I reported my observations of over a year ago from the first day of Toshiba’s road show that was intended to introduce the public to HD DVD, I commented that I saw a granularity in the video that did not appear to be film grain. After viewing over a hundred high definition discs, I now believe that visible anomaly to be an artifact of the CODEC (compressionists are encouraged to correct me if I’m wrong). On this disc, I occasionally saw such granularity within a glowing red or pink panel on a palace wall. This is a quibble; I doubt anyone would notice it on a 1080p display with a viewing angle of thirty degrees or less. This is simply a terrific transfer.


Audio:

"I sampled the Mandarin PCM and it is clearly the superior choice on this disc, with more convincing timbre and a tighter bottom end"


Gorgeous and Spectacular

Another Great news in the face of HD-DUD why they have a looser format..

or let me say an old technology like DVD or Upconverted DVD.

[Amon37]

The emperors golden armor was awesome. I agree it was more drama and less action. I still enjoyed the movie, but don't know that I would watch it again.

[BillCable]

I watched my copy of Curse of the Golden Flower over the weekend. I knew I'd have to own it after seeing it on the big screen. The vibrant colors of the sets just floored me.

Watching it at home was an even better experience. Not only is the color intensity incredible, but the level of detail is unbelievable. You can actually see the stitching in the embroidery. You won't see anything else that comes close.

[baccusboy]

Ha... just watched this one again last night.

Yeah, good colors. Wish I could have seen Gong Li on Blu-ray when she was younger. She is/was ultra-hot.

[Stiny-Ray2]

I like a good marshall arts flick...i heard that House of Flying Daggers didn't transfer well to Bluray. I saw the DVD and heard the Blu transfer was just marginally better *House of Flying Daggers* that is. Anyway i did a blind buy on The Curse of the Golden Flower...what's your take on this Film on Blu?

[gvortex7]

Most people will tell you it was bad, but I liked it a lot. It also looked great on my 106" screen. It is a bit melodramatic, but I loved its visuals, the colors were just popping off the screen. The fight choreography was very well done too. All in all, it's a title that I'd definitely recommend to anyone.