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Hero

Year:

2004

Duration:

99 min | China:107 min (extended version) | China:93 min | Turkey:89 min (TV version) | 80 min (unapproved cut) (USA)

Genres:

Action | Adventure | History

IMDB rate:

7.9

Director:

Yimou Zhang

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 34 wins & 25 nominations

Details

Country: China

Release Date: 2004-08-27

Filming Locations: Dunhuang, Gansu, China

Earnings

Budget: $31,000,000

Opening Weekend: $18,004,319 (USA) (29 August 2004)

Gross: $53,710,019 (USA) (25 November 2004)

Cast

Actor

Character

Ziyi Zhang

Hero

Jet Li

Nameless

Tony Chiu Wai Leung

Broken Sword

Maggie Cheung

Flying Snow

Daoming Chen

Qin Emperor

Donnie Yen

Sky

Zhongyuan Liu

Old scholar

Tianyong Zheng

Old Servant

Yan Qin

Prime Minister

Xia Bin

Qin Guard #4

Hua Cao

Qin Guard #2

Heizi

Qin Guard #1

James Hong

Qin Emperor

Ma Wen Hua

Head Eunuch

Xu Kuang Hua

Pianist

Liu Jie

Qin Guard #6

Li Lei

Qin Guard #3

Emil Lin

Nameless

Bruce Locke

Sky

Jin Ming

Eunuch

Angela Oh

Moon

Peng Qiang

Qin Guard #5

James Sie

Broken Sword

Elizabeth Sung

Flying Snow

Shou Xin Wang

Musician

Chang Xiao Yang

General

Zhang Yi

Qin Guard #7

Yakun Zhang

The Qin guards' commander

Tielin Zhang

(uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

Among fans, this is part of the "Zhang Ziyi trilogy," which includes Hero (2002), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and House of Flying Daggers (2004.) In all three films, her romantic relationship is ended with the death of either herself or her boyfriend.

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In ancient China, when someone claimed that he killed his enemies, he needed to present their heads (tou zi) as proof instead of their weapons. Director Yimou Zhang modified this, mindful of the audience's stomachs, thus making the story less accurate.

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Robin Shou was the original choice for the role of Sky but dropped out for unknown reasons. Jet Li then suggested to the director that Donnie Yen would make the perfect opponent for Jet's own character.

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Goofs

In the scene where everyone is in white (the white calligraphy brush demonstration scene) there are positioning errors. Snow is on the right, Broken Sword is on the left. While Nameless faces them talking, he looks in the opposite directions.

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When Nameless goes outside to help Flying Snow to fend off arrows, he shuts the door. Then later we still can see the door open.

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When Nameless shows Sky's broken spear to Broken Sword and Snow, he had directed them to meet at midnight - yet when he leaves, it is clearly the middle of the day, as a building is visible in sunlight through the doorway.

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Quotes

Moon: I am going to kill you and avenge my master!

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Old Servant: You Must Remember! Strong as the arrows Of Quing may be; though they will shatter Our Cities and destroy Our Nation, they shall Never Extinguish Zhao's Written Word. Today, I Shall Teach You the True Spirit of Our Culture!

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Nameless: Your Majesty, my task is completed now. My decision will cause the deaths of many and Your Majesty will live on. A dead man begs you to remember; a warrior's ultimate act is to lay down his sword.

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Faq

What musical instrument was the old man playing near the beginning of the movie?

That's an ancient Chinese instrument called the "guqin".

Is "Ying xiong" based on a book?

Ying xiong (English: Hero) is based on a screenplay by Chinese writers Feng Li, Bin Wang, and Zhang Yimou, who also directed the film. It is loosely based on the life of Jing Ke, attempted assassination of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, who reigned from 221 BC to 210 BC.

A Note Regarding Spoilers

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

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