A few days later, Jin and Mei are attacked again in a bamboo forest and almost killed, before the House of Flying Daggers saves them and takes them to their headquarters.

In the end, Leo stumbles away in guilt while Jin cries over Mei's body, singing a song praising her as a "rare beauty", the likes of which he will never see again.

To prepare for her role, Zhang Ziyi lived for two months with a blind girl who had lost her sight at the age of 12 because of a brain tumor.

Most of the film was shot in Ukraine's Carpathian Mountains (the Hutsul Region National Park), such as the scenes in the snow or birch forests.

The cast and production team spent 70 days on location from September to October 2003, and were largely based in Kosiv.

However, due to the early snowfall, the filmmakers opted to alter the script and certain sequences, rather than wait for the snow to thaw, as the leaves were still on the trees.

Zhang Yimou later stated that despite the unpredictable weather forcing the alterations, he had achieved the desired effect in the scenery, and was happy with the final result.

[6] Like its predecessor Hero, House of Flying Daggers uses wuxing colour theory, in both a deliberate and ironic manner.

Afterwards, the film went on to earn at least 50% more in the United States home video market than at the theatrical box office.

It is a wild riot of color, music, passion, action, mystery, pure old-fashioned thrills, and even dancing.

With an endless supply of imagination and a kinetic force of nature in its amazing star Zhang Ziyi, House of Flying Daggers cuts all other films to shreds.

"[16] While Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times praised the film by stating: "House of Flying Daggers finds the great Chinese director at his most romantic in this thrilling martial arts epic that involves a conflict between love and duty carried out to its fullest expression.

"[17] A. O. Scott of The New York Times described the film as: "A gorgeous entertainment, a feast of blood, passion, and silk brocade."

The review also stated: "House of Flying Daggers for all its fire and beauty, may leave you a bit cold in the end.

"[18] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film four out of four stars and states: "Forget about the plot, the characters, the intrigue, which are all splendid in House of Flying Daggers, and focus just on the visuals", and Ebert also states: "the film is so good to look at and listen to that, as with some operas, the story is almost beside the point, serving primarily to get us from one spectacular scene to another.

[21] In 2024, Looper ranked it number 33 on its list of the "50 Best PG-13 Movies of All Time," writing "A film bursting with visual imagination, House of Flying Daggers is akin to a crash course in the qualities that define Zhang's radiant vision as a filmmaker.

The soundtrack was produced and created by Shigeru Umebayashi, featuring vocals by Zhang Ziyi and Kathleen Battle.