Hero (1997) User Reviews

Old-fashioned melodrama energized by New Wave fervor

[Libretio · 6/10 · 1 January 2005]

HERO (Ma Yong Zhen)

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Mono

Corey Yuen's period adventure HERO marked an impressive return to the action movie fold by Shaw Brothers, following a long period in which the studio had concentrated almost exclusively on TV production. A remake of the Chang Cheh classic BOXER FROM SHANTUNG (1972), HERO follows the adventures of a courageous country boy (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who flees rural poverty and relocates to Shanghai circa 1911, where his impressive fighting skills bring him to the attention of a benevolent gangster (Yuen Biao) who agrees to mentor him. Thus emboldened, Kaneshiro rises through the ranks of the criminal underworld, until he's challenged by a powerful rival (Yuen Tak) who plots against him. Tragedy ensues.

The concept is old-fashioned, but director Yuen energizes proceedings with New Wave fervor, employing thousands of extras in a bid to recreate the majesty of old Shanghai, whilst filming the combat sequences in a defiantly modern manner, pitting hordes of axe-wielding assailants against lone protagonists who are forced to use acrobatic manoeuvres and everyday objects to fend off a potentially horrific death. Yuen's script (co-written with Kay On) is eventful and melodramatic, and the sweeping visuals (by cinematographer Tom Lau) are further highlighted by a sumptuous music score, co-written by William Hu, Raymond Wong and Lincoln Lo. But while the film delivers on action and spectacle, it fails to establish the characters as anything more than stock figures, which essentially limits the narrative's dramatic impact. For all that, however, the performances are uniformly excellent, and HERO's all-star cast is divided squarely into the beautiful (Kaneshiro, Valerie Chow, Jessica Hester), the bold (Yuen Biao at his most virtuous), and the beastly (Yuen Tak as the villain, lacking only a top hat, cloak and twirly moustache).

NB. Shot in mainland China, the film was consequently subject to strict Chinese censorship laws which curtailed some of the gorier violence (a Shaw Brothers trademark). These scenes weren't restored for the HK theatrical/video release, though a more complete version turned up later on DVD in the UK.

(Cantonese dialogue)

"Hero" - Period Shanghai Gangster epic

[ChungMo · 6/10 · 28 May 2007]

A rare post studio closure kung fu spectacular from the Shaw Brothers. Even Mona Fong is involved. Longtime kung fu actor and director, Corey Yuen, has the reins.

The plot follows the exploits of a refugee from Shangdong province, Ma Wing Ching, and his brother as they try to climb the ladder of success in the chaos of colonial Shanghai in the 1930's. Ma Wing Ching is a super kung fu fighter although it's never explained how he got so good. He gets involved with the local king pin Tam See, played by Yuen Biao and falls in love with a beautiful singer at one of Tam See's nightclubs. After fighting off a rival gang, Ma Wing Ching is given a chance to work for Tam See but he refuses and proceeds to build a criminal empire of his own. But it's a nice criminal empire as Ma is sympathetic to the plight of the exploited Shanghai coolies! All doesn't go well as Ma becomes the target of the rival gangs.

The first thing I noticed was the excellent recreation of Shanghai and all the period trappings. This is a well designed film. The martial arts are as expected from Corey Yuen and well done. When the action is going it's very entertaining. Unfortunately Mr. Yuen's cartoonish style seems at odds with the very realistic sets. The fights are absolutely fantastic in both senses of the word. Things happen that are completely unrealistic and that sort of hurts the film. Mr. Yuen also has no sense of epic scale and many of the great sets are never shown very well. The camera-work is good but not anything to raise the film up above a dozen other martial art films of the last twenty years. The story treats the characters very superficially and that causes boredom to set in at times.

Fun but not among the greats.

Shame could have been great

[phillipjbrown · 6/10 · 6 October 2020]

With a better script and thought this could have been a great film. The cinematography is good and the set designs excellent but the plot and script let it down. Yuen was getting older here but still has some good moves and can act, unlike many of the others including Kaneshiro. But Yuen Tak can fight if way over the top in his villain role. The rest of the characters are not memorable but several of the set piece fights are good.

Neo-classic epic of Shaw Brothers!

[luke-35 · 12 December 1998]

If anybody remembers the Shaw Bros., this revived version of early 70's classic movie, originally heroed by Kwan-Tai Chan, would suffice their expectation. Except for the absence of Chan's legendary charisma in old version (I never could have found it from Kaneshiro), this movie is full of satisfactory style and high-stunt action which are originated from Chang Cheh's works in Shaw Bros. in early 60's. Very stylish and meticuliously taken in main China, taking full consideration of old fans' taste for Biao Yuen's fantastic agility and John Woo's blood-spirting gunny action. Plot and performance are just so-so, but the music and art design are very luxurious. As an old fan, I would prefer the old one since no young-generated star like Kaneshiro could not fit for the character of Ma Wingjing,nowadays. However, as a standpoint of the renaissance of Shaw Bros.' golden age in 70's, this movie shed a confident light on their future industry, not in Hong Kong any more but in mainland China.

Good gangster and martial arts mixture...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 15 June 2020]

Well, I must say that this 1997 Hong Kong movie from director Corey Yuen actually turned out to be more enjoyable and entertaining that I had initially expected it to be. I mean, the setting of the movie wasn't really one that was overly appealing to me, as it is something that has been seen countless times before in Asian cinema.

But still, I was given the chance to sit down and watch this movie, so of course I did. I am, after all, a big fan of Asian cinema.

While the movie does have Takeshi Kaneshiro on the leading role, I think that the movie was actually more adequately carried by the performances of Biao Yuen and Wah Yuen.

"Hero" (aka "Ma Yong Zhen") was a nice mixture of gangster movie mixed with elements of drama and martial arts. There was a good abundance of everything throughout the movie. And the storyline was actually rather good, with an intersting story and good characters.

The movie does, however, have that archetypical late 1990s action movie from Hong Kong feel to it - in terms of action sequences and the sounds during the fight scenes. So for better or worse, keep that in mind when you watch the movie.

My rating of "Hero" is a six out of ten stars. It is an enjoyable movie, although it is not among the top of the line of Hong Kong cinema.

Man, this movie!

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 17 August 2022]

A remake of The Boxer from Shantung, Hero is the story of Ma Wing-jing (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and his older brother Ma Tai-cheung (Yuen Wah), who have left their home to find fortune on the streets of Shanghai.

Sadly, the streets are not paved with gold and the brothers find themselves merely existing by doing manual labor. Yet one day while admiring gangster Tam Sei's (Yuen Biao) horse carriage, Ma Wing-jing is challenged to a race: Tam Sei's horse against his human running ability. Sure, he loses, but the two become friends.

Tam Sei may have the British government on his side, but his rival Yang Shuang (Yuen Tak) has the cops on his payroll. Once Ma Wing-jing saves Tam Sei from an assassination attempt, he is given some territory and power, which goes to his head. He eventually pushes himself toward fighting Yang Shuang on his own.

Director Corey Yuen and writer Jeffrey Lau made a gangster epic that is only 90 minutes long plus it has martial arts and wild moments like Yuen Biao rising from a coffin and blasting numerous rifles, not to mention a fight atop a speeding train between Yuen Wah and Baio for a silver watch. Also: so many axe wounds, slices and decapitations.

A movie that has plenty of guts and gore, this takes The Boxer from Shantung, takes a little bit of every great gangster film that came between 1972 and 1997 - John Woo, Scorsese, De Palma, Coppola - frenetically paces the whole thing and dares you to keep up.

Watch it again...

[eskimo-14 · 8/10 · 3 December 2000]

Since this is Takeshi's first, maybe only, kung fu flick i'll say this: Watching him do martial arts was cool. Especially the part where he wields a sword....although he's no Yuen Biao. I like this movie but I can't say much for the H.K. dvd version. If you watch the Hong Kong dvd version released by Universe, know that it is CUT. About 30 seconds is cut from the final fight scene which is important to the story. If you want to see the UNCUT version you'll have to get the United Kingdom (U.K.) dvd version or the vcd. Get your hands on the UNCUT version and watch it again to see what happens.

much better than five stars

[more-3 · 9/10 · 15 August 1999]

This movie (German title:"Shanghai Hero") is one of the best HK- movies I´ve seen for a long time. It has cool fighting action a clear plot and dramatic and funny moments. It has everything a good HK-movie needs. I mean there is nothing bad or ridiculous about this movie. I will give that movie 8 1/2 stars.

much better than five stars

[more-3 · 9/10 · 15 August 1999]

This movie (German title:"Shanghai Hero") is one of the best HK- movies I´ve seen for a long time. It has cool fighting action a clear plot,dramatic and funny moments.Actually it has everything a good HK-movie needs. I mean there is nothing bad or ridiculous about this movie. I will give that movie 8 1/2 stars.

Great gangster martial arts movie.

[maxxk24 · 8/10 · 24 May 2005]

Well it was kind of surprising watching heartthrob Takeshi Kaneshiro performing martial arts,which he did a decent job of.But it was still a great movie on the aspect of the rags to riches story gangster martial arts style.The movie could of been better if there were more intricate martial arts sequences,along with Yuen Biao showing sexy Takeshi Kaneshiro some new moves.Also,as charming as Takeshi Kaneshiro always is.He just wore too much clothing in this movie.This movie also comes with some little nice twists to the plot,along with a great emotional action packed climax.It was'nt a 10,but the drama,martial arts action,especially towards the end,& humor won it an 8.

GREAT action packed movie

[misosukisan · 10/10 · 15 January 2006]

Takeshi is in this, need i say more? Out of all the movies I have seen, this one is the best. The plot is great; it gives you a feeling of being back in the days without actually being in that time frame. The costumes seems authentic enough. The choices for the beggars' clothes to westerner's trousers and shirts seems flawless. Some scenes has some film noir. Some shots are dark with sadness. This film also features a femme fatale. Where there is a femme fatale character, there are love triangles. Also there are classical Chinese comedic scenes. If you like action-gangsta-martial arts type movies, you'll like "Hero." It's also a movie for all age ranges. I would recommend this other movie "The Returner." Starring that movie is also Takeshi.

Pretty good

[clamthebassgod · 9/10 · 24 January 2020]

This movie was pretty good. The English voice actors sounded like they recorded their lines on a Mac. We watched the wrong movie in class; we were supposed to watch some movie about an important war in history but we watched this. We clicked on the wrong movie. There were like... a bunch of flaws

Period gangster film is bloody brilliant

[Leofwine_draca · 8/10 · 30 July 2016]

Ostensibly a remake of the '70s Shaw Brothers flick BOXER FROM SHANTUNG, HERO doesn't really follow that film too closely, instead going off in its own direction. Thankfully it is a lot better because of that. The film is nothing new, yet another variant on the old and tired YOJIMBO plot line, but it succeeds through the sheer talent involved in the production. Not only are superb actors involved in front of the camera, but sure hand director Corey Yuen – whose martial arts scenes always bring excitement – keeps things moving along at a fine pace and with plenty of excellent action scenes to keep the momentum going. The film is set during the same type of period as Jackie Chan's MIRACLES although things are kept relatively low key, because the budget doesn't seem so big on this one.

The lead is taken by the young, occasionally charming Takeshi Kaneshiro in one of his biggest early roles and he does an okay job with it. However, Kaneshiro is overshadowed by genre veteran Yuen Biao who is definitely the real star of the show in this one. Biao takes the role of a mob boss by the name of Tam See; despite his high status as a gangster, he's an honourable man who quickly strikes up a friendship with our youthful hero. Biao is excellent in this film and it's a wonder he isn't more used in recent Hong Kong flicks. Once again he creates an immensely likable persona while at the same time excelling in the fight scenes.

As for the battles, they're plentiful and always fun, although sometimes the speedy camera-work gets a little headache-inducing. An early fight for a watch atop a galloping horse really pushes the laws of gravity to their extremes and it's amazing to see how the cameramen manage to film all the different angles so well. Things then quieten down before becoming really violent in the last half hour. A staged assassination attempt on Kaneshiro is one of the most painful things I've witnessed in Chinese cinema (especially the horse – poor horse) and recalls the ending of BOXER OF SHANTUNG as our hero is impaled, blinded, and burnt. However the film goes on for another twenty minutes, offering a nice twist ending and a massive gun battle at the movie's climax which is top-notch stuff. The image of a machine gun-toting Yuen Biao rising from a coffin has to be one of the most iconic cinematic images of all time.

Finally, things move to a yard full of bamboo-scaffolding for a three-way battle which is so gorily over-the-top, you'll think you're watching a horror film instead. Eyes are gouged out, bodies repeatedly impaled and blood sprays all over the place in this splatter battle which really has to be seen to be believed; as a horror fan I loved it and it certainly succeeds in being dramatic. Megavillain Yuen Tak – whose appearance seems to be styled on Jet Li in ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 3 – doesn't really get a look in in the martial arts scenes until this last battle but he's really phenomenal and it's the best action of the film. To add to the entertainment value, Yuen Wah is also on hand, and anybody who's seen DRAGONS FOREVER and EASTERN CONDORS will remember this little moustachioed guy as a real ass-kicker. Unfortunately he's relegated to a comic role here and doesn't get to do any actual fighting, but it's great to see him nonetheless, especially in the sympathetic part he has. With lots of twists and turns and innovation and style, HERO is a highly enjoyable film that certainly blows the Jet Li-starrer of the same name right out of the water.

Overall pretty good, sometimes stunning

[keala · 30 October 2000]

There is a terrific fight between Kaneshiro and Yuen early in the picture, one of the best I've ever seen, and nothing that follows it can quite match up to it (not even that hilarious anachronistic snippet near the end); it also eventually overdoses on violence for no good reason, in my opinion, but the whole film still makes for an involving experience. The audience I saw it with just loved it.