Hero (Chinese: 英雄; pinyin: Yīngxióng) is a 2002 wuxia martial arts film[3] directed, co-written, and produced by Zhang Yimou, and starring Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Zhang Ziyi, Donnie Yen and Chen Daoming.

[7] Miramax acquired American market distribution rights, but delayed the release of the film for nearly two years.

Quentin Tarantino eventually convinced Miramax to open the film in American theaters on 27 August 2004.

Nameless recounts killing Sky at a gaming house before meeting Flying Snow and Broken Sword at a calligraphy school in a city besieged by the Qin army.

He reveals the technique's dual nature: deadly yet capable of appearing fatal while avoiding vital organs.

Snow accuses Sword of squandering their chance three years prior when he spared the king of Qin during their assault.

Sending Nameless to the Qin capital, Sword inscribes "All Under Heaven" (天下) in the sand, urging reconsideration of assassination.

Director Zhang Yimou collaborated with Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle to help realize his plan to divide the film visually into five sections, each dominated by a particular color.

The theme song, Hero (英雄), composed by Zhang Yadong and Lin Xi, was sung by Faye Wong.

Miramax owned the American-market distribution rights, but delayed the release of the film a total of six times.

Import DVDs of the film were sold online and Miramax demanded that the sites cease selling the DVD.

The version shown in American cinemas was localized as the two-word phrase "our land" instead, which seems to denote just the nation of China rather than the whole world.

[2] It is currently the fifth highest grossing non-English film in North America, behind The Passion of the Christ, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Life is Beautiful, and Godzilla Minus One.

The website's critics consensus reads: "With death-defying action sequences and epic historic sweep, Hero offers everything a martial arts fan could ask for.

[28] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.[29] Roger Ebert called it "beautiful and beguiling, a martial arts extravaganza defining the styles and lives of its fighters within Chinese tradition."

He said the film "demonstrates how the martial arts genre transcends action and violence and moves into poetry, ballet and philosophy.

"[6] Richard Corliss of Time described the film as being like "Rashomon with a Mandarin accent" and compared the film to House of Flying Daggers, but said "Hero is the masterpiece", adding that "it employs unparalleled visual splendor to show why men must make war to secure the peace and how warriors may find their true destiny as lovers.

"[30] Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune called it "swooningly beautiful, furious and thrilling" and "an action movie for the ages.

[32] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote: "Filled with meticulous set pieces, including a showdown between Snow and Moon set among swirls of golden-yellow leaves, Hero is easy on the eyes, but it's too segmented to gather much momentum and too art-directed to convey much urgency."

Dargis was impressed by the beauty of the actors and their compelling performances, "whose passions erupt as fiercely as any of the film's fights though often to more devastating effect."

J. Hoberman of The Village Voice deemed it to have a "cartoon ideology" and justification for ruthless leadership comparable to Triumph of the Will.

"[34][35][10] The "Sixth Generation" movement director Jia Zhangke described the focus of the film as "authority of power" that "for 'harmony in the world,' we should give up individual fights and efforts", and made him uncomfortable.

In this approach, the film comments not only on China and its position in the world, but also on the ongoing erasures of languages and cultures under globalization.