Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100815 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-09-17
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Import, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese
• Dubbed in: Chinese, English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
Tsui Hark was supposedly inspired by the then-groundbreaking effects of the first Star Wars trilogy when he made Zu, a fantasy action film starring Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung, Brigitte Lin, and Adam Cheung. In a somewhat confused story line, a young soldier (played by Biao) stumbles onto a magic temple after escaping an all-out civil war battle between various armies. There he meets a magic swordsman (Cheung) and his disciples, who enlist him to help fight against the evil Blood Monster. They also run across a group of swordswomen and an ice goddess (played by Lin) who appear primarily to sprinkle in some romance and humor. The 1983 special effects look dated, but they were once revolutionary, this film forming the very first special-effects house in Hong Kong. And the playful spirit behind the effects hasn't faded. Demons (which look suspiciously like the Sand People in Star Wars) fly about in an impressive aerial ballet, and in another scene, an evil demon is bounced between pillars like a pinball. One of Tsui's earliest films, Zu is a good introduction to the fast and furious style of one of Hong Kong's most visionary directors. --Shannon Gee

Customer Reviews

Tsui Hark's landmark HK film of special effects and fantasy
Tsui Hark, who went to film school at the University of Texas, is one of the most influencial filmmakers of Hong Kong. In this film, he made an effort to attract Hollywood special effects artists to come to Hong Kong and not only create a visually impressive film, but also to teach his team how the effects are done. This film was the result of that effort, and it shows. By the way, the previous mention of computer effects is incorrect. Not only does this film pre-date extensive use of computer-generated effects, but the suggestion that Lightwave is made by SGI instead of Newtek is also incorrect. Zu is a fantasy film, and the influence it (and other Tsui Hark films, like A Chinese Ghost Story) has had on other filmmakers is highly evident.

Visually innovative
Does it have a disjointed plot? Yep. Poor continuity? You bet. Incomprehensible ending? Sure. Cheesy effects? Yes again, by modern standards, anyway. Is it a massively cool film? Hell, yes!

Do not watch this movie expecting deeply moving themes, great acting, high art, or really just about anything you'd normally watch a movie for. If you do, you'll be disappointed. This is not a normal movie. Watching Zu is really more of a life Experience. Think of yourself as Winne-the-Pooh Watching Surreal Fantasy Images.

This film achieves a level of fantastic strangeness rarely equaled in live-action cinema. Where else will you see a man imprisoning an evil demon using his eyebrows, or a man chained to rocks being sucked into the mouth of hell? No, none of it makes much sense, but just go with it, and you won't regret it.

...
At an hour and fourty-something minutes, The Legend of Zu is a movie too quixotic for its own good. If anything, movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Come Drink With Me show that a more contemplative pacing can suit HK movies just as much as the frenetic. If Tsui Hark had decompressed this movie into a three hour film, I would practically bet my life that it would be among the best fantasy movies ever... Wings of Desire, Fantasia, The Lord of the Rings, etc...

In its present state, Legend of Zu is breathtaking when it's in its element. With a few exceptions (especially the lame rendering of the big bad guy) , the visuals and cgi are stunning in their beauty, even the decidedly cheesy ones. The soundtrack is never as intrusive as it often gets in HK movies. The story is grand, epic, and worthy of pretty much every other (positively) similar adjective. So grand, in fact, it's too much for 1 hr 40 min, as a result, it feels bloated, and as if we're drowning in the ocean of characters, relationships, conflicts, concepts, and histories it constantly pitches towards us (I would also have liked to see more of the human conflicts going on, if only to put the other action in better perspective).

This is definately a movie worth watching -for its ambitions and even just some of the amazing visuals- and even in such an imperfect state, I think with patience and your mind filtering out out some of the irrelevant information, you might even enjoy it for itself.