After two viewings, I am still not sure what to make of this film, story-wise. I have no problems exalting praise for the cinematography which, for many people, was the drawing point. It's what got me to watch the movie. I had heard it was the most beautiful film ever made. Well, I wouldn't go that far, but it IS visually spectacular. It's even more appreciated now that I watched one of the documentaries in which I learned to what great lengths director Yimou Zhang the crew went to, to make this look so good. It took a lot of patience, waiting for just the right conditions, such as the smooth, silvery lake which only was calm two hours a day.

Overall, I didn't think the story was that appealing except for the good message at the end, about the good of all being more important than satisfying one's personal vengeance. Well, who could argue with that? As for the rest, perhaps being a Westerner unfamiliar with Eastern culture, it's harder for me to relate to the mind-set. I would be interested to know how Asians viewed this story, as opposed to similar films.

Sometimes I think these wild Crouching Tiger-like action scenes are too long and overdone, but at least in this film they were very original and, once again, more visuals feasts than anything else. On my second viewing, I discarded the subtitles and went with the dubbed version to concentrate more on the stunning look of this film. It paid off. Even if I don't quite follow everything, each scene is such eye-candy that you can't go wrong viewing this.

Beautiful story, albeit a little a little convoluted, beautiful characters and sexy actress in a superb action movie.

What else could anyone ask for?

I like Asian movies--especially Samurai movies. However, this movie and others like it (such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) are NOT exactly my cup of tea. Although the MOST famous aspects of these movies are the matrix-like fight scenes, I can't stand them and think that they really detract from the overall pacing and focus of the film. In other words, if you took away the flying through midair and dancing on the surface of the water scenes, the movie would have scored at least an 8 or maybe a 9 with me. I'm sure that puts me in a distinct minority, but I sure would have enjoyed this movie more if it had stayed with a much more realistic portrayal of the Qin dynasty. If this silly and over-the-top style continues in movies, what's next--lasers and space ships in 5th century BC China?!