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Beer for My Horses Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Emperor and the Assassin, The
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MPAA 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.
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Kaige Chen
Peigong Wang |
| DIRECTED BY: | Kaige Chen |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: June 13, 2000 Video: June 13, 2000 Theatrical: December 17, 1999 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 161 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | China/France/Japan |
| 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...
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 4 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.
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