The Promise (2006)

I don't really like martial arts films unless there is plenty of flying through the air and way out special effects so this film did not disappoint at all in that direction. The imagery was beautiful and the story was interesting but I felt that something was missing from the film. In parts the editing was poor and it was hard to follow. Also the characters were rather "wooden" and didn't evoke much sympathy. I love "Hero" which had all the things that this lacked-but my favourite of all time is "Bichunmoo" which was wonderful and incredibly emotional throughout.Despite all that I did enjoy the film and may indeed watch it again! I feel that with more viewings it may grow on me, It certainly ticks all the right boxes with regard to production and story line. It may never become a classic but it is worth watching.

Wow, I'm so glad I did not check out the IMDb rating before watching this movie, or I would have totally missed out. I only decided to watch this because I was on a Cecilia Cheung streak (she was super-hot in "Honesty", my first CC movie), and this movie happened to (conveniently) be on crunchyroll. Awesome story, super visuals. Full of surprises at every turn. but be warned that this is NOT A KUNG-FU MOVIE. There are some pretty neat fight scenes in here (e.g. the one between WuHan and Snow Wolf in the Crimson Armor Chamber) but if you're expecting more traditional, close contact fight scenes you'll be disappointed. It's more of a fantasy fairy-tale kind of story. Watch it on HD Plasma, and completely lose yourself in it.

I beg everyone to read my comment because this is for crying out loud. I bought this movie today and I was very excited to see chinas new big event. But unfortunately this movie is not a movie. It has absolutely no plot, it is very slow, you don't understand the actions the characters are taking and all the chroma effects, as well CGI, are poorly shot and done. I know what I am talking about because I am working in this business.If that's what people like and will be the future of cinema (300 another poorly made movie) than I want to work as a street-cleaner.I don't understand how people prefer all this fake images instead of all the real thing or do I have to remind you older Chinese martial art films, with more difficult action scenes and no CGI.Of course the sequence with the Buffalo's or what ever they were, is kind of difficult to create in reality, But the fights and all the running? Anyway, it seems people like very fake and boring things like Shoot'em Up or 300. Because there is nothing original about that.

When the world was young, laid a Kingdom between the Land of Snow and the Barbarian Territory where gods and men lived side by side and promises were lies. When the poor and starving orphaned girl Qingcheng meets the Goddess Manshen (Hong Chen), she accepts to become the wealthy beauty of beauties with the curse that she would lose every man she loves, unless three things happen: snow falls in the spring, time moves backwards and the dead comes back to life. Years later, the slave Kunlun (Dong-Kun Jang) helps the Great General Master of the Crimson Armor Guangming (Hiroyuki Sanada) to defeat a barbarian army with almost seven times more warriors, and Kunlun becomes his slave. When Guangming is wounded, he asks Kunlun to wear his armor and save the king from the cruel Duke of the North Wuhuan (Nicholas Tse) that put the Imperial City under siege with his army. However, Kunlun kills the king to save Princess Qingcheng (Cecilia Cheung) and promises her to never let her die. Princess Qingcheng falls in love for the man of the crimson armor that she believes is General Guangming. When Snow Wolf (Ye Liu) saves Kunlun and brings him to the Land of Snow, he recollects his childhood when his mother and sister were killed by the evil Wuhuan. Kunlun decides to return to the Kingdom to face Wuhuan and fight for his love."Wu Ji" is one of the most beautiful fantasies that I have ever seen, and I list this magnificent film among my favorites. The story has romance, magic, betrayal, loyalty, action, supported by a stunning cinematography, great screenplay, wonderful special effects and awesome direction and performances. This film is surprisingly underrated in IMDb, with and user rating of 5.6. Cecilia Cheung is one of the most beautiful actresses of cinema and is perfect in the role of the Beauty of Beauties. In the end, fate can be changed. My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "A Promessa" ("The Promise")