Here is the transcript of a Jet Li interview with Talk Asia, an Asian programming by CNN:

Click here (Yes, the interview is almost 6 month old) (Thanks to Ardent Quach)

The following is a little bit spoiling:

During an interview with an unidentified TV medium, Jet Li said, "actually the Americans only treat me as a hamburger, not a dinner."

Tianjin Daily reports the release of the extended version in China has been pushed back to next month. Near 20 minutes will be added back to the 98-minute theatrical version, which has been and will be shown around the world. According to someone from Face Audio & Video Production Co. Ltd., what will be added back includes some subplots, fight scenes and dialogues which could help the audiences to better understand the story and the history background. This is actually not an extended version but the original cut director Zhang Yimou wanted us to see. But, MiramAxe asked Zhang Yimou to trim it to 98 minute long. As the result, some reviewers have criticized the film for having a weak story. Because of SARS, the extended footage has been locked up in Hong Kong ever since. As the theatrical version, the extended version will also be available on DVD-5, DVD-9 and VCD (No video tape).

According to reputable French movie site CineMovies, MiramAxe has planned to release HERO in North America on October 31 and in France on October 29. The site also says length of the film will be 2 hours, but I do not believe so. Click here for the HERO page from CineMovies.com

Thanks to Nathan Layman

The news is a little bit late, but Ching Sui-Tung was nominated for Best Action in a Foreign Film, but lost the bid to Roland Leyer for his work for German film WILDE ENGEL.

Click here for more

According to Shenyang Today, Hong Kong action star Andy Lau has officially signed up to play the leading role in Zhang Yimou's next martial-art film, said Zhang Weiping, producer and long-time partner of Zhang Yimou. He said Zhang Yimou is current giving a few final touch on the script and the shooting would start by the end of the year. Meanwhile, according to Hong Kong media, Andy Lau said working with Zhang Yimou was the most he wanted. But he did not say he would be in Zhang Yimou's next film. According to an earlier report by Beijing Times, Zhang Ziyi has already been cast for the untitled project. Rumor indicates she will play a blind swordswoman. The film will not be HERO's sequel and according to some other rumor, the story will be set in Han Dynasty, the one after Qin Dynasty, which was established by The First Emperor, The King in HERO.

Photos: Sina.com

According to Beijing Times, producer of HERO Zhang Weijing, said filming of Zhang Yimou's next martial-art film, originally scheduled for next month, had been pushed back for at least two months due to the SARS factor. He said Zhang Ziyi was definitely in but no one else, including Andy Lau, had signed up. Zhang Yimou and his writing team are still working on the script. According to another paper, Shenyang Today, the budget of this untitled project will at lease match the level of HERO, which is US$31 million. He said several Hollywood studios had contact them for distributing the film in North American and other regions. Angered by MiramAxe's doing-nothing strategy for handling HERO, he has positively ruled out MiramAxe as the potential distributor.

Photos: http://www.sina.com.cn

SHAOLIN SOCCER, Miramax, and the Question of Subtitles

by Erich Kuersten, film and music critic

Thanks to Jason Powell

Wow, wow, wow, wow, and wow! I cannot believe what I just watched just now. This is one of many reasons why I avoid most movies from Hollywood.

John Book

Thanks to John Book

By far the most complete collection of stills extracted from the film.

Click here

Thanks to Scott Kelly

It is experimenting with the mind of the audience...

It is only possible to think straight again when the movie has ended...

The photographical design of HERO is of enormous proportions...

The photography radiates a cinematographic sense of dynamism and profundity...

Hero is a feast for both eyes and ears.

A regular Chinese narrative of a hero, which is worth shedding some tears for, really deserves a good deal of nominations.

by Anders Pugé

Click Here for a DVD review of INFERNAL AFFAIRS

by Anders Pugé

Many readers of this site told me that HERO had been released in North American on April 11th. However, the one being released is called THE HERO, directed by Anil Sharma and starring Sunny Deol. On  Yahoo! Movies, two movies are horribly and ridiculously messed together. Enjoy the laugh!

Just checked MiramAxe's official site, the HERO page remains unchanged and all those mistakes remain uncorrected. For some reason, the link to this page was taken off from the home page (thanks to Gideon Genesis) for a few weeks and now it is back.

HERO has been released in another Scandinavian country - Norway

Great thanks to Anders Jonassen from Norway for discovering the reviews and translating the summaries.

　

Øynene mine har nesten problemer med å motta så mange nydelige bilder på en gang, men bare nesten. (My eyes have problems with seeing so many beautiful images at the same time,  almost.) (5 out of 6) Birger Vestmo NRK

En utrolig vakker film. Men også en kampfilm, 'alle kampfilmers mor' (An unbelievably beautiful movie. Also a martial art movie, "the mother of all martial-art movies) Kjell Moe KulturSpeilet

Click here (4 out of 6) anonymous Dagbladet DVD Forum (Norwegian Newspaper)

HERO er en av de vakrest fortalt historier og mest storslåtte filmer som noensinne er laget. (HERO is one of the most beautifully stories ever told and one of the biggest movie ever made.) (6 out of 6) Geir Kamsvåg Film Magasinet

Official Danish Site

Features we have never seen before: the first trailer in QuickTime format (30 MB) and lots of exclusive photos.

Release date: April 16th, 2003

Official German Site (Thank to Tom for providing the link)

Features we have never seen before: N/A

Release date: June 5th, 2003

Zusammengenommen ein schöner, spannender Chinesischer Film der oberen Kategorie, den man auf jeden Fall gesehen haben sollte (A beautiful and exciting Chinese film of the higher category that one should have seen in any possible way).

(Positive, 8/10)

by "tm"

asianfilmweb.de

(You can use FreeTranslation.com)

Thanks to Tim

The official Japanese site has been launched with a Japanese trailer, a brand new one. Do not get excited when you see Warner Brothers' logo, because MiramAxe still holds the distribution rights of North America, Latin America, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South African, the rest of Africa and Italy.

Trailer: HERO (Japanese / QuickTime, length: 1:57)

Large (21.6 MB)      Medium (10.0 MB)      Small (3.7 MB)

HERO has been released in Finland and Greece. Thanks to our readers around the globe, we have the opportunity of getting to know what people from different part of the world think about the film:

Do you know any review from your country? Please tell me.

Finland		Greece
HERO on näyttävä ja toimiva elokuva – mestarinäyte kiinalaisesta osaamisesta (HERO is a dynamic and visually stunning movie - a Chinese masterpiece). Katja Argillander Hohto (Movie Magazine) 　 HERO on täydellinen esimerkki siitä, miten elokuva tulisi tehdä. (HERO is a perfect example how one should make a movie). Yle (public broadcasting) 　 Click here Helena Ylänen Nyt (Newspaper) 　 Click here anonymous MoonTV (cable TV) 　 Thanks to Kat and Anonymous		HERO is a movie definitely worth checking out, just for the fact that it offers some of the most lush, beautifully realized and executed scenes we are bound to experience all year and that alone towers above a mediocre script and an outdated ideology. Alexander Thanks to Mark Singh
		Sweden
		Se den och förförs! (See it and be seduced!) (Click here for the English translation) Peter Nilsson (Great thanks) Portland Street (Asian Films Website)
		India
		Not quite a review, but a very good read about the wuxia genre: Click here  Pradeep Sebastian The Hindu (Newspaper) Thanks to Sukumaran, Sanjeev

Martin Birkeldh has sent me another review by the biggest newspaper in Sweden. Here are the highlights:

HERO är en av alla tiders vackraste filmer. Synd då att den inte innehåller ens en tiondel så mycket dramatik, som den har skönhet (HERO is one of all time most beautiful movies. It is so bad it does not consists of more than one tenth of drama as it does with beauty). by Jan-Olov Andersson

Do you know any review from your country? Please tell me.

Here are three more reviews by critics from Sweden, plus one we have already seen.

Do you know any review from your country? Tell tell me.

Great thanks to Martin Birkeldh for discovering the first three reviews and translating the summaries.

Great thanks to Kenneth Brorsson for discovering and translating the fourth review

Den är en otroligt vacker film (This is an unbelievably beautiful Movie) Nils Petter Sundgren 　 Det här är riktig filmkonst (This is real art of cinema) Hans Wiklund 　 bionytt, TV4

Med det sagt vill jag dock påpeka att HERO är en klart sevärd film, och jag kan inte annat än rekommendera den. (And with that, I want to indicate that HERE is a really worth to see) Fredrik Svensson MovieboX

En av de snyggaste filmerna jag sett, och något av det bästa på flera år. Mer än så behöver man väl inte säga. (One of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen and the best in many years. More than that is unnecessary to say) anonymous DVD Forum (DVD Review)

With great acting in combination with fight scenes that stand above everything else, Zhang Yimou have shown before what a fantastic filmmaker he is but now he has shown that he is capable of doing wonders in the action/adventure genre as well. Orvar Säfström Filmkrönikan Sveriges Television