Hey, they used the Duke Nukem 'yyyyrrrRRRRREEEAAAARRRGGHhhhhhh" scream! That thing is almost as reconizable as the Wilhelm!
I remember when I used to get excited for movies like this. Nowadays, I have to be honest and admit that Assassins just looks like the same old thing, and with a generic title to boot (the original Chinese title, Bronze Sparrow Terrace, is way better). I hate that I'm even saying that, but, well...tell me if anything particularly original grabs you about this trailer, which appears to be positioning the movie as an unofficial sequel to Red Cliff, of which I have forgotten most except for the naval battle at the end. But both movies feature portrayals of real-life Chinese warlord Cao Cao.
I want to love Chow again. I hope Assassins can give me a reason to. We'll find out January 8th, I guess.
Here's a Ming Dynasty-era image of the real Cao Cao, courtesy of Wikipedia. I will say that if the drawing is to be believed, Chow is much better looking.

More links from around the web!
After watching the 2010 Three Kingdoms series, the guy in that has become my image of Cao Cao.
Mind, since it was 95 episode series, and each episode was 45 minutes, I could say that for most of the characters present, except for a few that Koei's Dynasty Warriors interpretation still holds firm in my mind.
Its a very good series, btw. I quite recommend it, at least if you have the 64 hours or so that it takes to watch it.
For some reason I think Bronze Sparrow Terrace and I think of that Samuel L Jackson movie where he's a racist.
there's a free Cinematic Titantic over on Hulu - East Meets Watts
it's a '70s blacksploitation/martial arts flick
Red Cliff was well done. I was ready to write it off because it's a John Woo film. The movie has it's generic moments and John Woo's pigeons. But John Woo actually gave the pigeons a practical purpose this time as carriers. Red Cliff is based on a famous battle in Chinese History. History would have been very different depending who had won.
The actors were at their best, the naval battle was pretty awesome. It also has the most exciting war room strategy scenes. Of all the actors Takeshi Kaneshiro shines as Zhuge Liang. You might remember Takeshi as Samanosuke in Capcom's Onimusha 3. Zhuge Liang was a master strategist, meteorologist and inventor. The Crossbow and the Spy Blimps are the two I remember off the top of my head. He was able to use weather as advantage in warfare. When his side was running low on arrows, he figured out an ingenious way of stealing arrows from the enemy.
Chow Yun Fat was supposed to play Zhuge Liang in Red Cliff. He turned it down for Pirates of the Caribbean 3.
I recommend giving Red Cliff a chance. It's got its generic moments but for the most part it's a fun movie. I rate it as one of the best post 1997 Chinese movies. Oh, by the way, it's a 5hr movie split into 2 parts.
I wanted to include a trailer but I didn't like the English trailer. Instead, here's a scene from the movie:
@grog1138 The version released here was three hours. Maybe the missing two would have made it better/more coherent.
@LYT @grog1138 Oh right! I forgot about the three hour cut. I'm not sure what was edited out. Give the five hour version a try whenever you have a chance. Five hours sounds so daunting... The movie was released in two parts in Asia. It was released that way on disc as well. I'm not sure if there is a super cut version but there are two discs packs.
the title with font looks like it's trying to rope in Assassins Creed fans - and yes the native title was better
Hello Everyone, Just to let you know that i am around but super busy getting the lair ready for New Year's! Anyway, just thought i would take a break and wish a great day today and remember to not drink and drive! I'll see you all in a couple days once the cobwebs have been shaken and i brought my daughter back from Grandma and Grandpa's. Here is to a great 2013!!! Now enjoy this...


