Customer Reviews

Legend of Zu

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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[[IMPORTANT NOTE!: Amazon has regretably been combining ''ALL'' of the reviews of the two different films mentioned in this review-- "THE LEGEND OF ZU" and "ZU WARRIORS" --into one lump group of reviews (extremely confusing & annoying!). So please be aware -- If you are reading this review on the "THE LEGEND OF ZU" ("China Star") import DVD page, that this is a review of the ("Miramax") 'Region-1' DVD, "ZU WARRIORS" and that this review does not apply to the import DVD.]]
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It should come as no great surprise that MIRAMAX is in the habit of destroying decent films -- (they have routinely overstepped their bounds of reasoning ever since the company was bought out by DISNEY all those many years ago). Add THIS movie to that long list!

"ZU WARRIORS" is a "hack & attack" piece of "re-editing" of the ORIGINAL Hong Kong version of this film, "THE LEGEND OF ZU" (which is the official English "dual title" to its original Cantonese title, "SUK SAAN CHUEN" (trans.: "Zu Mountain Legend").

Not only did the "brains" at "DISNAMAX" needlessly change the title, but they went so far as to change it in such a way that would allow it to become easily confused with an earlier Tsui Hark movie about the "Zu" legend called, "ZU: WARRIORS OF THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN" (dual Cantonese title, "SUK SAAN: SUN SUK SAAN GEEN HAP" - trans.: "Zu Mountain: New Zu Mountain Sword Heroes") -- a couple of unfortunate examples of just how much damage this "name change" caused can be readily discerned from the Amazon "customer reviews" of this film by "Mojo Jojo" from Dallas and the reviewer calling him/herself "Bumbo clot," both of whom clearly having never seen this film but are very familiar with that earlier film: so as a result they both attribute things related to that earlier movie over to this one -- things which have no relevance to this newer film whatsoever; "Bumbo" even going so far as to apply that first movie's original titles to this one! (Sorry "Jojo" and "Bumbo," but it was not my intention to pick on you, but merely to show just how easily "Disney/Miramax" set everyone up to be so effortlessly misled -- it was THEIR fault for changing the title in the way they did, NOT your fault for being caught off guard because of it! That's the only point I'm trying to make by using your reviews as examples, and I only picked yours to highlight simply because they were the first of however-many that are likely to follow that were posted.)

In addition to this, if there is one thing I have learned about American film distributors, it is that whenever they change the title of a "foreign" film-- ESPECIALLY one from Asia --you can reasonably expect that they have changed other more IMPORTANT things about the actual content of the movie itself. And, sure enough....

This "hack job" version of "The Legend of Zu" was so bad that it had been left sitting on the distributors' shelves for several years after they had "test screened" it on at least one occasion (some sources say a couple of them) and found itself being booed right off of the court. No $#!T, Sherlock??? What did those geniuses at DISNAMAX honestly expect would be the audiences' reaction??? Rather than showing their test audiences the movie in its original 'unadulterated' form (then editing afterwards, if necessary), they instead insisted on showing their audience a version of the movie in which they had stripped out around 20 minutes worth of celluloid (from a movie that the larger number of viewers already find confusing enough as it is). They had also covered over the original actors' own voices with a "dubbed" English track (rarely a good idea for Asian movies). Then to top it all off (as if all that were not bad enough), they proceeded to engage in the same kind of sneaky and sleazy "false marketing" tactics that American film distributors have of late become unashamedly guilty of when marketing lesser-known Asian films to American audiences -- by "giving credit" where such credit is NOT DUE (for instance, such as when "BANGKOK HAUNTED" ["Pee Sam Baht" - trans.: "Three-Baht Ghost"] was credited as having been directed by "Oxide and Danny Pang" [the brothers who co-directed "THE EYE"] when, in truth, ONLY a single 'vignette' of the entire movie had been directed by "OXIDE" Pang alone): In the case of "ZU WARRIORS," the transgression comes in the form of an announcement or "implication" that the very lovely & popular ZHANG ZIYI is the "STAR" of this movie, when, in fact, hers is a very MINOR (almost peripheral) role!

If you don't mind having your intelligence insulted by DISNAMAX, then go right ahead and waste $21 bucks on this diced & shreaded bastardization -- Lord knows you could just as easily waste it on something much worse! But if you are at all like me-- or like those 'test audience' members who PANNED this remolded abomination --and you really want to see this movie for what it was MEANT to be, your options are to find a "region-compatible" official release DVD from the Asian market, or snatching up any one of the many "all-region" pirate DVDs on eBay, or tracking down a VCD version -- all of which, in either case, will cost you CONSIDERABLY LESS MONEY than what Disney/Miramax is expecting you to shell out for their "Region-1" 'shicken-chit'.

This is Tsui Hark's follow up to his 1983 "Zu Warriors of the Magic Mountain". While this film is visually dazzling, the earlier film is something of a visual treat in its own right. Unfortunately the sequel lacks the charm of the original, at least for me. While Legend of Zu certainly rivals the special effects ability that we've grown accustomed to from Hollywood, the story seems a bit empty. Zhang Ziyi's role is nearly a cameo--don't expect to see much of her. Still, I found the film entertaining and, if you like Asian cinema, it's worth a look.

It's "interesting" but "confusing." I think it's the continuity problems with so darn many people dying and then getting resurrected, sometimes in new bodies... It's just, well, confusing. Don't get me wrong it's kind of a cool movie once you've watched it a couple times and understand what the heck is going on.

It has some really cool special effects, but it also has some really cheesy special effects. So, I suppose I could best describe it as having "inconsistent" special effects.

On the plus side, this feature has both the American-released chop-job and the "extended" (Read: original) Cantonese version. So, in that regard, it is good. So, if you really want to watch the unedited version in subtitles, you can. Probably one of the saving graces of this release.

Video's okay, audio's okay, voice acting is so-so for the dub... It's kind of a bizarro live-action anime in some regards. Oddly reminiscent of Dragon Ball Z.

Not many movies capture the inspiration of a mixture of fantasy and reality to the point that you can't decifer between the two.
I like the briliant colors and CGI intergrations, outstanding story line. One of the greatest movies I have seen...so far.

Like the title says, the special effects, although sometimes a bit too colorful for my taste, were very impressive. But they are the only thing this movie got going for itself. The story was one of the most confusing I ever witnessed. Perhaps some of it would make some sense to a connaisseur of Chinese legends but I was completely lost. Fans of Martial Arts movies will be equally disappointed by the lack thereof. There is only a single and short fight which involves martial arts (between Hollow, Joy and Thunder). All the other fights are resolved by overpowering the enemy with ones magic and are mostly overshadowed by special effects. My guess is that Tsui Hark got a bit carried away by his special effects and in the process neglected the other components of the movie, mainly the story.

I saw the subtitled version on KungFuHD (which alas, no longer exists). I didn't take notes while watching the movie, so I'm sure I got some of the names wrong. I would point out that the below review contains spoilers, but really, the entire movie could be watched backwards and it would make as much sense as what I'm about to reveal, so I'm not giving away that much. Here's what I can figure out...

The immortal land of Zu consists of three different nations. There's the warrior monks led by White Eyebrow guy, which includes the super-powered fighting team of Thunder (a male) and Lightning (a female), some guy named Hawk (Wolf's buddy) with metal wings (like Archangel from the Marvel comic series), and some other sword fighting guy I will call Sword. White Eyebrow guy wields a powerful Shield of Heaven, which shines light on things and can destroy them. Then there are the peaceful bald monk types, who preside over the balance of Heaven. They are generally non-combatants. Finally, there's a nation of two people: the lone wolf protagonist (no clue what his name is, but let's go with Wolf), and his mentor/love interest (lets call her Moon). Wolf wields the power of the sun, Moon wields the power of the uh, moon, which manifests as a flying crescent blade.

These are immortals, remember, so everyone can fly, wields powerful magical weapons, and sneers at humanity.

One day, Mordo, the bad guy who consists of a huge flying stream of screaming skulls, decides to return to power and attack Zu. Mordo is basically a guy in a Cthulhu-mask, which really ruins the cool effect of his screaming skulls. Anyway, Mordo begins systematically destroying each of the Zu lands, killing Moon. Upon dying, Moon bestows the floating crescent blade to Wolf. Mordo is finally driven off by the White Eyebrow Superfriends.

Mortally wounded, Mordo hides in a Blood Cave, where he is able to absorb everyone's magical weapons, including White Eyebrow's Shield of Heaven. Now it's a standoff - White Eyebrow's team can't fight Mordo without losing their weapons, but Mordo is still recovering, slowly gaining energy to unleash his evil wrath on the world. So Hawk gets the sole duty of watching the cave to ensure Mordo doesn't escape while White Eyebrows comes up with another plan.

If that doesn't seem colossally stupid enough, White Eyebrow's plan is to merge Thunder and Lightning into one person. But they must both be one hundred percent confident as they ram into each other. Failure means they explode. If you're missing the symbolism, Thunder wields a long, giant blade that he thrusts forward when he rushes into Lightning ... you get the idea.

Anyway, Wolf is pretty miserable now that his mentor is dead. When Thunder flinches as he tries to merge with Lightning, they're both destroyed. Thunder is reborn as a childlike moron and Lightning seems to be unaffected - but in truth, White Eyebrows rebuilt her with a piece of Moon's spirit. Fortunately, because Thunder is an idiot, there's no danger of any sort of love triangle.

Hawk, in the mean time, gets fooled into feeling sorry for a little faerie that escapes from the cave. It turns out the faerie is actually a demon that ends up possessing poor Hawk. So Hawk goes on a killing spree, wiping out most of White Eyebrows' team.

Somewhere along the line, Sword falls for a human female soldier, who doesn't have much to do but stand around in awe of all the flying immortals and their amazing incompetence.

By now you've figured out how the story ends, right? No? This isn't clear enough for you? Sheesh, some people need everything explained ...

White Eyebrows decides to try to find the secret of the universe. He leaves Super Team Defense to Wolf, infusing him with some mystical knowledge. This knowledge is encased in one of those sparkly glowy crystal things that float over the Sims. Then, in the tradition of Ben Kenobi, he fades away, as all white-haired guys must. Only in the ensuing battle with evil, Wolf dies. Fortunately he is reconstituted when White Eyebrows discovers the secret of the universe, healing Wolf.

Thunder finally remembers who he is (his irritating dialogue is supposed to be hilarious, I gather), gets it on with Lightning, and their Wonder Twin Powers activate. So Thunder/Lightning and Superenlightened Wolf face down Evil Hawk (who does not have a goatee) and Mordo in the Blood Cave lair. Fulfilling his oath, Wolf kills Hawk and puts him out of his misery. Mordo is defeated. Moon's reincarnated spirit either leaves Lightning or manifests, but I can't remember because I didn't care at that point.

The end.

It's telling how many people praise this film without providing any detail as to the plot. That's because this hyperkinetic mess is a tangle of poor special effects, bizarre storyline plotting, and far too many characters to follow. Some of this can be chalked up to differences in culture and translation. But a lot of it can't.

It should have been an anime.

Keep your expectations low and this movie will pass as entertaining. There's a nice story in the movie, but the script doesn't do it justice. I played the Enlgish language version, so I don't know if the Chinese version was better. The special effects were great at times, but were terrible for the most part. The actors were great and did the best they could. Some interesting fighting scenes. The immortal beings storyline reminds me of the Japanese anime Scrapped Princess, which I do recommend. Watch it for some of the creative visual effects, but don't buy it.

This movie will be appreciated by Martial Arts Lovers...Not the ones with Guns in them...This is a Wuxia Pien, Film and Expect the CGI and Animation but it is the Dragon Ball Z Brought to LIFE without the fake looking stuff like the cheap budgeted Martial Arts Films..This has lots of Fantasy but filled with Fighting ...It's Great...If you love Jet Li Films of the flying action fighters..then this is your type...GET IT!

I rented this movie and while watching it I remembered I had already seen this years ago. Maybe back then the CGI effects were amazing, but no one would think the same thing today. The story moves along at a fast pace and there are some moments of emotion. Overall, fun to watch and laugh at the wierd story and CGI effects. Worth a rent only.

Dmuel is right, this is the remake of " Zu;warriors of magic mountain'. They replaced Bridgette Lin with Cecillia Cheung, and put in the young stars such as Louis Koo, Ekin Cheng, Kelly Lin, and the infamous Sammo Hung. Zhang Ziyi is a cameo. Her role is so horrible that i think she should sue Tsui Hark for making her do it.

anyway, the plot is simple, the ultimate good vs evil type of thing.

in the beginning of the movie, Cecilia Chueng is Ekin's teacher. She gives him her weapon(which looks like moon and flies around) tellin him that fate will decide her life...then she gets attacked by the 'evil force' and dissappears....

200 years later, the evil force comes back, this time even more stronger than ever. Sammo Hung, whom is the leader of the other clan that rules the Zu mountain, tells his apprentice, Louis Koo to fight the evil force with his friend Ekin. ........

im sorry for not sayin their character name in the movie...it is exteremly hard to say or spell their name.

visually, it was all right. some scenes were choppy like when Sammo's clan were flying in the air, or Ceci and her friends' 'fusion' and when Ekin revives himself, but overall the special effects were crazy.
i believe that the actors were asked not to 'act' in this movie, Cecilia chueng is a good actress, but she could not take the bridgette Lin's presence in the movie. Ekin tried too hard, Louis Koo.....not saying anything and wuts the point of Zhang Ziyi in the movie...saying ' i have to learn new moves' like 9 times....

many critics criticzed this flim, but surpringly, i liked it. i suggest u wach the movie with caution....some will like it ..some will hate it