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The Promise
Directed by	Chen Kaige
Produced by	Kim Dong-ju Chen Hong
Written by	Chen Kaige
Starring	Jang Dong-gun Hiroyuki Sanada Cecilia Cheung Nicholas Tse Liu Ye Chen Hong
Distributed by	Warner Independent Pictures
Release date(s)	December 15, 2005 December 15, 2005 January 3, 2006 May 5, 2006
Running time	128 min
Language	Mandarin
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Promise (simplified Chinese: 无极; traditional Chinese: 無極; pinyin: Wújí; literally "Limitless") is an epic fantasy movie directed by Chen Kaige and starring Jang Dong-gun, Hiroyuki Sanada, Cecilia Cheung and Nicholas Tse.

It was first released in mainland China on December 15, 2005,^[1] as well as Hong Kong and Singapore. The Weinstein Company adapted it for North American distributions and 3-day preview screenings, but they sold the movie to Warner Independent Pictures. While under the control of TWC, they trimmed out 19 minutes of scenes and renamed it Master of the Crimson Armor. Eventually, it was released on May 5, 2006 as The Promise.

When it was released in Asian markets, the crowd reactions were mixed. In China however, public response was largely negative. Its commercial performance was unknown, but it was rumored to make USD$9 million dollars in mainland China in the opening week and HK$8 million dollars in Hong Kong. [1] The budget was rumored to be CN¥282~340 million yuan (USD$35~$42 million dollars), surpassing the cost of Hero. [2]

Despite the negative buzz, it was one of the two Chinese movies, along with international hit Kung Fu Hustle, to receive the Best Golden Globes Foreign Language Film nomination in the history. Both eventually lost to Paradise Now in an awards ceremony.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Box office 3 Environmental damage 4 Trivia 5 References 6 External links

In a war-ravaged land where danger is rampant and food scarce, a young girl named Qingcheng feeds herself and her mother by pillaging the bodies of dead soldiers. One day, after finding some bread, Qingcheng pulls the boots off a hanging corpse for herself. However, it was all a trick as the "corpse" is not dead and he is able to string up Qingcheng. After Qingcheng promises to be his slave, he cuts her down and she asks if she can see his helmet. Upon receiving the helmet, she uses it to smack him on the head and flees.

While crossing over some water Qingcheng drops her bread, but the bread is caught by a goddess and is brought back to Qingcheng. Asked by the goddess why she does not eat the bread, Qingcheng replied that she is saving the food for her mother. The goddess then tells the girl that her mother is dead. Grief stricken, the girl eats the bread. Before she departs, the goddess offers her a chance to live a life in which she will have all the food she wants, will be able to wear the most beautiful clothing, and men will fall helplessly in love with her. However, there is a catch: all men whom she falls in love with will die. The girl readily accepts the conditions.

Years later, after a brutal battle in which his regiment of 3,000 men was able to defeat a barbarian horde of 20,000, General Guangming (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) is informed that the King is being attacked by the traitorous Duke Wuhuan (played by Nicholas Tse) from the north. While he and his slave Kunlun (played by Jang Dong-Gun), a man of supernatural strength and speed, search for the path back to the kingdom they become lost and decide to split up to find their way. However, while looking for the path, General Guangming comes across the goddess who informs him that the victory against the barbarians would be his last because soon a man wearing Guangming's crimson armor would kill the King and his name would be besmirched. Laughing, Guangming states that he would never kill the king.

After the goddess departs, Wuhuan's assassin Snow Wolf (played by Liu Ye) attacks Guangming. Kunlun finds his master wounded and his master tells him to wear his armour and save the king. Kunlun asks how can he tell who is the king and Guangming replies that the king will be the one without a weapon.

Back at the palace, the King and his princess, (the grownup) Qingcheng (played by Cecilia Cheung), stand upon the top of the palace walls which are surrounded by Wuhuan's soldiers. Wuhuan demands that the King give him Qingcheng, something the king is all too willing to do. Angered by this, Qingcheng tells the soldiers that she will strip off a layer of clothing if they will kill the king. Since her stunning beauty entrances them, they willingly attempt to do as she asks. Infuriated, the king draws his sword and it is at this point that Kunlun, dressed in Guangming's armor, arrives at the scene and throws his sword at the king, impaling and killing him, rescuing Qingcheng. However, their victory is short lived because Wuhuan and his men catch up to them. Wuhuan states that if Guangming jumps he will spare the life of Qingcheng. Kunlun, in love with Qingcheng and knowing that he can survive the fall, jumps. Kunlun returns to his master and gives back the crimson armor. Guangming is angered as he had been beaten and tied up to a tree by his own men who did not kill him only because he had been their superior officer, all because Kunlun killed the king. The two hurry to rescue Qingcheng, in which they are successful. Qingcheng is in love with Guangming because of the words he said to her before he jumped ("You must not die, you have to live"); however, she does not know that it was actually Kunlun who spoke these words, so her heart's desires are misguided. Kunlun, whose own desires come second to his master's, stands aside while Guangming tries to make Qingcheng fall in love with him. Qingcheng and Guangming spend time living a happy lovebirds' life, meanwhile Kunlun finds out from Snow Wolf that Wuhuan was the culprit in invading his home country and killing all his people including his mother and sister (Snow Wolf did this by reversing time and showed him the past). Kunlun also learns that Snowwolf was one of his own, and the only one that survived besides Kunlun (who was kidnapped and thus avoided being killed)the massacre because he subjected himself to being Wuhuan's slave. Wuhuan tricks Guangming to come back to the palace by sending one of Guangming's former subordinates and telling him Wuhuan had been captured. In reality, all the solders had come to Wuhuan's side and Guangming becomes imprisoned, waiting for his execution in the name of killing the king. Qingcheng sends Kunlun after Guangming's departure to get him back, but the captured Guangming tells Kunlun he is a defeated general and no longer worth anything. Kunlun gets mad and tells Guangming he is indeed not worthy of Qingcheng's love and he will wear the crismon armor to see Qingcheng and tell her he had been the real man that rescued her. Unfortunately, Qingcheng has been kidnapped by Wuhuan. Wuhuan now prepares to kill everyone and tells Snow Wolf to take Kunlun's life, but Snow Wolf gives up his own life to save Kunlun. In the end, Kunlun, Guangming, and Wuhuan engage in a final fight, in which both Guangming and Wuhuan are killed, and Kunlun survives. Qingcheng survives to the end, too.

The Promise played to blockbuster business in Mainland China, grossing an estimated $18,000,000 USD.[3] Business was much less spectacular in Hong Kong, where it grossed a mere $654,435 USD ($5,073,311 HKD).[4]

The Promise was scheduled to be released in North America by the Weinstein Company in December 2005 under the title Master of the Crimson Armor. This version was shortened by approximately twenty-five minutes. However, the Weinsteins eventually cancelled plans to distribute the film, and North American distribution rights were bought by Warner Independent. Warner reverted the title back to The Promise, but otherwise retained the shortened Weinstein cut of the film.

Warner released The Promise in North America on May 5, 2006 in an aggressive 213 theatres. However, the film was met with weak reviews and was a box office bomb. In its opening weekend, it grossed a very modest $272,838 USD ($1,280 per screen), and collected only $669,625 USD by the end of its run.[5]

According to Box Office Mojo, The Promise has grossed $33,539,654 USD worldwide.

The film has been criticized for the environmental damage caused while filming in Yunnan. The film production damaged the vegetation and natural scenery of the area and the surrounding Lake Bigu from filming and set construction, and left behind a large amount of undisposed household waste.^[2][3][4][5]

• This movie is a very loose film adaptation of a story called The K’un-lun Slave, which was written by P’ei Hsing (c. 800) during the Tang Dynasty.^[6]

• It was given a “rotten” rating of 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus was that this film had “An incoherent plot and ridiculously obvious CGI effects [which doomed] this effort from the usually outstanding Chinese director Chen Kaige."^[7]

• Official site
• The Promise at the Internet Movie Database
• The Promise at LoveHKFilm.com
• "The Promise in Shangri La" Translation of an article about the environmental destruction left behind by the film crew in Yunnan
• MonkeyPeaches
• The Promise - Film Coverage
• Interview with director Chen Kaige
• Interview with actor Hiroyuki Sanada ("Guangming")

v • d • e Films directed by Chen Kaige
Yellow Earth (1984) • The Big Parade (1986) • King of Children (1987) • Life on a String (1991) • Farewell My Concubine (1992) • Temptress Moon (1996) • The Emperor and the Assassin (1999) • Killing Me Softly (2002) • Together (2002) • The Promise (2005) • Mei Lanfang (2008)