Dream Lover

A 1986 Hong Kong variation on Somewhere in Time, with Adrian Lyne-style snazzy visuals contributed by director Tony Au, and music that sounds like Tangerine Dream outtakes. Chow Yun-fat and Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia (The Bride with White Hair) are a strikingly glamorous pair of star-crossed lovers. Apparently they were an item in a past life, during the Qin dynasty over 2,000 years ago. When they meet at an exhibition of terra cotta soldiers unearthed from the Qin emperor's tomb, the past merges with the present. (The flashback scenes mark Chow's only big-screen appearance in traditional Chinese garb, although he played several period roles in his apprentice phase as a TV idol.) The storytelling is anemic, and the finale a major letdown, but you may be satisfied just gazing at the stars, and at the lush period sets and costumes. Movies don't come much prettier. --David Chute