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| The Promise |
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Buy New: $6.80
Buy New from $6.80
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 2342
Category: DVD
Actor: Cecilia Cheung
Director: Chen Kaige
Format: Letterboxed
Languages: Mandarin Chinese (Unknown), English (Subtitled)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 121 minutes
UPC: 456612156138
EAN: 0456612156138
ASIN: B000F73V2W
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
The Promise came to American shores with endless hype about its visual splendor--and for once, the hype is deserved. Lush and luminous, almost every shot will make you want to weep from its sheer loveliness. A starving young orphan girl named Qingcheng is offered a deal by a capricious goddess: The girl will be staggeringly beautiful and have all the wealth, delicious food, and fabulous clothing she could ask for--but every man she ever loves will die. Thus begins a twisty tale in which a fleet-footed slave (Korean actor Dong-Kun Jang) and a mighty general (Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada, The White Countess) compete for the love of the adult Qingcheng (Hong Kong beauty Cecilia Cheung), while a vengeful usurper (Hong Kong star Nicholas Tse, Time and Tide) seeks to destroy them all. Like many of the classics of Hong Kong fantasy--such as A Chinese Ghost Story, Swordsman II, and Green Snake--The Promise combines the epic storylines of Chinese mythology with the headlong momentum and energetic editing of kung-fu action movies. The result can sometimes seem absurd to American audiences--though these same audiences will happily swallow the absurdities of American science fiction, simply because they're familiar with the conventions of the genre. Viewers who embrace the conventions of Hong Kong fantasy will find The Promise engaging and emotionally rich...and there's just no denying the gorgeousness. Compared with the sterile spectacle of the later Star Wars movies or the clumsy, labored Matrix sequels, The Promise bursts with human warmth, dynamic storytelling, and elegant design. More Western audiences should open themselves to its pleasures. --Bret Fetzer
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Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Astoundingly Beautiful May 28, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This movie is unforgettable in terms of the beauty that it presents. It is visually astonishing. Pure magic!
A beautiful film May 16, 2006
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I had the fortunate experience of seeing "The Promise" in theatre over the past weekend. I personally loved it even though I don't like love stories and I am tired of the atypical Chinese film ala "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero" with its over the top martial arts. I was also pleased that finally there was film from China that didn't star Zhang Ziyi whom I have never been too wild about as an actress.
Cecilia Cheung stars as Qingcheng as an orphaned girl who is given the opportunity to change her destiny from being impoverished and orphaned to having all the riches in the world. The only catch is that all the men she will love over the years will be lost to her.
For the first twenty - thirty minutes of the film, the story focuses on General Guangming and his slave Kunlun. General Guangming wears this lavished red military attire. When the general is unable to go rescue the king from the enemy WuHuan, he has Kunlun wears his armor and sends him to rescue the king. It is Kunlun in the armor with the mask down that Qingcheng falls in love with. Needless to say, the encounterleads to deception, love, betrayal and death through out the entire film.
The costumes were absolutely stunning especially Guangming's armor. I personally liked the computer generated effects. The music fit perfectly with the mood of each scene. It was nice for once to see a movie that actually made sense and wasn't as confusing like "The House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero". My only beef is that the beginning of the film with General Guangming and his army who were up against an enormous army of barbarians dragged on a bit too long. Overall I enjoyed "The Promise" immensely.
Vivid and Vibrant Love Story on Choices May 14, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The poor orphan girl Quingchen is made an offer at the age of 5 from the Goddess Manschen.... she can be the beauty of beauties, the richest of royalty, but there is one catch - any man she loves will die and all happinness with him is fleeting. When Quingchen agrees her destiny is sealed. 20 years later the slave Kunlun who is a survivor of the land of the Snow People (demi-gods) goes into the service of the people's war hero General. A love triangle emerges when Kunlun wears the crimson armour in disguise and rescues Quingchen who believing he is the General, falls in love with the General. Kunlun is taught by the "one cursed to wear black, a trained assasin of the Emperor of the North" about his true heritage. Kunlun is also the only one who can break the love curse of Quingchen by running swiftly to his heart's desire to turn back time so she can choose wisely again. It's got a lot of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon type cinematography and blends fantasy with references to shamanic myths ... and the lesson is for all of us ... is true love worth it? Is it priceless after all?
 Snowing in April May 12, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The Promise (Wu Ji)" tries too hard to sweep us off our feet with material that defies taking flight, though almost all of the characters do that very thing. Kaige Chen, director of such stunning films as "Temptress Moon" and "Farewell My Concubine" tries his level best to make this film work and there is not doubt that the visuals are stunning and that the actors, particularly Dong-Kun Jang as Kunlun ( a man from the "Snow Land" who runs like the devil) and Cecelia Cheung as Princess Qingcheng manage to give memorable performances.
Unfortunately, the over-riding sense here is that we've been here, seen that...and seen it much better in "House of Flying Daggers" and "Hero." "The Promise" is beautiful to look at and a few scenes are genuinely emotional but unfortunately it is also empty, devoid of any kind of magic at its core.
Too derivative May 9, 2006
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Maybe if I hadn't gorged myself on Hong Kong movies in the 90s my standards wouldn't be so high, but this movie has the look and feel of a dozen better movies (including the crossover movies of Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee) and it suffers too much from the comparisons. It's got the discipline of the Zhang Yimou movies and the dopiness of the 90s HK movies. Watching this movie, I felt like the director shot the screenplay as is without rewrites and managed to use a lot of the better sets with production values.
What I didn't get was an ounce of passion. The reasons why the girl is in love with the slave (whom she thinks is the general in one of those Cyrano de Bergerac twists) are stupid. The curse/promise is obviously made to be broken and the villain is the only thing this movie has going for him (feather boas rule!)
Beyond that it's a mishmosh of martial arts sequences filmed many times over and storylines cribbed from The Young & the Restless. I find myself amazed that cheesier/clumsier/cheaper movies like Green Snake and Bride with White Hair surpass this movie. But they had emotion and passion (not to mention Tsui Hark and Ronnie Yu) and this one just has pretty sets (but not as pretty as Zhang Yimou's sets so even here the movie fails)
See it as a bargain movie maybe, but don't pay full price.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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