Tag Archives: emperor

Curse of the Golden Flower

IMDB Rating: 7.00
9520 votes

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 Storyline
China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, Prince Jai (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing Empress (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous. For many years, the Empress and Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love Chan (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path? The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the Imperial Doctor (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace to a remote area. While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, Jiang Shi (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises. Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace. Who is behind this brutal rebellion? Where do Prince Jai's loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.
Actors
Emperor PingYun-Fat Chow
Empress PhoenixLi Gong
Prince JaiJay Chou
Also posted in 2006, Action, Adventure, Drama, High IMDB rating, Romance | Comments (0)

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

IMDB Rating: 8.80
123200 votes

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 Storyline
The story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and the others didn't end with the destruction of the Death Star - it continues in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Imperial forces have since driven the Rebels to hide on the ice world Hoth. But even on such an icy, backwater world, they cannot escape the wicked Darth Vader's eye for long, and he devastates the Rebel base in an assault with the horrible AT-AT walkers. Luke flees to Dagobah to begin Jedi Knight training with Yoda, while Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and C-3PO run the blockade of Imperial Star Destroyers in the Millenium Falcon. The Imperials pursue them across the galaxy and eventually catch up with them at Bespin. Now Darth Vader plans to use them as bait to lure Luke Skywalker to him, and turns Han Solo over to Boba Fett as a prize to be delivered to crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Luke learns a terrible family secret after losing a swordfight with Vader. Will he - and the others - escape the Empire's clutches?
Actors
Luke Skywalker/Echo Base AnnouncerMark Hamill
Han SoloHarrison Ford
Princess Leia OrganaCarrie Fisher
Also posted in 1980, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, High IMDB rating, Sci-Fi | Comments (1)

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

IMDB Rating: 7.90
109442 votes

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 Storyline
A maturing Anakin Skywalker goes to the dark side of The Force and becomes Sith Lord Darth Vader. We experience the transformation in a dark, scary yet thrilling climax. The story here logically sets up the events of Episode IV, the original 1977 Star Wars movie in which Darth Vader goes to war against his own children, Luke and Leia.
Actors
Obi-Wan KenobiEwan McGregor
PadméNatalie Portman
Anakin SkywalkerHayden Christensen
Also posted in 2005, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, High IMDB rating, Sci-Fi | Comments (0)

The Last Samurai

IMDB Rating: 7.80
56635 votes

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 Storyline
In the 1870s, Captain Nathan Algren, a cynical veteran of the American Civil war who will work for anyone, is hired by Americans who want lucrative contracts with the Emperor of Japan to train the peasant conscripts for the first standing imperial army in modern warfare using firearms. The imperial Omura cabinet's first priority is to repress a rebellion of traditionalist Samurai -hereditary warriors- who remain devoted to the sacred dynasty but reject the Westernizing policy and even refuse firearms. Yet when his ill-prepared superior force sets out too soon, their panic allows the sword-wielding samurai to crush them. Badly wounded Algren's courageous stand makes the samurai leader Katsumoto spare his life; once nursed to health he learns to know and respect the old Japanese way, and participates as advisor in Katsumoto's failed attempt to save the Bushido tradition, but Omura gets repressive laws enacted- he must now choose to honor his loyalty to one of the embittered sides when the conflict returns to the battlefield...
Actors
Shin Koyamada
KatsumotoKen Watanabe
Nathan AlgrenTom Cruise
Also posted in 2003, Action, Adventure, Drama, High IMDB rating, War | Comments (9)

Gladiator

IMDB Rating: 8.20
147070 votes

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 Storyline
Maximus is a powerful Roman general, loved by the people and the aging Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Before his death, the Emperor chooses Maximus to be his heir over his own son, Commodus, and a power struggle leaves Maximus and his family condemned to death. The powerful general is unable to save his family, and his loss of will allows him to get captured and put into the Gladiator games until he dies. The only desire that fuels him now is the chance to rise to the top so that he will be able to look into the eyes of the man who will feel his revenge.
Actors
MaximusRussell Crowe
CommodusJoaquin Phoenix
LucillaConnie Nielsen
Also posted in 2000, Action, Adventure, Drama, High IMDB rating | Comments (50)

The Last Emperor

IMDB Rating: 7.80
14067 votes

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 Storyline
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Actors
Pu Yi (Adult)John Lone
Wan JungJoan Chen
Reginald Johnston (R.J.)Peter O'Toole
Also posted in 1987, Biography, Drama, High IMDB rating, History | Comments (0)

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

IMDB Rating: 8.20
98361 votes

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 Storyline
The Empire is more than halfway through construction of a new Death Star - almost twice as big, but more than twice as powerful. When completed, it will spell certain doom for Luke Skywalker and the Rebels. Han Solo is a prisoner of crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and Princess Leia soon finds herself in the gangster's hands. Luke Skywalker, aided by C-3PO and R2-D2, makes his way into Jabba's palace, hoping to secure his friends' freedom. But the Hutt has no intention of doing so and tries to kill them all. After escaping from Jabba and the sands of Tatooine, they regroup with the Rebel fleet, which is massing for an attack against the new satellite battle station at Endor. Lando Calrissian is pressed into action to lead the Rebel fighter attack, while Han is put in charge of a group of soldiers to take out the shield generator protecting the Death Star. Luke, however, surrenders to Vader's soldiers on Endor, and is taken in front of Vader's boss - the Galactic Emperor - on the Death Star for final corruption to the Dark Side of the Force. The fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers ambushes the Rebels, cutting them off. Worse, the new Death Star begins turning its giant laser on the Rebel carriers. It appears that nothing will stop the Empire's triumph - unless things start to change quickly...
Actors
Luke SkywalkerMark Hamill
Han SoloHarrison Ford
Princess Leia OrganaCarrie Fisher
Also posted in 1983, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, High IMDB rating, Sci-Fi | Comments (0)

Dune

IMDB Rating: 6.40
19103 votes

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 Storyline
Set in a distant future where life in the universe and space travel is dependent upon a spice found only on the planet Dune, this film tracks the rise of young Paul Atreides, son of good Duke Lito, from the time of his father's betrayal and murder by a rival lord, Baron Harkonnen, to his discovery of the great secret behind the planet Dune and his own destiny, which is to free the planet and its denizens of the cruel rule of the Emperor.
Actors
Lady JessicaFrancesca Annis
The Baron's DoctorLeonardo Cimino
Piter De VriesBrad Dourif
Also posted in 1984, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, High IMDB rating, Sci-Fi | Comments (0)

Caligula (Caligola)

IMDB Rating: 4.60
6847 votes

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 Storyline
The rise and fall of the notorious Roman Emperor Caligula, showing the violent methods that he employs to gain the throne, and the subsequent insanity of his reign - he gives his horse political office and humiliates and executes anyone who even slightly displeases him. He also sleeps with his sister, organises elaborate orgies and embarks on a fruitless invasion of England before meeting an appropriate end. There are various versions of the film, ranging from the heavily- truncated 90-minute version to the legendary 160-minute hardcore version which leaves nothing to the imagination (though the hardcore scenes were inserted later and do not involve the main cast members).
Actors
Emperor Gaius Germanicus Caesar (Caligula)Malcolm McDowell
Julia DrusillaTeresa Ann Savoy
CaesoniaHelen Mirren
Also posted in 1979, Drama, History | Comments (0)