ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Celia A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

jonsimon-132-132052 Chow-Yun Fat stars in this Hong Kong spaghetti western as 'The Killer', an unstoppable bounty hunter and mercenary who has decided to retire after his wife's death. Setting up the 'Peace Hotel', the Killer offers sanctuary to anyone who is on the run from someone who wants them dead. But his altruism is tested to the limit when a young female swindler (played by Cecilia Yip) arrives, on the run from a gang that wants her dead. Soon the Killer is forced into an unpleasant choice - to send her on her way, or violate his own rules and risk an all-out war with the gang.Well directed, good casting and decent acting. I like the narration at the start telling the story of him you get to know a bit about his character and why he did the thunga he did.The action is decent but ruined by poor editing. Good film as i said but could have been much better.Overall a decent Western action film.

c-kelsall This contribution to the "Western" genre from Hong Kong is just about the most offensively poor film I've seen that actually had a budget. I don't know how much it cost to make (I'm guessing at a few million), but it was money down the toilet. I am an admirer of the work of Chow Yun Fat, both in Hong Kong and Hollywood, but I was shocked and disappointed to discover how low his standards are capable of dropping, as demonstrated by his heavy involvement in this shoddy piece of work (main actor and co-writer). Essentially, the story is of a part of wild China in/around early 20th c, in which a former gangster and mass-murderer reforms his life and builds the Peace Hotel, a refuge for all the area's disowned and hunted. This situation is maintained for 10 years, when a woman of dubious character turns up and claims refuge. However, she is at the centre of a plot to bring down the Peace Hotel, the owner, and all he stands for. Why is this a disastrous production? Where do I start.....The back-stories of the two main characters are treated in an overly sentimental way, the soundtrack throughout the film is irritating, the story didn't interest me, I found the pacing to be slow without being gripping, and most of the characters seemed to be one-dimensional, pointless, irritating and/or unlikeable. I also got the impression that there were gaps in the story in terms of explaining motives, but it may be that if I had taken more of an interest in the film I might have understood it better. Frankly, I was bored rigid after the first 30 minutes, and couldn't wait for it to end. Yawn.

bs3dc Peace Hotel is a western set in China in the 1930's and is probably best described as a cross between 'A Fistful Of Dollars' and 'The Killer'. Chow Yun-Fat (in his last film in Hong Kong before going to America) plays a retired killer who opens the 'Peace Hotel' where people can hide from their enemies with no questions asked. He teams up with Cecilia Yip with whom he had last starred with in the gripping World War II drama 'Hong Kong 1941' (1984). She plays a confidence trickster who is wanted by a large and dangerous gang that threaten to destroy the refuge to get to her. Both are excellent in this film and have a great on-screen chemistry.The music by Healthy Poon and Cacine Wong is effective and in a similar vein to the Ennio Morricone score in the spaghetti westerns and the theme song by Alex San (music),Erica Lee (lyricist)and Cass Pang Ling (performer) fully deserved its win at the 1996 Hong Kong Film awards.Those watching this film expecting highly choreographed gun-play sequences due to the presence of John Woo as executive producer will be disappointed as the action is infrequent and is filmed in a confusing style that probably better represents the confusion of a real fight. Peace Hotel is more character-driven than action orientated anyway and is all the better for it. Written by Chow Yun-Fat and Wai Ka-Fai (who is probably best known for co-directing 'Fulltime Killer' (2001)) there is some great dialogue and more character development than is usual for a film in the genre.Peace Hotel may not be as good as some of Chow Yun-Fat's earlier work with John Woo, but it makes an attempt to be different and deserves credit for that.

Eson This review contains minor spoilers.This whole movie's look is very similar to the spaghetti western, but with richer production values. Peace Hotel is noteworthy in several respects. First, it is the last Hong Kong movie Chow Yun-Fat has made to this date. Also, Chow Yun-Fat is bald in the beginning, and does some fast-paced swordplay. These both are precursors to his now famous part as Li Mu Bai in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which is not a Hong Kong movie, as Ang Lee does not work within the Hong Kong movie system, and the film is in Mandarin, not Cantonese). This movie also marks the reunion of Chow Yun-Fat and Cecilia Yip, who had not worked together since 1984 (Hong Kong 1941). This was also the last time Wu Chien-lien was in a movie with Chow Yun-Fat, who had been in Treasure Hunt and God of Gamblers' Return with him the year prior to this. However, her cameo lasts about two seconds.Anyway, enough background. One of the few movies where Chow Yun-Fat contributed to the writing, this movie has his brand of comedy. It also has Chow Yun-Fat just killin' a whole mess of people. The visual design and costumes are pretty fantastic, and the movie has a good pace to it. There is a kind of fantasy feeling to this movie, as it is a mixture of the American western genre, but with Chinese tints to it. Cecilia Yip gives a pretty good performance here, and Chow Yun-Fat gets to show much of his range here as an actor, even though he tries to remain distant throughout the movie.