Best movie ever!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is my favourite movie of all time. This film has it all, magic, adventure and heroes. This film is full of visually stunning special effects, lovable characters, a world full of imagination, a truly classic story to go with it and a larger than life cast. Yes, films do not get any better than this. The story is about a soldier called Ti Ming-chi, who wants to end all war, so he seeks to become the apprentice of a mysterious swordsman called Ting Ying. We also meet more heroes and other strange characters on the road. All of a sudden, demons from the nether realm see their chance to take over the mortal world. However, the most notorious of all demons, the blood demon is about to be resurrected and can be destroyed, but only by two swords when united. The heroes of the film seek these swords, but many obstacles wait. In the on-going battle between good and evil, there are epic battles with magic and warriors that fly though the air. This film influenced classics such as Big Trouble in Little China and other films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but this remains the definitive fantasy film, that everyone must own.

Hark's action fantasy 'Xin Shu Shan Jian Ke' is a whole lot of fun. Needless to say one can expect lots of extravagant martial arts action sequences which are well choreographed (but some of them are so long that they tend to drag a little). The movie is loaded with special effects and even though they don't look as refined as movies of today, they're still fun to watch. The sets don't look particularly authentic but they hold a certain appeal and I like the way they appeared. The story isn't told in the traditional fashion and at some points question marks will appear in the mind but there's always something happening to keep the viewer engaged. Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung are simply great as they infuse humour and energy into their roles. Energetic, funny, bizarre, wacky, magical...these are just a few words that describe Tsui Hark's 'Xin Shu Shan Jian Ke'. Forget the abysmal 2003 remake. This is where the real fun is.

Frankly, I am confused that this movie has such a high rating from other users. I am a huge fan of Hong Kong period action/fantasy/swordplay movies, but I just couldn't get into this movie. I kept waiting for it to get better, but unfortunately, it just got worse! So much is said about the "ground breaking" special effects, but I felt like I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon. On paper, this movie should've been great. Produced by Tsui Hark, and an all-star cast... Too bad the plot was so silly/bad. I would definitely recommend the movie Deadful Melody (aka Deadly Melody) over this one. Better fight scenes, better humor, colorful-well-played characters, and a plot that makes sense.

This film illustrates the major difference between Western and Eastern fantasy films. A western version of this same film would attempt for some level of realism, some element of grittiness and angst. This film ignores realism entirely. Hey, its a fantasy already! Swordsman and monks float and dive in aerial battle, an old man's eyebrows are deadly weapons, whole armies of guys in brightly colored uniforms run about attacking each other for very poorly explained reasons, and blue eyed jawa clones swoop about the inside of evil temples. Although the ending is almost unintelligible, the first hour of the film is just one cool scene after another. The editing of this film would certainly make an epileptic have a seizure, but after five minutes you stop caring about the plot and dialogue and just start enjoying the wacky surreal action. I wish I could see this one on the big screen.