Curator Watchlist
A visually sumptuous wuxia epic that blends myth, political intrigue, and tragic romance into one of the most striking action films of the 2000s. Its color design, choreography, and operatic scale are the main draw, even if the ending’s political argument may divide viewers.
Where to watch: Buy
Thu · 1h 39m
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung
During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who had made an attempt on the king's life three years ago.
Zhang Yimou
Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung
A visually sumptuous wuxia epic that blends myth, political intrigue, and tragic romance into one of the most striking action films of the 2000s. Its color design, choreography, and operatic scale are the main draw, even if the ending’s political argument may divide viewers.
Hero is less interested in historical realism than in turning history into legend. Zhang Yimou stages each version of the story as a different emotional and visual register, using color, composition, and movement to make every retelling feel like a new truth. The result is a wuxia film that plays like a grand poem: elegant, mournful, and constantly aware that violence can be beautiful and devastating at the same time.
The action is extraordinary. Swordplay, wirework, and large-scale staging are used not just for spectacle but to externalize desire, grief, loyalty, and rage. Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Maggie Cheung give the film a romantic ache that keeps it from becoming pure pageantry, and the film’s most memorable passages feel almost weightless in their grace.
Its reputation is deserved, though the ending remains the part most likely to spark debate. Some viewers will read it as a powerful meditation on sacrifice and unity; others will find it too aligned with authoritarian logic. Either way, it is impossible to dismiss. Hero is a major work of modern martial arts cinema, and one of the clearest examples of action as art.
kailey (5★) · 1089 likes
i have officially gotten out of the movie-watching groove. blame school, blame the transition period of my life, blame the state of the whole world right now, blame the internet. i've spent about an hour staring at my computer, trying to come up with a review. blame my slowly melting brain. forgive me if i cannot capture a tenth of the thrill i felt in my gut. all men become myth at some point. the film defines itself by stirring… more
vee (5★) · 817 likes
tag yourself i'm the version of the lady assassin who killed her crush rather than communicate her feelings effectively with words
Josh Lewis (4★) · 711 likes
this is action as emotionality, the movements are intuitive, the sword an extension of our anger and love. the world is often shaped by violence but we don't have to be.
Will Sloan · 529 likes
(*Jet Li and Donnie Yen float gracefully through the air*) Well damn, when you put it that way, I guess I’m going to have to let you guys take back Taiwan.
Felipe F. (4.5★) · 503 likes
💗💜💙💚💛💗💜💙💚💛❤ 💙 💙 💗 The colors. 💗 💜 💜 💙 Oh the colors. 💙 💚 💚 💛 Am I in Heaven? 💛 💗 💗 💜 Is this what 💜 💙 Heaven looks like? 💙 💚 💚 💜💙💚💛💗💜💙💚💛💗❤
A defining wuxia classic with lyrical action, romantic yearning, and a similarly elevated sense of movement and emotion.
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Zhang Yimou’s other lavish historical spectacle, rich in color, court intrigue, and tragic grandeur.
wuxia, historical epic, mythmaking, political unity, sacrifice, tragic romance, violence and honor, memory and retelling
wuxia, martial arts, historical drama, epic, tragic romance, mythic storytelling, political intrigue, stylized action, lush visuals, 2000s cinema