On the big screen, Bob was completely freaked out with an apple perched on his head. "Luke, you absolutely can't miss!" he pleaded.
Luke, shaking his head with a sigh, responded, "You don't have faith in me? I'm gonna have to punish you!"
In the very next shot, Bob was holding an apple in each hand in addition to the one on his head.
"Hahahaha, that's what you get for being a jerk!"
"Way to go, Luke, that's awesome!"
The theater audience burst into another round of cheers and laughter.
Meanwhile, on screen, Luke stood about thirty feet away. Suddenly, he shook his head. Just when the audience thought he was going to get closer because he felt unsure, Luke walked another thirty feet further back.
As soon as he reached about sixty-five feet, Luke spun around, and with a flick of his right arm, three flashes of silver light zipped through the air.
"Pow!"
There was only a single sound. The three apples—the one on Bob's head and the two in his hands—were instantly shattered into a million pieces, with fruit pulp flying everywhere. This whole stunt was recorded live by the camera, making it impossible to fake.
"Oh my god! He wasn't supposed to shoot them one after the other, right? He got all three at the same time?"
"That's gotta be sixty-five feet! That's unbelievable! Luke is like a walking, human handgun!"
"Come on, no handgun can fire three bullets at once like that!"
"And what's even crazier is that they were all hit at the exact same moment, which is why there was only one sound! That's just wild!"
"Ever since Luke took out Tyson with one kick, I've believed there's nothing he can't do!"
"I bet after this movie comes out, street thugs with guns are gonna run the other way if they see Luke coming."
"I swear, I'm going to watch the movie again just for this blooper reel!"
Seeing the crowd's reaction, Luke knew he'd just added another layer of success to Hero's performance.
---
The rest of the blooper reel showed more stunning footage of the cast and crew shooting in various scenic spots. Luke hoped this part of the reel would help promote tourism, and judging by the audience feedback, it seemed to be working great.
Next up were some behind-the-scenes clips of the fight scenes, showing how tough the filming process was and how much effort the actors put in. No need to go into all the details on that.
When the entire reel finished, a massive, thunderous round of applause erupted across the theater. The audience clearly loved the movie; many were even rushing to buy tickets for the very next showing so they could see it a second time, right then and there.
After the crowd cleared out, Luke, who'd been sitting in the back row, put on his sunglasses and was the last to leave.
In the study of Mr. Aizen's house in Glaston, New York.
"Nicely done! Our film studio is off to a roaring start," Mr. Aizen exclaimed excitedly as he stood up from his chair.
Though he'd produced countless successful films in his career, the ones he worked on with Luke had a unique youthful energy and vitality. Mr. Aizen was completely confident that these masterpieces would still be watched by generations fifty years from now, and his and Luke's names would continue to be mentioned.
"So the word-of-mouth is pretty good, then?" Luke asked.
"It is! The reaction is even better than what we saw with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. We can definitely get our hopes up for the Oscars next March," Mr. Aizen said, handing Luke a summary of the results he'd compiled.
"I'll be cautiously optimistic. When it comes to handing out awards, there are always a lot of factors that go beyond a film's quality," Luke replied before flipping through the summary.
First, he looked at the reviews from the major traditional media outlets:
> Director Zhang Mou and his team skillfully deployed different colors—black, white, red, green, blue, and yellow—using them like paint on a palette to construct an absolutely gorgeous masterpiece! We can confidently make the call now: the Best Film of 2002 has arrived! — The New York Times
> Hero is the most beautiful, the most mesmerizing—in a word, it's the best. The film is meticulously and delicately made; not a single frame of film was wasted. — TIME Magazine
> Hero is the peak of cold-weapon action films. As both the action choreographer and lead actor, Luke delivers an unparalleled level of spectacle in this movie. His talent is so full that it's practically spilling off the screen! We can't imagine a film with more exciting fight choreography than Hero. If one exists, it must be Luke's next film! — The Los Angeles Times
> Hero is structurally brilliant, using different colors to construct the reality hidden beneath the lies. Director Zhang Mou has infused this film with infinite poetry amidst its stunning beauty. — Roger Ebert, The Chicago Post's Distinguished Film Critic
Luke found all the praise a little embarrassing. He looked up and asked, "We didn't pay any of these guys to say this, did we?"
"Of course not! These are genuine, objective reviews," Mr. Aizen chuckled.
Luke nodded and kept reading.
IMDb rating: 8.4...
This score was higher than Luke had expected, but it also made perfect sense. In the original timeline, Hero was rated 7.9, about the same as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Now, it had shot up to 8.4, creating a massive gap.
This meant Hero's IMDb score would be right up there with classic gems like Once Upon a Time in America, Cinema Paradiso, and The Shining. With an 8.4, it would also rocket into the top 50 of the all-important IMDb Top 250 chart.
This achievement would be the highest for any Foreign-language film Luke knew of from his past life, and it would be a tough record to beat.
It's worth noting that even if you included the entire East Asian cultural sphere, only Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (8.6) and Miyazaki's Spirited Away (8.5) would slightly edge out Hero.
The original version of Hero wouldn't have deserved such accolades, but Luke's adapted version absolutely did. The screenplay and the fight choreography had been hugely optimized and improved.
If you were to pick the single most exciting fight film in human cinematic history, Hero would be the undisputed champion, crushing the competition. If you were to pick the most beautifully shot film in human cinematic history, Hero would easily make the top ten.
Calling it "top ten" was being conservative; since beauty is so subjective, Luke personally felt it should rank in the top three, minimum. Therefore, while he was surprised to receive such high praise, he also felt it was completely justified.
Luke continued flipping the pages and suddenly came across a picture of a muscular, bald Black man. Tyson?
In the news report, Tyson was all smiles: "I went to see Hero last night, and the movie is just fantastic! It's the best action film I have ever seen. I'm going to buy out a few screenings and invite all my friends to check it out!"
He added, "Luke's kung fu has completely blown me away. If he happens to see this interview, I hope he'll consider taking me on as an apprentice. Even if I can't be his student, I'd be willing to play a cameo role in his next movie just to be near a martial arts superstar like him!"
"What do you think? Should we get back to him?" Mr. Aizen asked with a laugh.
"Of course, we've gotta make that happen!"