Fresh
With its widescreen compositions and flame-illuminated interiors, "Sacrifice" is visually entrancing. Yet the movie is not just an exercise in style.
Mark Jenkins, Washington Post
Overview
For generations the Zhao family has wielded power, until their mortal enemy TU’AN GU slaughters the entire clan, determined to wipe out their influence forever. But one Zhao baby survives hidden by CHENG YING the doctor who delivered him. When Tu’an Gu learns of the baby’s escape he seizes every infant in the city, vowing to kill them all unless the Zhao baby is surrendered. As the tyrant’s soldiers arrive at Cheng Ying’s home the frantic doctor hides his wife with their own baby whilst surrendering the Zhao child as his own. But his family is discovered; his baby is presumed to be the Zhao heir and murdered along with his wife for harboring the infant. Now set on revenge Cheng Ying enrolls the Zhao orphan into the service of the Tu’an Gu household, plotting to use him as an instrument of vengeance when he comes of age.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
70%
Tomatometer
Rotten
It is handsomely done and well-acted, but it lacks real energy or purpose.
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
Rotten
Perhaps it's all that armor, or that even the estimable Mr. Wang seems exhausted by the film's dolorous themes, but it's tough to care about characters who spend most of their lives obsessing over the violent deaths of others.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Rotten
Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) cowrote and directed, and his talent for psychological drama isn't really suited to this sort of broad, mythic storytelling.
Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader
Fresh
It charges out of the gate in Indiana Jones style, employing so many plot twists that you may need a scorecard. Then after an hour or so, it settles into an intimate, character-driven drama, before its low-key yet thought-provoking finale.
David Lewis, San Francisco Chronicle
More films
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972)
Action · Drama · N/A
18-year-old Ainu is kidnapped and sold to a brothel. Her good looks and wild personality make her very popular with the lustful clients, but also draw the lesbian attentions of brothel madam Chun Yi. Chun Yi teaches Ainu the ways of lust and the ways of kung fu, and Ainu becomes more and more similar to her captor. But rage at her trea...
- Runtime
- 1h 27m
- Director
- Chor Yuen
- Cast
- Elliot Ngok Wah, Lily Ho, Betty Pei Ti
IMDb
7.1
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Action · Animation · Comedy · Family · PG
Po is finally living the dream as the Dragon Warrior—until a shadow from his past comes roaring back. When the ruthless peacock Lord Shen unleashes a devastating new weapon used to wipe out kung fu masters across the land, Po and the Furious Five race across China to put an end to his plans. But if Po is to have any hope of stopping hi...
- Runtime
- 1h 31m
- Director
- Jennifer Yuh Nelson
- Cast
- Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman
IMDb
7.3
Rotten Tomatoes
81%
Metacritic
67
The Web of Death (1976)
Action · Drama · Fantasy · R
Lo Lieh is the ringleader of the Snake Sect, intent on reviving a deadly faction known as the "Five Poison Web." In order to do so, he has an affair with the sexy ringleader of the Scorpion Sect, Angela Yu Chien. However, there is also the Centipede Sect to contend with, as well as other assorted martial artists, among them played by S...
- Runtime
- 1h 27m
- Director
- Chor Yuen
- Cast
- Elliot Ngok Wah, Lo Lieh, Ching Li
IMDb
6.2
The Lost Bladesman (2011)
Action · Drama · History · War · Not Rated
During the warring period of the three kingdoms, ancient China is in turmoil. To unify the country, general Cao Cao, the real power behind the Emperor, enlists the aid of the greatest warrior in the land, Guan Yu. However, Guan Yu is a loyal friend of Cao Cao's enemy Liu Bei so to persuade the peerless warrior to fight, Cao Cao takes ...
- Runtime
- 1h 47m
- Director
- Alan Mak Siu-fai, Felix Chong Man-keung
- Cast
- Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Sun Li
IMDb
6.0
Rotten Tomatoes
57%
Pursuit of Vengeance (1977)
Action · Drama · Fantasy · N/A
The chief of a martial arts school gathers a group of swordsmen in order to find a murderer hiding among them, who he believes will destroy the establishment in the near future.
- Runtime
- 1h 33m
- Cast
- Ti Lung, Tony Liu, Lo Lieh
IMDb
7.0
Underground (2007)
Action · Not Rated
In the UK suburbs, an underground tournament is set to challenge twelve fighters from different backgrounds to compete for the price of £500,000. They have been handpicked for a no-holds barred competition that will push each fighter to their limit. Each fighter has their own reason for competing, and each will give everything they've ...
- Runtime
- 1h 35m
- Director
- Chee Keong Cheung
- Cast
- Mark Strange, Nathan Lewis, Joey Ansah
IMDb
4.2
Bodyguard: A New Beginning (2008)
Action · Drama · Thriller · R
Leung is the bodyguard of a Chinese Triad boss, Wong, to whom his loyalty is unrivaled. Living in Hong Kong, Wong requests that his bodyguard travel to the UK to protect a young British woman, whose true identity is known only by Wong himself. Even Wong's son, Yuen, is kept in the dark, which leads to a betrayal that threatens to destr...
- Runtime
- 1h 35m
- Director
- Chee Keong Cheung
- Cast
- Vincent Sze Cho-Lam, Richard Ng Yiu-Hon, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
IMDb
4.5
Comments
Talk about the film with other members