Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageZu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)
Director: Tsui Hark
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Reverend Long-brows (Hung) holds a ravening blood monster at bay for 49 days while four fallible humans comb the universe for the two celestial swords which can save the world. Tsui brought in technicians from Star Wars, Star Trek and Tron to help him make 'the ultimate Chinese mythological spectacular', inspired by a newspaper serial of the late 1920s by Li Shoumin. Thanks to Hollywood know-how (and William Chang's designs), it does look pretty good, and the starry cast just about holds its own amid all the special visual effects. But where was the script? So much effort has gone into the set pieces that pacing, coherence and even dramatic impact all go hang.Author: TR
Cast & crew
Director: Tsui Hark
Cast: Brigitte Lin, Samo Hung, Yuen Biao, Meng Hai, Adam Cheng, Judy Ong, Feng Ke'an, Tsui Hark full cast
Genre(s): Fantasy
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Michael Haneke discusses 'The White Ribbon'
Dave Calhoun met with Michael Haneke in Munich to mull over the details of his Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Review a Coens' movie and win!
A signed copy of the script for 'A Serious Man' is up for grabs, and we want you to look to your inner film reviewer to win it
Ang Lee talks 'Taking Woodstock'
Ang Lee talks to Tom Huddleston about his tale of the men behind history’s greatest music festival
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Sheffield Doc/Fest round-up
Sheffield’s annual Doc/Fest is Britain’s largest documentary festival. Edward Lawrenson learnt a few new things by taking the train north.
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now