Rating: 
Summary: Following the traditions--and defying them
Review: "Ashes of Time," or "Evil East Malicious West"--roughly translated--is the crowning achievement of the Hong Kong cult films director, Wong Kar-Wai. While in the past Wong accentuated the aspects of his films concerning desperation, depression, and destruction, in "Ashes of Time" he deals with them more fully and brings those chapters to a close. Loosely adapted from the anthologies of Jing Yung with characters such as Ouyang, Huang, Hong, and the transvestite "The Defeat-Seeking Loner," Wong introduces more intriguing and complex characters into his story, enhancing its insight and coherence. For those who don't understand Chinese--you lose SO much meaning in the soliloquys and the dialogues. Take notes while you watch this because the love triangles are about to get complicated. Wong also seems to have found a gimmicky cast that surprisingly delivers each and every time. (Regulars like Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Leslie Chen Guo-Rong, Brigitte Lin Ching-Ha, et al., show wide ranges of performance.) Again, Wong conjures the subjects of refusal and the fear of refusal in "Ashes of Time"--in a historically fictional time and place of Chinese chivalry, withal. Deeply symbolic, beautifully cinematographed, and exquisitely acted, "Ashes" may be one of the best-of-all-times by Wong yet.
Rating: 
Summary: For what is probably deep, it only scratches a surface.
Review: After reading a few rave reviews, I purchased this DVD and found it somewhat lacking. To its credit, there are some scenes that are quite beautiful; the combination of cinematography and acting combine to create beautiful moments. My favorite portion of the movie is about Yin/Yang. I think her fighting her schizophrenic reflection in the water is awesome (though the watery explosions just felt mega-cheesy). Beyond this, however, the story IS quite difficult to follow, and I found myself constantly asking "Ok, is this the other guy or someone new...?" I might find it more appealing after multiple viewings, as the story line might coalesce for me. I would proabably have gotten more out of the movie if I understood the stories from which it was derived; it's like watching the 2nd half of a movie. Now on the major downside, the transfer was clearly shaky - regardless of how good or bad translations are, they aren't always fully viewable on the screen. The fight scenes are sparse (which is ok), but most are filmed in "BlurryVision" - meaning most of the movement on the screen is nothing but whirling blurs with very cheesy-sounding effects. Were it a campy martial arts flick, I wouldn't mind, but when combined with the dramatic intensity of other scenes, it just feels completely misaligned, like I'm watching two different genres of movies that were spliced together. If you appreciated the precision and grace of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with elegant choreography and nice wirework, don't expect to see any of that in Ashes of Time... just lots of blurs and maybe some blood. To some, the fights might seem er... artsy, but to me, they just look sloppy. Were this movie filled with more captivating dramaic scenes and without the blurry fights, I'd have liked it a lot more.
Rating: 
Summary: LABRYNTH
Review: Being shot out of sequence, this is definately one of those movies you want to read up on before seeing it, otherwise, you'll end up very confused. That being said, I still enjoyed it, although remember it isn't in the usual Hong Kong Cinema production. For those who don't know, Wong Kar-Wai is supposedly Hong Kong's "leading" art-house director, meaning his movies are very abstract and AOT is definately not a martial arts film, although it does have martial arts in it. For instance, unlike the usual Cantonese films, where the characters are all over the screen in seemingly endless motion and rapidfire dialog, this movie wades through pools of stillness and silence. Even the fight scenes, while still dynamic, are bound together with moments of quiet inactivity. I imagine most people who like martial arts films wouldn't like this kind of pace (Sammo Hung, who directed the fight scenes, supposedly described the film to Wong Kar-Wai as "very boring"). But if you want something different, or you're part of the arthouse crowd, you might give it a shot. On the other hand....the reason I gave this film only four stars was due to Leslie Cheungs presence. He was good in "Farwell My Concubine" as a Chinese Opera star, but as a middleman for assasins and supposedly a swordsman, he's less than convincing. Once in an interview, Cheung said Bridgette Lin was not convincing in a masculine role; well, the same can be said for him. He's just not a fighter (by his own admission, he knows no kung fu) and this really comes across on the screen. How he ever became the lead in "The Bride With White Hair" as the top martial artist of a fighting clan is a mystery. Small, effeminate, and not athletic at all, you just can't take him seriously as an agent managing a stable of swordsmen-for-hire. Tony Leung(of Chungking Express), on the other hand, is the opposite side of the coin. While not Arnold Schwarzengger, he's obviously spent his time on the mat. He handles a sword with the casual and effortless effeciency that comes only with long and continuous practice. The scenes where he fights what looks like a small army of bandits or his duel with a lone wandering samurai are both skillful and gritty. So with AOT, you might want to take a chance, although you might want to rent it the first time you see it instead of buying it.
Rating: 
Summary: Ashes of Time (on DVD) poor quality
Review: For huge fans only.The quality of this DVD is terrible. Not widescreen. The video hasn't been cleaned up. Not SurroundSound... not even in stereo. It looks like it was dubbed from a second-hand video library video. Ashes of Time is one of my most favourite movies. A multi-award winning movie (14th HK film awards). From a director who won the cannes film festival (for Happy Together). To see it produced with so little respect makes me very sad. It is a crime against humanity. If someone would let me, I would personally spend weeks restoring the video for free. This movie deserves better.
Rating: 
Summary: "Ashes of Time" DVD release is terrible!
Review: I can't judge the quality of the film because the DVD is so terrible. The transfer is poor - it looks like a VHS to DVD copy. The English subtitles cannot be turned off. They were placed in a gray (not black) bar that covers a third of the frame. You can see the Chinese subtitles peeking out during long lines, so it is clear that this was a cover-job. Wait for a better release - save your money. I think Wong Kar-Wai would be embarrassed
Rating:
Summary: About this edition...
Review: I won't discuss the movie wich I'm a big fan. I'll just say: don't buy this DVD, buy the Mei Ha edition, wich is not great but much much better than that one, or wait for the Jet Tone (Production Companie led by Wong Kar Wai) to realese it: They annonced they will release every WKW movie !!!
Rating:
Summary: ASHES OF TIME DVD DISAPPOINTING
Review: It would be unfair to judge a film by a poor presentation, so I'll decline any comment about what I saw of the film itself. But this dvd is a big disappointment, especially considering the price. I think it's more than 20% of the picture that's matted out to hide the old subtitles; I think it's closer to 30 (several times you can see some of the old subtitles above the new ones). There's alot of picture missing and I frankly gave up watching this after a couple tries. At some point I'll finish, just to justify my purchase to myself. But I won't buy any more products from the company that put this one out, that's for sure.
Rating:
Summary: Wong Kar Wai's Love Lost
Review: Maybe some of you don't know, but this is a Wong Kar-wai film, and a mighty good one. With an all-star Hong Kong cast and set in the past based on a novel, the screen adaptation is really about lost love rather than the killers throughout the story. Another thing worthy of mentioning is martial arts directions in this film are by Samo Hung. Both visually stunning and mind-bending, the movie ends in a casual manner almost like Wong was just closing a door. Click-cleck. Winner of four or five awards, as far as I know. Magical.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie - worst DVD transfer ever
Review: Seriously: the sound is the worst I have encountered on any DVD release, a big part of the screen is covered with a dark grey box to cover the original subtitles - there is a lot of video jittery things going on, it all adds up to my conclusion that the DVD version is transfered from a very, very bad analog copy. On top of all, the subtitles are totally out of sync and awfully misspelled. Dont buy this unless you are a fanatic WKW fan who already own all other releases......
Rating:
Summary: Artsy Cinema Hong Kong, but not for everyone
Review: The first time I saw this movie, it was a dubbed video from a laserdisk a buddy picked up in the UK. This film has the distinction of being a CHK favorite of several friends of mine. However, those with a taste for CHK's action films may be disappointed by this movie becasue the emphasis is not on fighting. In fact, there is very little fighting, and what fighting there is tends to be filmed in a blurry slow motion style that gets points for artistic impressionism, but lacks the visceral assault of more conventional Hong Kong movies. If you're a fan of world cinema, not just Hong Kong action movies, I highly reccommend it as it does have beautiful photography, mature themes, and it literally oozes atmosphere. By far, this is the most 'artsy' movie I've ever seen come out of Hong Kong, but I cannot give it 5 stars because the video has numerous digital glitches and choppy editing. Since the video is priced reasonably, I humbly give it 4 stars and reccommend it highly to CHK fans with an open mind. If you just tolerate storylines while waiting for the next action sequence, move along. In this movie, it never arrives.
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