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34
10,000 B.C.
55
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62
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36
College Road Trip
xx
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31
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41
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57
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67
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54
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49
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34
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57
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xx
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71
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61
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65
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79
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xx
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35
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73
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24
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37
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xx
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58
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48
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55
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22
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69
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44
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53
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76
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37
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37
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61
Stop Loss
47
Strangers, The
55
Street Kings
33
Superhero Movie
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
36
What Happens in Vegas...
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
79
Iron Man
76
Shine a Light
73
Kung Fu Panda
71
Horton Hears a Who!
69
Redbelt
67
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
62
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
61
Stop Loss
61
Incredible Hulk, The
58
Mist, The
57
Forbidden Kingdom, The
57
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
55
Street Kings
55
Nim's Island
55
Baby Mama
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
49
Hancock
48
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
47
Strangers, The
44
Ruins, The
41
Drillbit Taylor
37
Made of Honor
37
Shutter
37
Speed Racer
36
College Road Trip
36
What Happens in Vegas...
35
Jumper
34
Happening, The
34
10,000 B.C.
33
Superhero Movie
31
Deception
24
Love Guru, The
22
Postal
xx
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
xx
Dark Knight, The
xx
Mamma Mia!
xx
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

83
Alexandra
80
Band's Visit, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
47
Bella
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
59
Blind Mountain
55
Bra Boys
60
Brick Lane
70
Caramel
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
78
Counterfeiters, The
52
Diminished Capacity
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
84
Edge of Heaven, The
52
Elsa & Fred
79
Encounters at the End of the World
62
Expired
64
Fall, The
51
Finding Amanda
57
Flawless
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
60
Fugitive Pieces
45
Full Grown Men
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
69
Go-Getter, The
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
68
Heartbeat Detector
34
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68
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55
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69
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60
Jihad for Love, A
68
Kabluey
62
Kiss the Bride
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
82
Last Mistress, The
38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
70
Love Songs
64
Married Life
30
Meet Bill
33
Miss Conception
53
Mister Lonely
74
Mongol
52
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52
My Blueberry Nights
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
84
My Winnipeg
61
On the Rumba River
69
Operation Filmmaker
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
Paranoid Park
72
Priceless
51
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55
Quid Pro Quo
29
Red Roses and Petrol
79
Reprise
71
Roman de gare
xx
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56
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51
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76
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66
Son of Rambow
70
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62
Stuck
72
Surfwise
81
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56
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xx
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71
To the Limit
54
Tracey Fragments, The
70
Trumbo
72
Tuya's Marriage
83
U2 3D
56
Unknown Woman
86
Up the Yangtze
79
Visitor, The
62
Wackness, The
37
War, Inc.
64
Water Lilies
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
55
Without the King
72
Woman on the Beach
64
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
86
Up the Yangtze
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
84
My Winnipeg
84
Edge of Heaven, The
83
Chop Shop
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
83
Chris & Don. A Love Story
82
Last Mistress, The
81
Tell No One
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Reprise
79
Encounters at the End of the World
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Beauty in Trouble
76
Shotgun Stories
75
Young@Heart
74
Mongol
74
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Woman on the Beach
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Surfwise
71
To the Limit
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Roman de gare
70
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Trumbo
70
Love Songs
70
Caramel
69
Go-Getter, The
69
Operation Filmmaker
69
Jellyfish
68
Kabluey
68
Heartbeat Detector
68
Honeydripper
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
66
Son of Rambow
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Married Life
64
Dreams with Sharp Teeth
64
XXY
64
Water Lilies
64
Fall, The
63
Foot Fist Way, The
63
Gunnin for that #1 Spot
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Stuck
62
Expired
62
Wackness, The
62
Kiss the Bride
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
On the Rumba River
60
Fugitive Pieces
60
Brick Lane
60
Jihad for Love, A
59
Blind Mountain
57
Flawless
56
Unknown Woman
56
Then She Found Me
56
Sangre de mi sangre
55
Quid Pro Quo
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
55
Irina Palm
55
Bra Boys
55
Without the King
54
Tracey Fragments, The
53
Mister Lonely
52
Diminished Capacity
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Mother of Tears, The
52
My Blueberry Nights
51
Finding Amanda
51
Promotion, The
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Bella
45
Full Grown Men
38
Life Before Her Eyes, The
37
War, Inc.
34
Holding Trevor
33
Miss Conception
30
Meet Bill
29
Red Roses and Petrol
xx
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
xx
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
House of Flying Daggers
Sony Pictures Classics
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sequences of stylized martial arts violence, and some sexuality
Starring
Takeshi Kaneshiro,
Andy Lau,
Ziyi Zhang,
and
Dandan Song
The year is 859 AD, and China's once flourishing Tang Dynasty is in decline. Unrest is raging throughout the land, and the corrupt government is locked in battle with rebel armies that are forming in protest. The largest and most prestigious of these rebel groups is the House of Flying Daggers, which is growing ever more powerful under a mysterious new leader. (Sony Pictures Classics)
| GENRE(S): |
Action
|
Drama
|
Foreign
|
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Feng Li
Bin Wang
Yimou Zhang
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Yimou Zhang
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 19, 2005
Video: April 19, 2005
Theatrical: December 3, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
119 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
China / Hong Kong |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Mandarin (with English subtitles) |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Film Threat
Phil Hall
Quite simply, House of Flying Daggers is a film that sets several new standards for production and entertainment values. It is a wild riot of color, music, passion, action, mystery, pure old-fashioned thrills and even dancing.

100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
It's great, fantastical fun.

100
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
House of Flying Daggers finds the great Chinese director at his most romantic in this thrilling martial arts epic that involves a conflict between love and duty carried out to its fullest expression.

100
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
An astonishing combination of spectacle, suspense, martial-arts flash, sublime silliness, anti-gravity action and passionate intensity -- before and after everything else, it's a grand love story.
100
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
The most gorgeous movie of the year. This smashing martial-arts romance from Chinese director Zhang Yimou is stunning in other ways, too, like the eroticism that ripples just beneath the surface.

100
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
The movie equivalent of a 12-course feast crammed with unforgettable images and mind-boggling stunts.

100
Time
Richard Corliss
The cast list is like a convocation of the Three Chinas: Taiwan's Kaneshiro, Hong Kong's Lau and the mainland's Zhang Ziyi. All are terrific, but the lady shines brightest.

100
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
It's as thrilling and lushly beautiful a movie as has been released all year, matched only by Zhang's epic "Hero." And I think this film is the more powerful.

100
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Chinese director Zhang Yimou understands perfectly that the small can be epic and awe-inspiring. And, by the way, he knows how to get big, too.

100
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Zhang weaves in both thrilling martial-arts set pieces and stunning studies of period silk tapestry and costume.

100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Forget about the plot, the characters, the intrigue, which are all splendid in House of Flying Daggers, and focus just on the visuals.

100
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
The sheer joy of letting go as a tale overwhelms your senses and drives the known world away -- that's the story.

100
Slate
David Edelstein
This is the most intoxicatingly beautiful martial arts picture I've ever seen.

100
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
It's action opera, sword-and-sorcery song-and-dance, and it's a heart-pumping, jaw-dropping thrill. OK, so I kind of like the thing.

100
Dallas Observer
Robert Wilonsky
Its exquisiteness can overwhelm in a single sitting.

100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
By turns breathtaking and heartbreaking.

100
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
He's (Yimou) like a painter combining bloody reds, sunshine yellows and pale blues in the harmony of a masterpiece.

91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
An outrageously gorgeous spectacle of balletic aggression. At the same time, it offers something we rarely encounter in a whirling martial-arts extravaganza: a romantic passion that's woven into the very fabric of the action.

90
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
A glorious new addition to martial-arts cinema.

89
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
I don't know if the many plot swerves withstand a second viewing, but I suspect the meat of the matter – the swooning visuals, the expert choreography, the teasing love story – does.

88
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The result is one of the most visually astonishing martial-arts fantasies ever made.

88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Forget "Hero" -- that cult hit was just Zhang Yimou's warm-up for this martial-arts fireball that throws in a lyrical love story, head-spinning fights and dazzling surprises.

83
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
The second action melodrama released in the United States this year by director Zhang Yimou, and if I prefer the previous one, "Hero," it's partly a matter of degrees.

80
Variety
Derek Elley
The tangled tale of love and disguise is awesome in its action sequences but doesn't touch the heart to the same degree.

80
LA Weekly
David Chute
The most seamless piece of sensuous expressionism Zhang has created since "Ju Dou" (1990).

80
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
You feel wiped and blinded by such ravishment, yet a voice within you asks: Come on, guys, can't you just stop for the holidays?

80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
A gorgeous entertainment, a feast of blood, passion and silk brocade. But though the picture is full of swirling, ecstatic motion, it is not especially moving.

80
Empire
Dan Jolin
This is how action movies should be made.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Actors Zhang Ziyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro are the kind of startlingly good-looking, glamorous stars that evoke classic Hollywood adventure films.

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
It's a perfect example of how far production design and editing WON'T take you when the story's not there.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
If you think "Hero" is a sumptuous film, prepare to be blown away by House of Flying Daggers.

75
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
All told, while the goods that Daggers offers are choice, the movie ultimately demonstrates that too much can be, well, more than enough.

70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
Choreographed to the last beat, the action scenes have a depth that the film's thinly sketched characters never quite develop.

70
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
If only this epic had enough substantial melodramatic hooks to hang this woman's beauty on; emotional traction is most often buried under acres of carefully coordinated vistas and CGI-hued flora.

70
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
This film pivots on a romantic triangle as overwrought as it is stylized. It's like a Douglas Sirk melodrama ratcheted up with fists of fury and wrapped in apparently endless yards of shimmering silk.

67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
It's exuberant, exhilarating, poetic and -- intentionally and not -- rather silly.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Beautiful but hollow.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 135 User Votes
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