A historical drama based on the founding of the Republic of China when nationalist forces led by Sun Yat-sen overthrew the Qing Dynasty. A story about the 1911 Chinese Revolution headed by Sun Yat Sen, which overthrew the Qing Dynasty, tries to cover too much ground for those unfamiliar with its details. It races over three continents with a cast of thousands, concentrating on several key figures, with some of the smallest titles on screen to tell you where and when you are in 1911/1912. It is quite confusing and, on DVD very difficult to follow the names of revolutionary heroes and changes of place and time - it is not told sequentially! However, one gets the gist of a powerful movement led by a small group trying to overthrow hundreds of years of history and a mighty (if decaying inwardly) imperial apparatus. Jackie Chan as part director and star (as the General who led the Revolutionary forces) is very good in a character role, but some of the others look a little po-faced as they play national heroes. The main strength of the film is the revolutionary rhetoric and the powerful battle scenes - leading the way towards the Great War (why did not the West look at how this war was fought before killing hundreds of thousands to learn lessons?!)- which grip and horrify in equal measure, and even manage to show some cowardice! A pity a much longer film or TV series was not attempted so that we Westerners could understand things a little better! Very disappointing. I was expecting a decent docu-drama on the 1911 Chinese revolution. However, even calling this a docu-drama might be giving it more credibility than it is due. Much of the "history" seems contrived for nationalistic purposes. There is a huge amount of embellishment, many of it simply to glorify the revolutionaries and put down everyone else, including the west. In some ways it is nothing more than Chinese propaganda.<br/><br/>Script is lame. Dialogue could not be more unrealistic. Even the battle scenes are over-dramatized. Plus, because Jackie Chan is included in the cast we are obliged to have a gratuitous, totally-out- of-place martial arts fight scene…<br/><br/>Performances are mostly woeful.<br/><br/>Avoid. It swoops, it pans, it noses around. The camerawork is almost as agitated as the editing. The directors seem to be trying to compensate for all the speechifying with as much random motion as possible.
Olyvyqyny replied
344 weeks ago