Hope for Hero? www.hollywoodreporter.com...id=1784779 says Hero has done well in the Chinese box office so far. From what I heard, Crouching Tiger did poorly in China, because of some of its Western values. So that could mean that Miramax has not messed with any cultural elements in Hero...
CTHD
Part of the reason CTHD failed in China is because although it is in Mandarin, Chow Yun-Fat does not speak a word of Mandarin and Michelle Yeoh speaks very little. From what I was told, there accents in it and acting is very poor because of this. And yes, it is far more westernized, seeing as how it was written in English by a westerner first and then translated, and seeing how the director is really and American who was born in Taiwan.
Hero on the other hand, regardless of Miramaxes involvement, was made for the Chinese people and no one else. CTHD was made for an international audience. Zhang Yimou had had enough of having his films band in CHina or barely being seen. He made a decision to become a Chinese director who makes films Chinese people see, and so he made Hero. Ang Lee wanted to make a movie that would do very well in the West. Zhang Yimou wasn't bothered by that.
Hence, in China, Hero is the most successful movie ever, and CTHD didn't do so well.
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