Hero(2004)

Plot Summary

• China was once divided into seven kingdoms that warred with each other constantly. It took one man to conquer all the kingdoms and create China. A nameless man (Jet Li) is brought to meet the king of Qin (Daoming Chen) in his palace. Nameless is being honored for killing three assassins from the kingdom of Zhao. These assassins are named Sky (Donnie Yen), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung), and Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai). Nameless says he is a minor law-enforcement officer from Qin and presents a silver spear-head, which is recognized as the weapon of Sky. Nameless claims he killed Sky in a one-on-one duel. The king is amazed because Sky was such a lethal fighter.Nameless explains that Sword & Snow were lovers & Snow had an affair with Sky for which Sword never forgave her & they didn't speak for 3 yrs. Flashback: Nameless confronts Sky when he is playing chess in his county. The two have a fight (which is extremely fast and amazing to watch!) Nameless launches into Sky fast enough to cut through Sky's spear and stab him. Back in the present, Nameless presents swords of Flying Snow and Broken Sword. He says that his entire army failed to stop them 3 yrs ago when they attacked. Nameless tells him that he utilized their rift to draw them apart & kills them 1:1. In the Kingdom of Zhao Snow & Sword are hiding in a town's calligraphy school. Nameless goes there as a student & meets a student Moon (Zizi Yang).Nameless plan was to discover the secret of Swords skill in his calligraphy. He asks sword for a 20th way to write "Sword". The same day Qin army attacks & kill many students. Snow & Nameless get to the roof & deflect the rain of arrows to prevent further damage, while Sword works on the 20th way for word "Sword". Nameless reveals to them that he is a Qin & he killed Sky & while dying Sky said that he only cared for Snow & that she would avenge him. Sword is very angry & in his anger he has sex with Moon. Snow watches them & when he comes to gloat, she kills Sword & Moon. She then goes to Qin camp but is killed by Nameless.In present, King says that he doesn't believe nameless & suspects a plot to get near to the King to kill him. He thinks that Sky & Nameless were friends & he convinced Sky to sacrifice himself in front of royal guards to get within 20 paces of King. But his skill was limited to 10 paces, hence a 2nd reward was needed & a 2nd sacrifice. Snow & Sword both go to the Qin camp, but Snow injures Sword & meets Nameless to get killed. Sword then meets Nameless at a lake & gives him his sword.In present Nameless reveals that he is an orphan from Zhao whose family was slaughtered by the armies of Qin. He perfected his sword technique throughout his life in order to one day avenge his family. Nameless then tells the king what really happened. He went to Sword & Snow to prove his skill & said that Sky was still alive as his sword at 10 paces is very accurate & can only injure if he so commands. Snow agrees to help but Sword refuses to kill the King & Snow also laments the attack 3 yrs ago when Sword could kill the King, but refused. Snow attacks Sword & Nameless injures him. Moon attacks Nameless but Sword asks her to stop. Next day Snow gets "killed" in front of Qin soldiers by Nameless. Sword tells Nameless not to kill the King & in answer only writes 2 words in the sand "Our Land".Present: Outside the palace, Snow is waiting for answer of King assassination. The king throws his sword to Nameless & tells him of the assassination attempt 3 yrs ago. Sword & Snow fight thru Qin armies & while Snow guards the door, Sword attacks the King. King is a fighter, but is defeated, but Sword spares him as he thinks King is worthy of uniting the kingdom. Snow and Sword never speak again.In present, Nameless is surrounded by King's archers, but King submits to Nameless & says he can die happy as even an assassin like Sword saw his vision & so it will happen in future. Nameless attacks but does not kill the King. He says he believes in Sword's vision & hence decided to spare his life. Outside, Snow's spy reports that the assassination has failed. Snow confronts Sword & says that he has spoiled this attempt as well. She attacks & Sword does not defend hence killing himself. Snow is distraught & pushes the sword thru her body as well. back at palace, King is pressured by advisers to enforce the law & kill nameless to unite the land. King orders his killing & archers fire on him, killing him.A body is carried as if in a royal funeral; captions explain that the Nameless Hero was executed as an assassin but buried as an honored hero. The king of Qin eventually did conquer all the kingdoms and unite them under his rule. He went on to oversee the building of the Great Wall of China. On the closing screen, the following is written: To this day all the people of China refer to their country as...Our Land.

Storyline

• Ancient China and the Qin Empire is out to conquer the six kingdoms. This makes its king a target for assassination. However, one man has single-handedly ensured the safety of the king, by killing the three most notorious assassins in the land. Treated as a hero, he is summoned for an audience with the king. — grantss In ancient China, before the reign of the first emperor, warring factions throughout the Six Kingdoms plot to assassinate the most powerful ruler, Qin. When a minor official defeats Qin's three principal enemies, he is summoned to the palace to tell Qin the story of his surprising victory. — Yocke In ancient times China was divided into seven kingdoms. Qin, the king of the western most province, is under permanent threat of assassination attempts. His greatest fears are the warriors "Broken Sword", "Flying Snow" and "Sky". One day one of the magistrates of his kingdom enters the palace, claims that he defeated all three of the emperor's adversaries and tells his story; how he beat "Sky" in a duel and used the love between "Broken Sword" and "Flying Snow" to subdue them. — Moritz Muehlenhoff In feudal China, the King of Qin is waging a bloody campaign to conquer the entire land. He has been made a target of three dangerous assassins: spear-wielding Sky, and the lovers Broken Sword and Flying Snow. One day word comes that he has nothing left to fear; a prefect known only as Nameless has killed all three assassins. Nameless is called to the palace and asked to recount the tale of how he accomplished this amazing feat. After he tells his story, however, the King notices some flaws in it... — rmlohner 1 more All