Just finished watching this on DVD.  Beautiful movie.  Easy to see no expense was spared.  I've seen most of Zhang Yimou movies, I think he is one of the best directors in the world.  With all of that said, the movie is the first Zhang Yimou movie I've seen that I didn't like.  The story line was weak IMHO and just didn't work for me.  I have 4 of Zhang Yimou movies in my top 100 : To Live, Road Home, Raise the Red Lantern and Ju-Dou.  Hero, sadly, just isn't a very good movie, yes its beautiful, lots of money put into it, comes across to me as a typical Hollywood flick, sad to say.  