Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

chrichtonsworld From start to the finish "Blood Brothers" looks slick! The cinematography is excellent! All the actors are dressed stylish and look very cool! And the music score is fitting! The acting is decent but could have been much better! The story is a bit confusing at first! The twist ending will explain most of this confusing story! Don't expect much of the plot! Apart from the wonderful ending the story doesn't seem to have a point! I did miss depth in the characters! I want to know what makes them tick! And why they act the way they do! Sure there are enough scenes that provide insight of the main characters lives! But not enough to really understand the characters! Why should I be interested in these characters! Since they aren't real interesting! There is one scene that is quite disturbing and doesn't make any sense! This is the scene where Turbo gets beaten up! The only reason I can come up is that this scene provides a contrast and makes the twist ending more effective! Overall I enjoyed this movie but could have been much better if the characters would have been more interesting!

CloudedYoda I bought this DVD after watching Infernal Affairs trilogy. The fact that I kept it for over 6 months before watching it shows that I didn't have much faith in this movie (as there wasn't much hype about it).This movie has an amazing twist at the end that made watching it worthwhile. Like many, I hit myself in the head saying "Damn, why didn't I notice the hints throughout the entire movie before they reveal the twisted ending".Although there were certain scenes that don't seem right (i.e. the guy who sells the guns wears a weird coat, why being a gangster is the only profession they can think of), I would still recommend it as a must-see.I liken this to "The Others", a movie where you couldn't quite figure out why they spend so much time on many unnecessary scenes when you expect a predictable ending. But at the end, the twist tied all the knots and leave your mouth wide open.

PiranianRose The general consensus among HK cinema followers is that Jiang Hu suffers from this and that, so I expected it to be mediocre. Truth is, it turned out to be the most delightful surprise in many years. Right from the start, the bar scenes are filled with energy and dazzling lighting effects, maximizing the cinematic excitement. The film's retrospective score and set design evoke the old Chinese city which was previous achieved to perfection only by Wong Kar Wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. Jiang Hu's director seems to have learned more than a few tricks from Kar Wai, from utilizing well-placed retrospective songs to capturing the moment for maximum mood. This is to say, Jiang Hu is an outstanding work of art that captures the essence of triad life-cycle and blood brotherhood.Watching Jiang Hu is like experiencing the 21th century Chinese update of The Godfather or any number of European and Italian American gangster classics in the 60s/70s. In our jiang hu, Loyalty is at stake. Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung, two of HK's finest, reprise their boss-follower roles from AS TEARS GO BY, complete with Jacky's impulsiveness and Andy's more calm personality. Their pure friendship from years ago is turning pale as Jacky's ambition pull him towards the dark side.While Jacky favors violence as primary resort, Andy Lau's character is more of a pacifist. I find his peaceful resolution approach representative of Buddhist ideology in some manner. When warned that Jacky may turn against him, Andy responds: "I am not worried. If my death is what it takes to make Jacky realize the meaning of blood brothers, then so be it." Andy has reached the top of the game, where money and fame have lost their meaning. He only wishes to change his old friend for the better before time runs out. But Andy does not shove this idea down Jacky's throat; he shows Jacky the way through demonstrations of sophistication and wit, instead of blood and force. In the end, after leaving his words, Andy walks away from the table. Whether Jacky accepts his invitation to recover their brotherly bonding is up to Jacky.Some viewers have pointed out the lack of brutality/blood. This ties back to Andy's philosophy that success can be achieved without blood, as he expresses many times in the movie. It is a central theme to the story.Another criticism is about the two intertwined story lines - some think it's confusing. However, let's not forget this kind of narrative structure is featured prominently in Godfather Part II, considered a classic. In that movie, 2 parallel story lines, involving the present day Michael and previous accounts of Vito Corleone, switch back and forth throughout the movie -- very similar to the style of Jiang Hu. I personally think Jiang Hu's approach is even superior to Coppola's classic, since here the parallelism is much stronger (and perhaps more meaningful).Jiang Hu is the third masterpiece I saw in 2004 (the other two being GONG FU and 2046), a fairly kind year for HK cinema. The film is a bit showy at times, but above all, Jiang Hu is more than a standard gangster flick; its artistic passion yields a touch of timelessness which I suspect will outendure many genre classics. As I write this review in October 2005, no HK film I have seen this year comes close to exhibiting Jiang Hu's rare quality to honor the integrity of the medium.

y0ud0ntseeme I find this movie to be very cleverly written and directed. IMDb has the wrong names however. Jacky Cheung's character is called Mr. Left not Left Hand and Shawn Yue's characters name is Yik. All that aside, I really liked this movie. It's not your typical triad movie with lots of fighting and no character development. Don't get me wrong there is some action in this movie but unlike most triad movies you actually care what happens to the characters. I loved the dinner scene where Hung and Lefty are talking and the room behind them seems to be moving in an odd fashion, maybe it was a play off their emotions but I thought it looked really cool.I was a bit surprised by what this movie really was about. Because as you are watching it you think you know exactly what the movie is about and where its going, but the last 15-20 minutes gets you. You realize that you don't really know anything, everything you thought you knew is wrong.