I became obsessed with Zhang Yimou’s Hero long before it arrived in theaters. A lavish martial arts epic starring Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Donnie Yen, and Zhang Ziyi? Yes and please. In the months prior to its release, I scoured the web for every scrap of news I could find about its production, frequenting Asian film blogs and forums.

Eventually, I got scared that I was building Hero up way too much in my head. But when I finally saw it courtesy of an import DVD, I realized I needn’t have worried. Zhang Yimou’s film was everything I had hoped it would be, and more. Its non-linear tale of assassins trying to kill a ruthless king, and the lowly constable who battles them all, is an absolute feast for the eyes and ears.

Christopher Doyle’s vivid cinematography conveys the film’s various narratives as richly colored tableaux while Yimou’s direction contains a stately grace even during the massive battle sequences. All of the leading actors give career best performances, especially Chen Daoming as the tyrant who turns out to be more than he seems, and Tan Dun’s score imbues the film with a majestic melancholy. Finally, as you might expect from a film starring Li and Yen, and choreographed by Ching Siu-tung (Duel to the Death, A Chinese Ghost Story), Hero’s martial arts sequences are as breathtaking as they are exciting, and achieve an almost dream-like quality.