Featured Audience Ratings

• Jennifer D

  
  Okay, right off the bat, A++++ for color. No lie there. Like, Hands Down winner there. Along with costume, set design, and props. FAN-tastic. I think where this story lost it was the overall pacing and story. The first hour had some small nice fight scenes and then lots and lots of… More
  Okay, right off the bat, A++++ for color. No lie there. Like, Hands Down winner there. Along with costume, set design, and props. FAN-tastic. I think where this story lost it was the overall pacing and story. The first hour had some small nice fight scenes and then lots and lots of talk. And the ending was quite bloody. However I feel as though what happened here was there may have been some back story that was cut. And that's never good. Other takes and scenes were quite long. Too long, really. Still, it gets 3 stars for color alone. Another star because I like Yun-Fat Chow and Li Gong. And keep in mind, if you are in dire need for a visual LSD party for your eyes.... WATCH THIS!!

• Anthony L

  
  It?s no House of flying daggers but stick with it and this film gets good.

• Lanning :

  
  Wow, what a visually amazing work of cinematography. And talk about your proverbial cast of thousands. The climactic battle scene is just beyond epic. I don't think I've ever seen war portrayed quite this way. A very fluid mass of humanity pours across the screen, like… More
  Wow, what a visually amazing work of cinematography. And talk about your proverbial cast of thousands. The climactic battle scene is just beyond epic. I don't think I've ever seen war portrayed quite this way. A very fluid mass of humanity pours across the screen, like two liquids, oil and water maybe, jockeying for position. <p>I love both Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li, and they do not disappoint as the two heavyweight fighters exchanging power punches in a battle of wills. Love and hate, jealousy, intrigue, poisoning, murder, incest, fratricide -- this is Greek tragedy, this is Shakespeare, this is all kinds of hallmark tragic traditions rolled into one pretty tight script. Definitely worth seeing.

• xGary X

  
  The Curse Of The Golden Flower is a historical epic starring Chow Yun-Fat as a Chinese emperor who rules both his lands and family with an iron fist. A plot to assassinate his empress results in an attempted coup to wrest power from his grasp. This story has a lot of potential for… More
  The Curse Of The Golden Flower is a historical epic starring Chow Yun-Fat as a Chinese emperor who rules both his lands and family with an iron fist. A plot to assassinate his empress results in an attempted coup to wrest power from his grasp. This story has a lot of potential for political machinations, scheming and the kind of epic, heroic battles you'd expect from Zhang Yimou. The costumes and sets are of a scale and splendour it is impossible to ignore and his eye for aesthetic beauty is as evident as ever. But it seemed to me that the actors had been demoted to nothing more than elaborate mannequins on which to hang these incredible creations, arranged to make the most attractively composed images, rather than to facilitate the narrative or create empathy or even interest for the viewer. The characters and their relationships are barely fleshed out, and I never felt I'd got to know any of them or their personal motivations at all. Gong Li is the only one to wrest any screen time away from her sumptuous surroundings and she was always fighting a losing battle for attention with her quite hypnotic cleavage. I think Zhang was trying to create a Shakespearean tragedy, but his eye was so unwaveringly concerned with the style of the film rather than the substance, the result is little more than a collection of pretty pictures.

• Robert C

  
  This story makes some of Shakespeare's more bloddy works, seem like a Harlequin romance novel! Murder, intrigue, deceit and treachery abound in this visually stunning film. You need only look at the cast to get a feel for what awaits you. But nothing can prepare you for… More
  This story makes some of Shakespeare's more bloddy works, seem like a Harlequin romance novel! Murder, intrigue, deceit and treachery abound in this visually stunning film. You need only look at the cast to get a feel for what awaits you. But nothing can prepare you for the beauty of the sets and costumes that will overwhelm your senses. Be forwarned that while there are some great fight scenes and excellent special effects...that is not the main focus of this film. It is first and foremost a powerful character drama.

• Dean !

  
  I was disappointed to be honest, I had hoped this would be as good as Hero. Visually it is stunning, bright and colourful with great attention to detail. However on the action and fighting side it is a let down. Not much happens for the first hour, there are some good fights towards… More
  I was disappointed to be honest, I had hoped this would be as good as Hero. Visually it is stunning, bright and colourful with great attention to detail. However on the action and fighting side it is a let down. Not much happens for the first hour, there are some good fights towards the end but didn't live up to expectation!

• Michael G

  
  I can appreciate the numerous months spent on costume and set design that went into Curse of the Golden Flower without a doubt. But in the end all this movie was is Shakespeare with some sparse wire fights. The performances were okay but that ending was utter horseshit. Go watch Hero… More
  I can appreciate the numerous months spent on costume and set design that went into Curse of the Golden Flower without a doubt. But in the end all this movie was is Shakespeare with some sparse wire fights. The performances were okay but that ending was utter horseshit. Go watch Hero or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon instead. Granted there aren't as many push-up bras and hypnotic cleavage around in those movies, but you probably won't fall asleep out of boredom.

• Ginny  

  
  Pretty complex story, not really something I managed to understand in one sitting. The story unfolds quite slowly, but it manages to keep its viewers hooked by the intrigue of unravelling things one at a time, meshed with the intensly stunning visuals. Personally, I think they… More
  Pretty complex story, not really something I managed to understand in one sitting. The story unfolds quite slowly, but it manages to keep its viewers hooked by the intrigue of unravelling things one at a time, meshed with the intensly stunning visuals. Personally, I think they went extremely over the top on the visuals, I dont think they needed that much to make the movie work, but it didnt manage to ruin the movie at all, infact it made it quite full to watch (for the analyically impaired). hehehe!

• Red L

  
  Amazing visuals; the sets, the costumes, etc. Is life so cheap in Chinese culture that no one bats an eye that so many are killed?

• Gordon A

  
  Gorgeous sets and costumes can't mask a slightly over familiar plot which doesn't grip like Zhang's previous efforts. The palace setting also robs the film of an epic feel.

• Saskia D

  
  This movie is almost literally eyecandy, sometimes it almost hurts to watch. The story in itself is pretty weak, but Li Gongs performance makes up for it. <a href="http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o145/nu1986/?action=view&current=curse9.jpg"… More
  This movie is almost literally eyecandy, sometimes it almost hurts to watch. The story in itself is pretty weak, but Li Gongs performance makes up for it. <a href="http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o145/nu1986/?action=view&current=curse9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o145/nu1986/curse9.jpg" border="0" alt="Curse of The Golden Flower"></a>

• Dean M

  
  Not a bad epic about the folly of war and the disintegration of one family under the weigt of unrequited love, unforgivable betrayals, and a never-ending thirst of power. Gong Li is exquisite.

• Luke B

  
  Although the least effective of Yimou's recent journey into Wuxia it is certainly the most beautiful. This is a film of pure spectacle, with incredible costumes and indescribeable set design. Gong Li herself is so fantastically stunning I want to marry her. The fight scenes are… More
  Although the least effective of Yimou's recent journey into Wuxia it is certainly the most beautiful. This is a film of pure spectacle, with incredible costumes and indescribeable set design. Gong Li herself is so fantastically stunning I want to marry her. The fight scenes are also impressive but this film is on a more complex and less personal level than HOFD or Hero.. Unfortunately the film gets caught up in itself but is still worth a watch as it is a visual feast.

• Craig S

  
  <u><b>Directed by:</u> Yimou Zhang.</b> <u><b>Starring:</u> Chow Yun-Fat, Jay Chou, Li Gong, Man Li, Qin Junjie.</b> MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD. The main reason I think I was drawn to this film was because of Yimou Zhang, director of House… More
  <u><b>Directed by:</u> Yimou Zhang.</b> <u><b>Starring:</u> Chow Yun-Fat, Jay Chou, Li Gong, Man Li, Qin Junjie.</b> MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD. The main reason I think I was drawn to this film was because of Yimou Zhang, director of House of Flying Daggers and Hero, I knew very little of the story mainly because it was an extremely limited release in New Zealand and I had to go out of my way just to see it....and I'm glad I saw it in theaters before it finished, although I haven't yet seen House of Flying Daggers and Hero I found to be more amazing style over substance, I enjoyed this the most out of the Yimou Zhang films I have seen.....because it does have substance. The film is set during the Tang Dynasty in 928 A.D, it follows an emperess, who is the emperor's second wife, she has has two children with him and helped raised the emperor's oldest son as the birth mother died many years before. It is coming to the end of the emperor's control over the empire and there is soon to be a Chrysanthemums (Golden Flower) festival that symbolises the families bond. I really do not want to tell you anymore then that, but I was pleasantly surprised with the development of the story between the family and the sub-characters, it shows us the lies and the betrayal in this empire and it shows us that each character, like people in real life are capable of doing such things to each other. The direction by Yimou Zhang is amazing beautiful, full of a vast vision and great control. The cinematography, set design and costumes are outstanding and extremely Oscar-worthy, a beautiful use of rich colours, amazingly realistic sets and authentic and very well crafted costumes. The martial arts style action sequences are directed by Siu-Tung Ching is everything hollywood action films should be, the direction is controlled and the camera's stay with it all, there is no shaky cams or off screen violence, it is in your face and amazingly shot. The one thing that is added to this film which isn't common in films like this is CGI....there is alot of it and thankfully, even with the low budget (some scenes you can tell), it still dazzles and excites. The acting emsemble is quite small but everyone delivers brilliant performances, with Gong Li showing amazing range and control and Chow Yun-Fat infecting the screen with his powerful essence as an actor....and I can't forget to mention the beautifully tragic score. There is one problem I did have with the film (and don't mind the small spoilers here), and that is with the battle sequence...for the first half of the film we follow 5 main characters and are shown the development of them, but we are never really shown the empire itself and as soon as the battle starts, 100,000's of men come out of nowhere.....and with the Golden Flowers getting destroyed because of the battle, we are shown another 10,000 people or so, running out and putting out new flowers, out of nowhere.....but thankfully those small flaws don't ruin the film for me, it is one of the best Yimou Zhang films I have seen, with an amazing vision and battle sequences, a greatly developed story focusing on its characters and outstanding cinematography, set design and costumes. An epic soap opera that stays strong, even with its low budget.

• EightThirty .

  
  It's not a movie that I'd like 2 like...but i liked it ^_^ I'm still thinking about it....WOW

• JY S

  
  I am a sucker when it comes to Chinese period/Wuxia films. Movies like <i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</i> and <i>Hero</i> immediately come to mind when mentioning this genre. This movie seemed to have a really big budget and it seemed to have used up all… More
  I am a sucker when it comes to Chinese period/Wuxia films. Movies like <i>Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon</i> and <i>Hero</i> immediately come to mind when mentioning this genre. This movie seemed to have a really big budget and it seemed to have used up all that money, but yet the movie falls short in my book.<p>The story itself is very interesting with a bunch of good twists and turns. One of the greater stories I've seen in a while. Unfortunately, the story telling isn't all that fantastic. In many places the scenes seemed to take for ever to get through and the story seemed to drag on and on. Especially in the beginning. This movie could have improved greatly with greater dialogue and a quicker pace. The story was there, it just wasn't executed nicely.</p><p>For the people that are watching this to see the action, <b>don't</b>. The action in this movie comes at <b>very few</b> moments. There are a few small choreographed sequences in the middle, but they are by no means anything spectacular. The best part of the movie is probably the big "lord of the ring esque" type battle at the end. No fancy sword fighting at all. Pretty much spear throwing and arrows flying most of the way through, which looks pretty nice though.</p><p>At the beginning the movie looks visually stunning. You can see that they put the time, effort, and probably a crap load of money into everything. Notice that I said "at the beginning." Well, the visuals are constant throughout, but many, like myself, may become annoyed after awhile. It really did seem that the aesthetics were over done. GOLD was everywhere. The robes were GOLD. The armor was GOLD. The walls were lined with GOLD. The many accessories were GOLD. Even spears were GOLD. Hell, even the subtitles were GOLD. Actually they were yellow but you get the idea. This really was the curse of the GOLDEN flower. I was getting tired of seeing GOLD about a quarter of the way through this.</p><p>The acting wasn't anything spectacular with the exception of Li Gong. She actually had the best part because she was the most emotional one throughout the film. Everyone else had pretty much dull scenes which anyone could have done just as well.</p><p>Overall, this movie had a great story to start with, but it could not improve beyond that. Only watch this if your in the mood for an interesting story.

• Fernando Rafael Q

  
  this movie was the Chinese entry for the "Best Foreign Film" category at this year's Oscars, though it didn't receive a nod, it got one for costume design. "Golden Flower's" gift and curse is its spectacular beauty, because the director wanted to… More
  this movie was the Chinese entry for the "Best Foreign Film" category at this year's Oscars, though it didn't receive a nod, it got one for costume design. "Golden Flower's" gift and curse is its spectacular beauty, because the director wanted to represent the beauty and opulence of the royal class in China, he forgot a little about the script, still the great Gong Li is the best performance of the movie (this woman is one of the world's best actresses and prettiest women). Could've been better, but visually, it is stunning and the most gorgeous film i've ever seen

• Ross C

  
  The days of Chinese empire are portrayed with lavish colours and stylish battle scenes in a pretty movie with a simple plot of love and betrayal. A fairytale that is perfect Sunday afternoon viewing.

• Lee ?

  
  A visually stunning movie with outstanding costumes and sets and vibrant colours, but the movie is let down by a very slow start which made me a little restless at times. The story does involve some surprises and twists towards the end which triggers off an awesomely choreographed… More
  A visually stunning movie with outstanding costumes and sets and vibrant colours, but the movie is let down by a very slow start which made me a little restless at times. The story does involve some surprises and twists towards the end which triggers off an awesomely choreographed battle sequence. Prior to this battle there are a couple of minor skirmishes of action but not enough to consider this an action movie - it's much more of a drama which I wasn't expecting. The acting all-round is excellent - especially by Li-Gong and Chow Yun-Fat.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Nice balance of drama and action, Chow Yun Fat is frigging ruthless as the omnipotent emperor. It's good to see the man back in good roles. Gong Li is great as well, cleavage and all. This is no Hero but certainly not a "House of Flying Daggers".

Read all 20 featured audience ratings