I think that the basic premise of this film is to do with levels of love: - love of your people, your family - and love in the sense of comradeship, love in terms of loyalty in the military sense, and love between a man and woman. These different kinds of love appeal to cultures in different ways - and perhaps in one country sentimentality is seen as "cheesy" - however I think then one would have to call "City Lights" or "Miracle in Milan" cheesy - which they certainly aren't - and of course in the latter one has supernatural happenings - in some ways similar to "Promise". I found from my own point of view the film had faults, but never once did I see this as a martial arts film like "Crouching Tiger" - it is more in line with the Chinese ghost stories - a genre I think this film has obvious ties to. The cinematography in the film was brilliant. I felt aesthetically it was at times quite breathtaking. Having said that the special effects did at times border on the comical - yet anyone who knows anything about Chinese ghost stories will know this is pardonable. We have to not only suspend our disbelief, but accept the generic parameters. The film is full of symbolism redolent of Chinese mythology Colours e.g. red & white)- yet as we know from the director's interview (DVD)- this is not a film of nationalism, but one of accepting differences - and in many ways asserting one's identity against a hegemonic authority. This is true in the film - and in the cast who come from several Asian countries - a point made by the director. I have given it 10 points - because I dislike films being criticized for not meeting generic expectations - when they actually never intended to be in that genre. Secondly, because I am a sentimentalist and this film worked for me.

I bought this movie randomly in a 'buy two get one free special' and I just picked this up after reading the summary in the back. I really didn't know what to expect to be honest.This is essentially a fairytale with many magical elements added to it. I wasn't sure where the story was going near the beginning, but I was really swept away by how beautiful the whole film was. This story really is about love. However, on saying that, I didn't feel as emotionally engaged as I would have liked in a story like this. There was something a bit missing in terms of these characters but I felt the ending was quite powerful in its own way.What you will admire most is just the awe dropping look of the film and its beautiful landscape. Everything is just gorgeous to look at. Cecilia Cheung is just stunning in almost every scene she is in and some scenes reminded me of scenes I saw in Hero with the leaves and trees blowing. Some of the visual effects are quite cheesy however.Just look at it as a fairytale fantasy because if you don't, then you will definitely not be able to enjoy this film. Some of the plot lines seem a little stupid and the ending is a bit silly. But it's not a film that is meant to be taken seriously anyway.

I don't really like martial arts films unless there is plenty of flying through the air and way out special effects so this film did not disappoint at all in that direction. The imagery was beautiful and the story was interesting but I felt that something was missing from the film. In parts the editing was poor and it was hard to follow. Also the characters were rather "wooden" and didn't evoke much sympathy. I love "Hero" which had all the things that this lacked-but my favourite of all time is "Bichunmoo" which was wonderful and incredibly emotional throughout.Despite all that I did enjoy the film and may indeed watch it again! I feel that with more viewings it may grow on me, It certainly ticks all the right boxes with regard to production and story line. It may never become a classic but it is worth watching.

I like the Chinese fantasy genre & "wu xia" martial arts films.. And I've really enjoyed some pretty cheesy plot lines and 'special' effects in Hong Kong movies from the 80's. Mr. Vampire and Chinese Ghost Story are some of my favorites.I allow foreign films a bit more of a break than films from my own culture. I generally assume I'm missing some of the symbolism and that the subtitles aren't giving me the best dialogue.I can respect and enjoy the seriousness of some of the plot points about honor/betrayal, etc. while still being able to laugh at some of the over the top elements.It was beautiful, gorgeous scenery, gorgeous shots, beautiful costuming. I thought the opening sequence with the little girl was worth seeing the movie for. The visual negatives was the horrible CGI which was way overused.The plot was a little weak, nothing we haven't seen done better in other movies.The actors were adequate. My favorite was Nic Tse as the villain. He was so entertaining I secretly rooted for him.On the whole I was disappointed, but mostly enjoyed it. However, I would only recommend it to people who like the genre and if you liked House of Flying Daggers- another beautiful movie that was very thin on plot.P.S. From people's comments apparently there were different versions for different US markets. I saw the one called "The Promise" that was about 1.5 hours.