Rating: 
Summary: Tsui Hark shows he can still be creative
Review: First, a warning: If you haven't watched way more Hong Kong cinema than is probably healthy, you may not appreciate why this is such a cool movie. There are numerous references to other Hong Kong films, and though you definitely don't need to know what they're talking about, there's a lot of dialog in this movie that just doesn't make much sense if you're not familiar with the references."The Duel" is an odd mix of over-the-top comedy and fantasy action that is rarely seen ouside of Hong Kong cinema. The main character is a kind of Qing dynasty (or is it Ming? the movie's not big on historical accuracy) James Bond played almost purely for comedy, with a gleeful disregard for reality. The special effects take flying people martial arts to a level of unreality unseen since "Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain' (ASIN 6305261385, also by Tsui Hark). Unlike Zu, though, the plot in "The Duel" actually makes sense. The settings do not get as outlandish, either, but the action scenes definitely provide a new level of eye candy that borrows from earlier Hong Kong films and melds them with modern Matrix-style effects to produce a truly enjoyable movie-watching experience. I can't give the film 5 stars, though, since the level of action is not as unrelenting as it would need to be to let the visuals carry the whole film, and the comedy, while definitely fun, may not be everyone's cup of tea.
Rating: 
Summary: Distaff Discussion of The Duel
Review: Hong Kong action films are no longer just for the guys. More and more female viewers are discovering the pleasures of a well choreographed fight scene--not to mention the perfectly toned male bodies that dance them. The Duel is tailor-made for female viewers who may never have seen a martial arts movie not made expressly for Western audiences. Like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it is visually breath-taking. Andy Lau as Yip Ku Sing brings a wonderful maturity and authority to the role. Ekin Cheng brings an unexpected depth to Saimoon Tsui Shi. Nick Cheung as Imperial Agent Dragon Nine is ably assisted in the comic relief by Vicki Zao Wei as Pricess Phoenix, royal brat. The special effects are impressive and actually help the story instead of getting in its way. On the technical side, The Duel was filmed in Cantonese, but has dubbings in both Mandarin and English. It also has subtitles in English and it is entertaining and enlightening to compare the two. The sound quality is better in the Cantonese (the English isn't bad, just not as good). The special features include a "Making of" segment which is more informative than most American versions are.
Rating:
Summary: Worth renting
Review: Horrible plot. Lots of holes in the plot. Lots of special effects to cover up the bad sword fighting. All the swordfights can be seen in the trailer. Definitely not a movie for swordfighting fans. Good things about this film: wonderful cast, good acting, nice scenery, very good soundtrack, enjoyable comedy, cgi well done (but at times pointless). Bad things: A lot of holes in the plot, no good sword fightings, mostly special effects. Basically, I don't recommend this movie, the trailer is hyped. What you see in the trailer are pretty much all the "good" sword fighting that you're gonna see....
Rating:
Summary: This movie was amazing!!
Review: I can't beleive how breathtaking this movie was. It may not have been all sword-fighting, but it was wonderful. Many of the other reviews on this movie are inaccurate, watch the movie for yourself. I would recommend renting it first, I would also recommend watching the subtitiled version first. Subtitile versions make a whole lot more sense than edited dubbed versions. Alot of the jokes are very funny, even if you aren't chinese you will get them, I did and I am not even asian.
On to the review, it basically stars Snow, the Sword Saint, Dragon 9, Imperial Police Detective and Snow's closest friend, Yip Ku-sing, and the God of Fighting. The God of Fighting challenges Snow to a dule atop of the Imperial Palace to see who is the greatest swordsman alive. But things go wrong before the actual duel, prompting Dragon 9 to investigate and find out what is going wrong. To tell anymore would spoil the movie, but I am sure this movie will amze you.
My last final piece of advice,remember its a fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, good cast
Review: I liked this cast in this one. Even though none of the people involved are really martial artists, I still found this to be entertaining. The use of CG wasn't too overbearing as the plot unravelled. People disappear, end up murdered, and reappear. Be on the lookout for plots....
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie, Lousy DVD
Review: I liked this movie more than most reviewers here did. I am a fan of Hong Kong/martial arts movies, but that doesn't mean that they all have to feature endless fight scenes. This one has only three good action scenes, but the rest of the movie is entertaining and well done, and well worth seeing. But the DVD sucks! I dislike any non-anamorphic DVDs, and with this one it was impossible to find the right aspect ratio to watch it in. Plus the video transfer was poor; very soft, with muted colors. And one thing I've never seen before - the time references were coded by layer. When you start the movie, it shows it as being only 50-some minutes long. Then when it switches to the second layer (a unusually long delay, by the way), the time notation start over from zero again. Very odd. I'd buy this movie in a second if they would release a decent version of it on DVD. For such a recent, highly-regarded film, this DVD is shockingly bad. That makes it hard to rate; I gave it 4 stars because of the movie itself. But the DVD gets one star.
Rating:
Summary: Sophisticated and Goofy
Review: i must say i am surprised by the lukewarm reviews. i thought this movie to be charming and funny and yes... kick butt. HK flicks are becoming quite sophisticated (looking). plotwise, more of the same. swordfights, assasinations, espionage, but hey its all good. much much warmer and more watchable than "Storm Riders" which is like watching geeks play dungeons & dragons. the special effects here are approaching the level of The Matrix and the fights, pretty darn cool. i LOVE the "007-esque" Dragon 9 with his gadgets and goofy dreadlocks and annoying sidekick princess phoenix. THE HUMOR is what was missing from "Storm Riders". AND HERE IT IS. Lots of bitchen' DVD bonuses too (beind the scenes, trailers)!
Rating:
Summary: dueling entertainment
Review: I saw this in the theater awhile ago and was looking for it ever since...the Duel is a very entertaining bled of action, wit and comedy. From top notch fight scenes, some very interesting plot twists, and witty yet funny atmosphere throughout(even a reference to James Bond...yes, I'm serious...don't even ask, ya gotta see it for yourself), this is everything that HK movies are about for the most part and it makes for some really fun viewing especially after watching some considerably stupider movies that cost considerably more money (hint: historical revisionism of WWII). This will plain make you smile, laugh and cheer(well sorta) what more can ya ask for! Oh yeah, just cuz I wasn't going on and on about the fight scenes doesn't mean they aren't appealing...far from it, they are in the oh so great HK tradition while, not Stormriders, the Duel still has some remarkable fight scenes especially the duel itself...
Rating:
Summary: Thx for the others reviews!
Review: I started watching the film knowing that it wouldnt be filled with combat scene (:( ). Thnaks to the reviews here, but I still wanna rate the movie. The intrigue was good, characters very well played, very good costume, and even funny. Usually on HK old film, the story is always all messed up, costume and decorations quite simple, and forget the lil special effects. But The Duel had all that. The last fight is a new experience, with computerize stuff, a lil like Matrix.
So I enjoyed the movie, very well done. I didnt thought HK would be capable of that... But still removing a star for the lack of fight scene :P...
Rating: 
Summary: Eh....not bad...but not good
Review: I thought that this movie could have been SO SO SO much better. First of all, Ekin Cheng AKA Snow had like what? Ten lines total? and i am not even exaggerating. plus, he seems to play the same roles and it gets kind of boring. his hotness will only do so much. andy lau looks pretty hot in this movie and he gets more screen time than Snow but it's still not as much as the comic relief character Dragon 9. The love story between Kristy Yeung(Second Sister) and Snow is incomplete. One scene he kills her sister by accident and saves her with a weird twirl her around kind of thing where the poor weak female faints and ends up sprawled on his lap and the next they're living together with her wanting him to admit his love for her. this leaves me thinking:did you know you left out the whole love story? and what is up with all the conspiracy? at first it seems to focus around the eventual duel between Snow and Yip(andy lau) then it seems to go on to someone trying to frame Snow of killing people. and the end is a total twist that doesn't even make sense.i won't ruin the movie for those of you who haven't seen it yet.
the only mildy good thing about this movie is the fight scene at the end and the hot actors. and you can see all that in Storm Riders which is a better movie, but it doesn't have Andy lau.
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