ttt
Check out our latest e-zine update - The Promise - Know What It Is and What It Is Not by Craig Reid
nice
I can’t say I was pleased with the 60+ budget on musa(I seem to be the only one). But it looks like they put the money to good use here.
jethro
You just like the spiky hats… 
Destiny
For those not into Reggae, the title is from a song by dance hall artist Buju Banton (with the hook, “I wanna rule my destiny”) and it came to my mind soon after reading Dr. C’s article on The Promise. Because that song has a similar message to what director Chen conveys in The Promise. When asked about the Chinese title, Wu Ji ( “infinity”), Chen explains that, in this movie, he wanted to show how, “[e]very life can be faced with many possibilities or directions. So, in a sense, I’m indicating that life can have an infinite number of paths.”
A great story with amazingly beautiful cinematography (minus cheap graphics). Definately the Chinese equavilant to Ran. But then I’ve only seen it on DVD, and wish I had seen it on the big screen first.
Buju!!!
I wouldn’t put it on the level of Ran at all. Maybe just for the pretty colors, but Ran was such serious epic and The Promise, while it had such aspirations, fell way short of that. I confess that Kurosawa is my favorite director of all time and there’s no way I’d put Kaige on his level, not even for Farewell My Concubine (which is Kaige’s best effort to date, IMO).
[SIZE=“1”]They keep fighting me I’m not giving up
May the realms of Zion fill my spiritual cup
Wisdom overstanding can never be too much
Give I protection Day and night[/SIZE]
OT: Quotes
Hey Gene I like the Rasta quote.
Source?
Hiroyuki Sanada
Check out our latest piece on The Promise’s leading man - Hiroyuki Sanada: “Promises” for Peace through Film by Dr. Craig Reid. The 2nd to last pic just might put jethro in spiky hat ecstacy. Stand back everyone, it’s liable to get messy.
[SIZE=“1”]SimonM: The quote is from Buju’s Destiny - I was just following the lead of gregdread. 
[/SIZE]
son of a mother monkey’s rabbit horn
My work somehow blocks all pics on this site. But I am very intrigued:D
Hiroyuki sanada is in ths???
Gene, didn’t you here I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of ninja in the dragon’s den. :mad: Did I mention I am a HUGE fan of, ok, I am going to try and catch my breath here, in, out, out, ueu m9-q
son of a mother monkey’s rabbit horn???
I guess your work thinks spiky hats are PORN. That’s downright funny, and probably not too inaccurate in your case jethro 
I wasn’t hip to Sanada until Craig pointed him out. Then a lot fell into place. BTW, I recently saw Twilight Samurai and was very disappointed.
Really? how curious… do we have a Thread on that film here?
Maybe it’s time we did have one.
A review? I don’t think there’s on archived…
gene
that pic with the guy shooting the bow arrow, the one with the hat:p
Good thing I didn’t see that at work:eek:
so i saw the promise
i give the story 2 out of 4 stars.
it was corny and predictable.
i give the cinematography 4/4
i give the costumes and settings 4/4
What did you think of the action?
action was ok. good at some points but wire fu.
Wuxia has a whole different standard of action then “chop socky”. Wire fu is a given.
I thought it was a fun movie – definitely provides some eye candy ala Tsu Hark’s last Zu movie. It fits in rather nicely with the recent [I]wuxia[I] movies and kudos to Kaige for trying his hand in the genre. Of course, it looks like the American release is going to be chopped by about 20 minutes, which irks me to no end but seems to be the trend anymore.
Like Gene, I think Farewell My Concubine is definitely his best movie – perhaps goes on a bit too long, but great performances by Leslie Cheung and Gong Li. I found The Emperor and the Assassin to be rather flat too.