Josh,

Here it is: - EXTERNAL LINK -

Eddie

Eddie,

Nice review! Although I must admit, the first half of it made me not want to see it. Something that I'm a bit confused on, is weather all of this mistranslation should insult us as "Americans", or as moviegoers in general. I believe that the movie title should either be litterally translated, or translated with the "spirit" of the title. The names of characters, I'm not sure how I feel about. Because while a literal translation (I'll use a fictional example) of a characters name in a non-english film might be "Running Bear That Scared A Flock Of Birds" might be exactly that... it would probably detract from the film and be quite tedious if it were used in it's literal form. So I'm not sure where I stand on that. From what you mentioned in your positive remarks however, I'll probably really enjoy this film. I've been a huge fan of martial arts (in just about any form) since I was a little kid. I was a bit worried about a scene in the trailer using cables to make the characters fly similarly to "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". While CTHD was VERY well done in the "cable" scenes (in my opinion) the scene I'm speaking of in SMMF seemed rushed, and somewhat "hoaky" looking.

In any case, I can't wait until it's available here.

Thanks for the update Eddie.

- Josh

Josh,

The visual style is so rich that I was really glad that I saw it in a theatre. However, the movie does have its share of problems...

As for names, they can be transliterated (as in spelled out phonetically) or abbreviated. However, Jin and Leo are neither transliterations nor abbreviations, just as Jen is nothing near Yu Jiao Lo for Zhang Ziyi's character in "Crouching Tiger".

Eddie

I heard that there were cuts and alterations to the U.S. edition of the film.

*SPOILERS*

These cuts were:

1) [Scene deleted] Jin slitting the throat of a fellow police officer while on the ground during the flower garden fight.

2) [Scene deleted] Jin cradling Mei in his arms while she whispers in his ear, "Turn around."

3) [Scene alteration] When Mei pulls out the dagger from her chest, blood is seen pouring from the wound. In the U.S. version, the dagger is pulled out but blood doesn't come out.

Scenes 1 and 3 are most likely altered and cut for rating purposes. Scene 2 is probably excised because Mei's fate seemed to be protracted. I have already seen the original Chinese version on DVD.

Anyone to verify this?

Blood did emerge from Mei's wound, though I dunno how extensive the differences were (if there were any).

Finally saw the Sony Pictures Classics version of HOFD and while the cuts didn't bother me, they were actually pretty sudden.

There are two shots showing Mei profusely bleeding from the chest in the original cut. In the SPC version, the first shot is shown with Mei removing the dagger from her chest. Yes, the blood comes out but only as a small stream compared to the pouring out version of the original cut. Another shot is shown two seconds later with even more blood coming out of the wound. The SPC version, deletes the blood coming from the wound in the second shot.

And there's actually another cut in the SPC version (apart from the throat slitting and Jin cradling Mei before the battle with Leo). In the original cut, before Jin smacks Leo's helmet from his head, Leo slashes Jin in the belly. In the SPC cut, Leo is seen swinging but the impact of sword and body is not seen.

Again, I believe these cuts were more towards getting the film a PG-13 rating. I would actually give an R rating for the original cut.

Pics to come from the Region 3 DVD later.

Here are some videos of those cuts from House of Flying Daggers:

Jin slitting the throat of a fellow officer:
- EXTERNAL LINK -

Jin finds Mei dying on the ground before his battle with Leo:
- EXTERNAL LINK -

The second shot of Mei with even more blood pouring from her wound:
- EXTERNAL LINK -