HERO

I caught a snippet of a feature on AXN about Zhang Yi Mou's HERO, which is supposed to be the next big Asian film after Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Set after the assassination of the first Chinese emperor, it is all about the preconceptions and misconceptions about just what a 'hero' is, in the context of Chinese culture.
The film features a who's who of Hong Kong stars: Jet Li, Zhang Ziyi, Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung. I got to read a feature about it in TIME months and months ago, but now was the first time I actually saw footage. The movie is set in the 'Warring States' period of ancient China (which was like, 2000 years ago) and has a high-stakes storyline of ambitious emperors, divinely powerful assassins and forbidden love. Wow.
Like Crouching Tiger, HERO features lots of over-the-top wirework martial arts, flying fight sequences, dazzling swordplay and BIG army scenes. The oriental armor and equipment of the armies look authentic, and the LIVE masses of fighting men (as opposed to the CG creatures of LOTR) evokes a different feel. This film looks to impress in 2003.