House Of Flying Daggers UMD-Video For PSP Review

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Title: House Of Flying Daggers

Region: One

Genre: Romance Tragedy Martial Arts Action

Stars: Ziyi Zhang, Takeshi Kanshiro, and Andy Lau

Writers: Li Feng, Zhang Yimou, and Wang Bin

Based On A Story By: Zhang Yimou, Li Feng, and Wang Bin

Director: Zhang Yimou

Feature length: 119 minutes

Extras: Previews

Languages: Chinese Stereo Sound and English and French Language Dubbed Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English Language Subtitles

Packaging: Keep Case

Chapter Stops: 28

Sound: Stereo Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 2004/UMD Release: 2005

Theatrical Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Home Video Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Ziyi Zhang portrays a spy for a rebel group known as the House of Flying Daggers. Their lethal precision with throwing knives is only matched by their martial arts skills and ability to approach an enemy with stealth. The government of the province is unjust and corrupt. There is great fear that unless the Flying Daggers are somehow infiltrated, the leaders will be overthrown. So a guard is dispatched to purposely let the spy go and follow her back as a companion to expose the secret hiding place of the rebellion. Since Ziyi Zhang’s character is presumed to be blind, no effort is made to disguise her escort and the men that follow close behind. Over the course of their journey they face various challenges until finally they discover their greatest test is not to survive with enemies on both sides, but to love each other enough to say goodbye for a common good.

I have not seen enough of these genre import films to be certain, but after seeing Zhang Yimou’s last feature film effort “Hero” and looking back on Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” I feel like I am beginning to see a cultural archetype in these movies, which unfortunately I cannot go into great detail without revealing spoilers so I am going to briefly give my thoughts in red type and give some spoiler space between this paragraph and the one to follow. If you do not want anything from any of the above films spoiled for you, please skip the next red paragraph and continue on to the black type. Thank you.

Spoiler Space

I have noticed in American and British culture that historical battles in which the enemy vastly outnumbers the American or British fighters are often characterized with glorious tales of gallantry so that the annihilated are elevated to the level of myths and legends. “Remember The Alamo” or “Custard’s Last Stand” at the Battle of Little Bighorn are two examples that come to mind right away because the American West is where this country’s cultural heritage was fully realized. The Zulus in Africa slaughtered the British as dramatized in the films “Zulu” and it’s prequel “Zulu Dawn.” If you look at Shakespeare’s “Henry V,” Hal is basically lifting the morale of his men who our vastly outnumbered by the French to frame their possible defeat as an ending to be remembered for generations to come. Of course we know the English actually won the Battle of Agincourt and so the “glory” of that fight is quite different from the other battles noted above. However if you watch Zhang Yimou’s “Hero” you will see the superiority of the future first Emperor’s archers and in consulting some historical websites the English use of the longbow during the Battle of Agincourt is what turned the fight to Henry’s favor. In “Hero” despite the fact certain amount of carnage will follow the warlord’s attempt to unify China, Jet Li’s character ultimately sees it as a greater good for his nation so much for that he gives his life up willingly for the love of his country. In “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” Li Mu Bai’s own love is star-crossed as is the love triangle that forms in “House Of Flying Daggers.” In both cases there is both a physical and spiritual death for an ideal like love so that somehow the viewer gets a cathartic experience from the cinematic storyteller. In all three films it appears that death in inevitable for one or all of the main characters and yet from it we get some sense a greater beauty or symmetry either on a grand scale such as in “Hero” or in a more personal sense such as both “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “House Of Flying Daggers.” My question to anyone who can offer some greater insight into Asian culture for my readers and I is beyond the obvious archetypal storytelling, is there something in Chinese culture that glorifies death for a higher ideal and as can be seen in some of my references to British and American culture, could this be seen as a part of what Jung called the “collective unconscious” working in humanity regardless of race, politics, distance, and creed?

End Of Possible Spoilers

“House Of Flying Daggers” was honored with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Cinematography and it is a well-deserved nomination because the colors and visual compositions are outstanding. While my DVD-Video review of this film is forthcoming, I sincerely do not see the reason to alter the presentation of a film from the anamorphic (2.35:1) aspect ratio the DVD has to an anamorphic (1.78:1) aspect ratio for the UMD because despite the small size of the screen, the PSP has a widescreen picture and as an owner of a 16 by 9 television and laptop, I can say that these aspect ratios do not look like dental floss as they might appear on a (1.33:1) television so why alter the image of such a beautiful looking film? The clarity of the image is excellent and the English Language Dubbed Stereo Soundtrack is clear and quite full sounding even when listening to the film on the PSP’s tiny stereo speakers. The original Chinese Stereo Soundtrack and a French Language Dubbed Stereo Soundtrack are also included along with English Language Subtitles as options.

The menus are fully animated and easy to navigate. Since it appears that the best possible picture and sound quality rightfully are of the most importance for this Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release, none of the extra value features from the DVD are included on the UMD. There are just preview trailers for “Hellboy” and “xXx,” which are both available now on UMD for the PSP from Sony.

“House Of Flying Daggers” is a beautiful film to watch regardless of the size of the screen one views it on and it is available now on UMD for the PSP at retailers on and offline courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

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