At the end of China`s warring states, the Kingdom of Qin is the most ambitious and ruthless of the seven states. Its` King is the target of assassins from all over China. Of all the would be assassins, Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) and Sky (Donnie Yen) are the most dangerous. When Nameless (Jet Li) kills all three of them, he is offered a chance to meet the King. Nameless explains how he used their personal relationships to expose and attack their weaknesses, but - in a similar scenario to Akira Kurosawa`s Rashomon (1950) the King tells a different version of the same story....There`s no denying a lot of care was put into this film, it is amazingly shot and beautiful to watch (what do you expect when Wong Kar Wai`s cinematographer Chris Doyle is at the helm?). I liked the clever use of the colour scheme (green/red/white/blue) that was used by Zhang Yimou to emphasise different things.An all star cast was assembled for this film - and everyone performs well in their own ways I think. Tony Leung and Maggie especially are excellent, turning in a performance which draws comparisons with the Wong Kar Wai movie In The Mood For Love (2000). Playing the role of Broken Swords servant Moon, Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Road Home) is gorgeous, though her turn perhaps reminded me of Jen Yu in Crouching Tiger too much, as if she`d phoned her performance in. Donnie Yen`s part is sadly also little more than an extended cameo, though his fight in the rain with Nameless (Jet Li) is very impressive.Of course, comparisons are bound to be drawn between CTHD and this film - Maggie`s/Zhang Ziyi`s forest fight reminded me of the sword duel of the earlier CTHD, as did the balletic walking on water or flying through the air. To top it off, the composer Tan Dun wrote a score for Hero that is not too dissimilar to the one in CTHD (particularly at the beginning and end with the drums and violins).If I have any complaints at all, I would have liked to have seen more character development and backstory. I also wasn't sure about the way the tyrannical King is portrayed as simply a misunderstood man, ignoring what he was really like in Ancient Chinese history and what he did to his people. This doesn't show the whole picture. Plot gripes nothwithstanding, bear in mind that what we have here is essentially a Producer`s Cut of the film, assembled by American company Miramax and missing about 20 minutes from Zhang Yimou`s original vision. One can only hope the rumored Extended Edition of the film gets a release on DVD in Hong Kong or the US someday.Overall though, I think this is an outstanding piece of cinema.