Review 4. A Hero's Tears

This review was orignally posted on the flashlegsrare forums review section. All information on the dvd itself is new.

Ummm...the smell of just opening a new DVD. A nice sent if i ever smelt one. I ordered this movie based on a single still i saw some time ago and didn't really have any idea of the films content. As soon as i read the back of the box and saw yet more images i was a little hyped at what looked like it could be a small, decently bugetted slice of kung fu and swordplay.The film opens with two men waiting for someone in nice looking studio set. Ling Yun suddenly appears playing the feared assassin 'Three Days life'. After a nice piece of action unfolds in which both villians are killed. upon death we get to see a cold blood splatter effect. The title credits role.So after the first five minute my expectations of this movie went up a knotch or two yet again. The story revolves around Three days life's attempt to find a cure for his sisters blindness, having to work as an extreamly proffesional assassin to do so. Along the way Pai Sha Fungs character wants to help our hero; deluded by the reality and real motives behind his life. Upon finding the truth though he forms a strong bond with Three day's sister. And so he decides to help him in his quest for her cure. After the amazing titles though the movie does take a rather unnecessary turn for the worse. With the first thirty mintues containing some uneeded comedic elements that really don't fit what turns into quite a serious movie. This aside the film soon blossoms into a full delight to watch. The costumes and sets are real eye candy. Up there with the shaw swordplay movies in terms of the asthetic of the studio settings, which really reminded me of the beautiful ones that were used in Death Duel.

The character become very relevant to the story rather than just action as there are true motives to there acts and real morals to there lives. From thirty mintues onwards into the film the story really starts to map out with good pacing and a plot the unvolves with the nice action to match. There is small emthesis on wire works during the main course of the film, with little use during the action, but when inplaced used professionally and efficiently. As the movies come to a close, the plot comes together nicely and the ending has a real adrenaline running through it. The ending fight is very well done and is where the wire works really come into play, again used extreamly well. The inclusion of some interesting techniques and camera effects add more substantce to an already fantastic sequence, the ending also has a down beat tone to sourer the postitive happening that went previous to it. Some out of place comedy and minor unnecessary stuff aside, this movie really turned into a suprise hit and is worth a viewing most definately. Other notes to make are that the dubbing really did not fit the mood of the film, so after watching the dub and knowing the story i decided to watch this with with the original mandarin language option, which unfortunately is missing the subs.To conclude A heroes tear is a sleeper hit which i can say is worth your time as a fan and is definately as is so well written by flashlegs 'swordplay action with class.'

3.5 out of 5

The DVD reviewed is of the vengeance video region 0 PAL version. And is avalible at a buget price at most online retailers.

Video:
Good picture quality over, presented in fullscreen aspect. Cropping is at times noticable but never a problem. It is obvious that the film has been taken from two master, one with pretty low contrast and the other with print damage. Lots of speckle and marks throught out but again never a problem and nothing that will suprise kung fu fans.
2.5 out of 5

Sound:
Two sound options are provided, the English dubbed soundtrack, which is clear and suffers from only minor hiss. Also provided is the original Mandarin track, with a lack of subtitles on this disc most fans will probably discard this, but still it is a nice extra and i think it is fantastic that vengeance video provide these things rather than have them be lost somewhere over time.
3.5 out of 5

Extras:
Included on the disc is a picture of the movies original poster, also we are provided with a trailer gallery which contains original trailers for invincible armour, 18 shaolin riders and Iron neck Li.
More than you should expect from a bugdet title.
2 out of 5

Overall:
A good movie that i really enjoyed gets a pretty decent release, worth the money and a flick that many fans will find interesting.