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Year One
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Emperor and the Assassin, The
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by:
Kaige Chen
Peigong Wang
Directed by: Kaige Chen
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 17, 1999
DVD: June 13, 2000
Running Time: 161 minutes, Color
Origin: China/France/Japan
Language(s): Mandarin (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: R for violence
Starring Li Gong, Fengyi Zhang, and Xuejian Li
Zhao (Gong Li) is a concubine in China in the 20th century BC who is sent by her lover to become the lover of his adversary, gain his confidence, and then secure an assassin who can eliminate him.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: The Promise Together
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Few Hollywood action pictures are half as exciting or ravishing.
Portland Oregonian Diana Abu-Jaber
This multistoried historical plot is packed with almost three hours of nuances and hidden meanings, and the slippery smiles and sly innuendoes often seem lost in translation.
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A stirring, thought-provoking feat of filmmaking, accomplished in every facet.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
A stunner -- as big and messy as a war, as small and perfect as a diamond.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This is a powerful story and a splendid spectacle.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson
It's a more intelligent and dimensional epic than, say, "Anna and the King." Emperor is worth every single penny.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Has a mixture of strengths and limitations often found in historical epics: lots of eye-filling action and spectacle, little in the way of psychology or human interest.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Based on the true story of the first emperor of unified China, could be downsized and told as an American Western.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Andy Klein
For those with a taste for epics that integrate the historical and the intimate.
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
It's epic in every sense of the word, and like most of Chen's historical dramas, not easy to follow.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
The look of the film is first class, with muted colors but deep textures, the opposite of historical kitsch.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Crammed with enough melodrama to fill several soap operas.
Read Full Review >Variety Derek Elley
A string of striking set pieces hung on a dramatically shaky clothesline.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Quite long and violent enough to have made several critics squirm in their seats during a recent press screening.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
Meanders along in a confused, confusing way for what feels like hours.
Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A gorgeous, gory epic, is a blow-your-mind masterpiece about the emperor who ruled more than 2,000 years ago.
Film.com Gemma Files
It's sumptuous, archaic, and longer than a firehouse ladder.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Dennis Lim
Solid middlebrow entertainment, a vast period epic with an almost DeMillean taste for excess.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A historical drama as static as it is stately.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
A bit hard on the posterior, it is definitely easy on the eyes.
Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson
Strains our patience with overacting and photography so sumptuous you can't help but ponder why so much bloodshed and mayhem is being so expertly prettified.
USA Today Staff [Not Credited]
A quagmire that reportedly has undergone multiple edits to reach its current incomprehensible state.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pat C. gave it a7:
Long & sometimes hard to follow, but worthwhile.
Yoon M. gave it a 7:
The First Emperor. The beginning 50 minutes unfold masterfully, as genuine historical epic. Then it adds another character in the form of a redemptive assassin. This leads to a silly love triangle, and then when Emperor Chin goes from bad to worse, the plot piles up into something like a tossed bowl full of court intrigues, assassination plot, betrayals more numerous than all the people in China, and so on until it resembles some bad Chinese cooking made with leftovers. Even the epic elements, so grand and thrilling early on, are repeated almost exactly ad nauseaum. Do all Chinese battles look alike? The role of Emperor is filled by some squeaky voiced twerp and the assassin guy looks like he'd rather star in a Hong Kong movie. Gong Li is beautiful as always but her performance loses luster as the movie loses focus but by then she's the last of the its problems. Also, just how these principal characters keep bumping into eachother in that huge empire is downright befuddling? Talk about coincidence. Still, the first 50 minutes can match any great historical epic pound for pound, or frame for frame. It's sweeping and magnificent, a grand entry into this fascinating world of ancient China. It's the extended tour that grows weary. Finally, the movie makes a powerful statement about the role of blood in politics, or what is known as the fusion of familism and governance in Chinese tradition. One genuinely great scene involves Emperor Chin confronting his true father, and the revelation suggests how even this powerful ruthless man is a victim of forces beyond his control, not only a tyrant but a cowering, lonely little man.
Banshee gave it a 10:
Impressive and little over-emotional like most asian movies of that kind. It stuns you for hours.
[Anonymous] gave it a 7:
Endlessly impressive, but the pacing is uneven; would have been better as a miniseries maybe.
