Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

leonblackwood Review: This us another one of those confusing Oriental movies that are hard to follow but the main concept is quite simple, everyone wants to murder Cao Cao (Chow Yun-Fat). There's also a love story running throughout the movie which is pretty straight forward but the rest of the storyline, went straight over my head. When the true reason, why Cao Cao is so evil, is revealed, I honestly didn't understand what the movie was truly about but it scores top marks for authenticity and cinematography, like many of the other Oriental movies I have watched lately. The costumes are truly amazing, especially Cao Cao's detailed armour and I'm happy to say that the DVD carries a dubbed version, so you don't have to worry about annoying subtitles. The action scenes were also impressive because they seemed real for that day and age but I really don't know why the director had to over complicate the storyline. Anyway, it's a watchable film, mainly for the great performance from Yun-Fat and the fear that he put in the people around him but the ending was a right mess. Watchable! Round-Up: This is the only movie directed by Linshan Zhao so it's hard to compare her other projects to this one but the writer, Bin Wang, also wrote House of Flying Daggers and Hero with Jet Li. I'm beginning to realise that a lot of these Oriental directors, certainly like to over complicate there movies with pointless detail which is, usually unnecessary. Maybe it's because I'm used to basic concepts from the Western market, why I'm finding it hard to get to grips with the these detailed story lines and I must admit, my mind does switch off once I have to read subtitles and try and keep up with movies. Anyway, I was expecting this to be an action movie, with a name like the Assassin's but it turned out to be an intense drama which I'm am in two minds about.I recommend this movie to people who are into their history/drama starring Chow Yun-Fat, Yifei Liu, Xinyi Zhang and Hiroshi Tamaki. 5/10

blackmamba99971 I found this to be a wonderful look at the end of the Han Dynasty. Chow Yun Fat who plays the famed General Cao Cao for the emperor Xian (Alec Su)falls into despair when he learns of a coo against him. Seeing as the emperor has enemies all over China, in his paranoia included General Cao with his delusions. Yet in the middle is a young girl who along with another was kidnapped in order to be honed into an assassin.Taught by an evil doctor named Doctor Yuen (Roy Cheung) to kill a friend or die. Seeing as this presented many complications to this girl Gong Ling Ju (Yifei Liu), she tried to keep her resolve in assassinating Cao Cao, but with the driving force to live, held deep in her heart, that the general is not all that is told about him is true.With the royal courts and the emperor against the general, Gong Ling comes to realize he was only protecting Xian all along. But with growing troubles in the hierarchy it became impossible to kill him. I found this to be a great representation of an old story of the past. It was known that the Han dynasty held a very troubled king, and how his growing paranoia led to his abdication. To see such ways of creating assassins to carry out an order to kill, was also a unique expression on just how bad it was back then. To use human lives in the name of royalty. The doctor was evil, even though he played the part of the kind physician he was actually beyond help in his own delusions from the emperor. Great music, wonderful acting on everyone's part.Most of which goes to Chow Yun Fat who I have admired for years. Plus one other person who I thought played the son of Cao to the letter. A troubled lad who didn't know where his loyalties laid. To become the son again through a warning, and to live on for his father's sake.Cao Pi(Qiu Xinzhi) lived up to his father's name and became emperor just after Xian, another great actor I think. All in all, it's a love triangle,full of betrayal, paranoia both in the courts, and in the minds of those around Cao Cao, the emperor, and the people. A very turbulent time, a very dark past in China's history. Highly recommended to those over 17.

m-a-elsewhere A stark, brilliant, uncompromising tale of imperial intrigue and self- fulfilling prophecies, with a star cast helmed by Yun-Fat Chow and Yifei Liu, TONG QUE TAI (THE ASSASSINS) is one of the better Mandarin films in recent years, and easily ranks with such lush historical epics as CHI BI (RED CLIFF) and MAN CHENG JIN DAI HAUNG JIN JIA (CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER).A fictionalized account of the events leading to the fall of the Eastern Han Dynasty in 220 CE, as seen primarily from the point of view of Gong Ling Ju—one of many refugees abducted as children, then brutally trained for a decade solely to murder the powerful Duke of Wei, Chancellor Cao Cao. A military genius, adored king, scholar and poet, Cao Cao has been unswervingly loyal to the Han, even feckless current Emperor Xian. But an astrological prediction cast years before foretells that Cao's destiny is to end the Han era—and Xian's courtiers will stop at nothing to thwart "heaven's will". Might their sneak attacks and murder plots only push Chancellor Cao into the rebellion they want to prevent? Or might Cao's growing affection for and trust in his concubine, Ling Ju, prove the weakness that gives her an opportunity to kill her lover? Solid performances, gorgeous cinematography, and a taut script weaving spectacle with reflection make TONG QUE TAI a skillfully wrought Asian history-based drama.

nmorales3142 Let me just say, don't waste your time with this film. How many cheesy lines and how much boring, inane dialogue can you handle? Try watching this movie if you care to answer that question. The story is stunningly unoriginal. The character development is nonexistent. The relationships between characters are about as deep as watching two dogs mate. When the action isn't scripted to hell, its blatantly ripping off other movies. It goes to show, that just because you can throw money at something, doesn't mean it will turn out good. Cinema has evolved over time; if this film had been released 60 years ago, it would have had a better chance of succeeding, but to a modern audience, this is garbage. If I could give this zero stars, I would.