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The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
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2019 Reads > TPW: Inspirational Viewing II

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Joseph | 2433 comments Since I did this for Jade City, a list of films possibly of interest to readers of The Poppy War. Mostly I'm sticking with wuxia periood pieces, with greater or lesser amounts of fantasy elements.

I'll mention the obvious candidates, just in passing: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; House of Flying Daggers; Curse of the Golden Flower

And also:

Shadow The latest from Zhang Yimou, who directed 3/4 of the films I mentioned above. It's a very slow burn (no major fight scenes until the last 30-40 minutes), but utterly gorgeous -- all the sets, costumes, etc., are in shades of black, gray & white, broken only by flesh tones and the occasional red of spilled blood.


Red Cliff A five-hour two-part film from John Woo retelling the story of a major battle from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 2 of 2

Brotherhood of Blades Historical martial arts & intrigue involving Ming dynasty-era palace guards

Reign of Assassins The wonderful Michelle Yeoh is an assassin trying to return a Buddhist monk's remains to their rightful resting place (long story) while being pursued by other assassins.

The Bride with White Hair A classic (1993) Hong Kong martial arts fantasy, one of my favorites and now conveniently streaming on Amazon Prime (in the US, at least).

Ice Fantasy The most fantastical thing listed -- a very colorful and somewhat ridiculous & melodramatic Chinese TV series (70+ episodes) streaming on Netflix, with warring elemental spirits and questionable CGI.

The Storm Riders This one is my actual favorite, based on a Hong Kong comic book series. Again, very heavy on the fantasy element, with late-90s CGI that, for my money, still holds up reasonably well.

And as always I'm definitely interested in other suggestions.


Trike | 11192 comments Ice Fantasy was too silly for me, so I bailed after the first episode. But I will agree it does have a somewhat similar flavor to the magic in TPW.


Joseph | 2433 comments Trike wrote: "Ice Fantasy was too silly for me, so I bailed after the first episode. But I will agree it does have a somewhat similar flavor to the magic in TPW."

It's very silly, and I'll never watch more than an episode or two at a time, but I do find it strangely alluring.

Their colored contact lenses are kind of scary sometimes, though.


Trike | 11192 comments I know, right? They look *painful*.


message 5: by Tassie Dave, S&L Historian (new) - rated it 3 stars

Tassie Dave | 4076 comments Mod
I love Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers.


Joseph | 2433 comments I actually just rewatched Hero last night for the first time in several years -- I got a Blu-ray (a Korean edition) of the director's cut. Such a great movie!


Robert Lee (harlock415) | 319 comments Joseph wrote: "Trike wrote: "Ice Fantasy was too silly for me, so I bailed after the first episode. But I will agree it does have a somewhat similar flavor to the magic in TPW."

It's very silly, and I'll never watch more than an episode or two at a time, but I do find it strangely alluring.

Their colored contact lenses are kind of scary sometimes, though."


I got used to the contacts, it's the horrible wigs that I could not take.


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