It wasn't until the American Civil War picture Riding with the Devil that Lee worked outside his own realm of experience, but perhaps due to the cold subject matter, it was the first of his films to perform below expectations at the box office. He didn't know why American audiences didn't take to the film.
接下來的美國內戰《與魔鬼共騎》則完全超脫李安的個人經驗，也許因為主題太冷，成為李安作品中唯一票房「沒有擊出安打」的電影，他也不解為何美國觀眾的反應如此冷淡。