Chen Kaige's "The Promise", kung-fu epic has opene

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 13 Jan 2006, 17:43

I'm waiting for the HK DVD as I have bad experiences with China discs.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 13 Jan 2006, 17:54

Ahh yes Chinese dvds suck! badly! in fact they are dreadfull on the whole all the ones I have had

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 13 Jan 2006, 18:07

Thats one of the things I thought too.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 14 Jan 2006, 09:27

On the other hand even if the quality isn't that great its still 3 movies for that price, which is pretty good

What to do?!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 27 Jan 2006, 16:19

Hey,

According to a poster on ADVDG, the Deltamac HK DVD of The Promise will be released on 28 February 2006

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 Feb 2006, 12:38

grim_tales wrote:Hey,

According to a poster on ADVDG, the Deltamac HK DVD of The Promise will be released on 28 February 2006

Will the HK DVD have the uncut DC or the Weinstein hackjob?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Feb 2006, 14:18

I'm not sure. I see no reason why it wouldnt be the uncut version.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 01 Feb 2006, 15:47

So has anyone got any screen captures that prove Cecilia's full-frontal nudity for this film then?

If anyone has any, please post them here for... "scientific purposes".

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 01 Feb 2006, 15:49

@IM

Page 1, middle of the page.
Expect nothing more.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 01 Feb 2006, 15:51

Yeah I've seen that pic, but thats not full-frontal nudity! I was at least expecting some nipples! So you're telling me thats all she shows?! In that case I'm so disappointed!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 01 Feb 2006, 15:55

Straight from the DVD-Rip:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 1/CAP1.jpg

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 1/CAP2.jpg

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 01 Feb 2006, 16:16

She looks really pale in the 2nd cap. I half expect to see her spider-walking down a flight of stairs while emitting a choking death-rattle/crawling out of a TV.

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 03 Feb 2006, 02:59

Tom2681 wrote:It's been 24 hours since I've seen this film and I can't stop thinking about it. The more I think about it, the better it gets.
I keep finding more and more layers, just like when I saw Legend of Zu for the first time.

Have you ever seen a film that makes you feel "That's why I like cinema" ?
a film that makes you feel "Wow, all the movies I've ever seen are crap compared to this one" ?
Because this is exactly how I feel right now.

[insert speechless silence]

Well, I wouldn't say it's a terrible film but I certainly wouldn't say it's good either, let alone one of those "warm fuzzy that's why I go to cinema" films. It was lyrical and pretty to look at like a poem but, like the CG, was all so artificial. The romance angle was poorly developed and the film really lost its way in the last half hour with not much to keep the viewer engaged. I felt it was about 20 mins too long for the material. There were some inconsistencies that bothered me too.

Overall the movie struck me as Musa meets Looney Tunes (which may not be a bad thing).

Tom2681 wrote:BTW: I don't understand the US title at all.
This movie is about Princess QinCheng (Cecilia Cheung), not about the Master of the Crimson Armour.

I think that was a misleading artifact of the subtitles, as Cecilia Cheung is not a princess. Princess implies "daughter of the king" but in fact she was the consort of the king which would make her queen more than anything else. She isn't called a princess in the actual Chinese dialogue but rather a partner to the king. Incidentally, I guess no one likes Cecilia's husky voice cos she's the only actor that's dubbed in the film.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 03 Feb 2006, 03:53

she's the only actor that's dubbed

Cecilia's mandarin is awfully bad. It's a good thing she was dubbed.

Cecilia Cheung is not a princess

I know. She's a concubine. Her behaviour in relation to the King makes it obvious from the moment she appears.

It was lyrical and pretty to look at like a poem but, like the CG, was all so artificial.

All movies are artificial to some extent. Afterall, we're just watching people pretending to fly, to be in love and to travel through time.
If you manage to lose yourself in the movie, then it all becomes real.

It's just like Casshern. Some people can't find anything in it and call it rubbish, but a few people (myself included) manage to drown in that world and find a masterpiece.

I'm not expecting many people to like Wu Ji, TBH.
Bah, too bad for them.

Some people just don't know a good thing when they see one.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 Feb 2006, 15:19

I guess no one likes Cecilia's husky voice cos she's the only actor that's dubbed in the film.

Nooooo! I love her raspy voice. It's soooo sexy. Makes me all hard thinking about it. 8)

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 Feb 2006, 11:53

HK disc is up for pre-order at YesAsia:
http://global.yesasia.com/assocprog/ap. ... 03427&a=49

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 Feb 2006, 12:02

And at DVDAsian.

I sure hope it's not the US cut.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 05 Feb 2006, 12:05

Argh... how will we find out? Don't they usually put up the running time as well.

It's a 2-disc edition, but is it the definite edition? Damn, I hate buying films so early, but I have to.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Feb 2006, 12:30

LD/Tom,
If you order it, please tell us what cut of the movie it is

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 Feb 2006, 13:14

If you order it, please tell us what cut of the movie it is

Whaddya mean " if " ?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 09 Feb 2006, 01:06

Soon to be available for pre-order at DDDHouse:

http://www.dddhouse.com/dddhouse/en/ind ... uctID=5225

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 09 Feb 2006, 01:24

I hope there's a Cantonese dub so I can listen to Cecilia's voice whilst I mast, um, watch.

8)

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 10 Feb 2006, 07:40

Looks like the film's still gonna end up cut.

Screen Daily wrote:Warner Independent Pictures (WiP) has picked up North American rights to Chen Kaige’s The Promise ahead of its European premiere at Berlin.

WiP plans a May release on the epic fantasy, which last December became the third biggest grossing release ever in mainland China behind Titanic and Hero.

The picture had originally been acquired for North America by The Weinstein Co (TWC) at Cannes last year, but in December, the Weinsteins returned distribution rights to producers Moonstone Entertainment and China Film Group after a difference of opinion over awards strategy.

Now Harvey’s former Miramax lieutenant Mark Gill, who heads up WiP, has the spoils. It is understood WiP will release a shorter, 102-minute ‘Western’ cut. The Asian cut runs to 121 minutes.

Hiroyuki Sanada, Jang Dong-Gun, Cecilia Cheung, Nicholas Tse, Liu Ye and Chen Hong star in the story of a general and his loyal slave who fall in love with a princess, who is pursued by a vengeful duke.

Chen Hong, Han San Ping, Etchie Stroh and Moonstone Entertainment produced the Beijing 21st Century ShengKai Ltd and China Film Group Corp picture.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 10 Feb 2006, 08:04

It's clear we have to avoid all non-asian versions of Wu Ji (just like House of Flying Daggers).
I just hope the Deltamac edition will do the film justice.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 10 Feb 2006, 16:11

Was House of Flying Daggers abridged in the west?

I know the US made cuts for bloodshed and the UK fo horsefalls.

Anything else...?