Hero

Set in China during the Warring States period, Hero follows a warrior known only as Nameless, who comes to the palace of the King of Qin. The king has long lived under threat from assassins, three of whom are especially feared: Broken Sword, Flying Snow and Sky. Nameless claims to have defeated all three and brought their weapons as proof, and the king grants him an audience to hear how it was done. What follows is Nameless's account of those encounters, a story the king does not take entirely at face value. The film builds its narrative from several competing versions of the same events, in which truth and invention are difficult to separate. Jet Li plays Nameless, with Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Broken Sword, Maggie Cheung as Flying Snow, Donnie Yen as Sky, Zhang Ziyi as Moon and Chen Daoming as the King of Qin.

Zhang Yimou directed and co-wrote the film, the ninth of the twenty-five features he has directed in chronological order, arriving between The Road Home and House of Flying Daggers. Feng Li and Bin Wang share the writing credits, and Zhang produced alongside Bill Kong Chi-Keung and Zhang Zhenyan. Made for a budget of 31 million dollars, it returned 177 million dollars worldwide, a large multiple of its cost. On IMDb it holds 7.9/10 from around 194,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.5/10 from roughly 2,595 votes. Critics rated it higher still, 8.5/10 across 210 reviews, placing it above both audience scores.