Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Taraparain
Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.
Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Vihren Mitev
Deep and genuine, film about human honor and loyalty. Belief and faith. Showing the futility of military conflicts, their rudeness and callousness.A film that deserves to be seen. In which we can see how important it is to be on the first human beings and secondly, supporters of any regime. A film that says a lot more about itself when viewed. Tales of sacrifice and willingness to sacrifice someone else (which I leave with absolutely no comment because of the absurdity of justifying such behavior).My blog: http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/
Robert J. Maxwell
A little long, but not at all bad. If you liked "Saving Private Ryan," you should like "Assembly." The director, Xiaogang Feng, has not only imitated Stephen Spielberg, he's transcended him.First of all, a viewer is going to notice the exquisite pictorialism of the titles. They're really tasteful. And the arresting quality of the images -- the composition and color -- is carried through the film itself. A finely tuned visual pageant.The story is a bit drawn out but so much of the material is unfamiliar to the West that it's acceptable. The protagonist is a soldier in the Chinese communist army, Hanyu Zhang. We're treated to battle scenes during the war with Chiang Kai-Shek's nationalists after World War II.Hanyu is in charge of a detachment ordered to hold a position at a mine until he hears "Assembly" played on the headquarters bugle. Nobody hears the bugle call and all of Hanyu's troops die except him. He's wounded and dazed, wearing an enemy uniform, and no one at headquarters believes his story. Nevertheless, he becomes part of the Chinese army and is later half blinded during the Korean war, while in the process of saving another man's life. Three or four Americans show up on screen but they're not stereotypical villains. And when the Yanks are subject to a devastating bombardment, they're killed in extreme long shot.Later, an old soldier now, unfit for duty, Hanyu spends his time trying to find evidence of the events at the mine in 1948. He's haunted by guilt.Some Chinese movies have been working their way into the ken of Western movie goers over the last decade or so, pari passu with the nation's sidling its way into the global village. They're still Chincoms to the more retrograde among us, but if you want to buy Petro China you can do it on the Hong Kong market. And they're our chief foreign debtors. If we fail, they fail. Good reason to make movies about the unforgiving brutality of war and the misunderstandings that follow.In the case of this film, that's part of the problem. Spielberg had bullets clanking off metal, terrible fighting conditions, and pointless blood-spilling. Feng has more exploding squibs -- exploding in the wrong direction -- than you can count. There's gore all over the place, along with body parts and men blown in half by explosions. It's far more graphic than "Saving Private Ryan" or "Blackhawk Down." Feng has also adopted the current directorial fad of cutting instantly during action scenes and wobbling the camera as if the photographer had imbibed too much ng ga pei. Some of the deaths are captured in slow motion. (Ho hum.) I think there's a structural problem too. I understand Hanyu loved his men and is ridden with chagrin over being responsible for their anonymous deaths, all being listed as MIA because their bodies were never recovered. And we're often reminded of it in one way or another. He and one of the soldiers' widow stand in front of the camera and there is a crane shot of a field of grave markers that seems to stretch on forever while mournful music plays on the sound track.However, the girls are pretty, and I say keep 'em coming, China, and be as innovative and original as you were in the 20s and 30s. And ding hao!
Hunky Stud
I have heard a lot of good things about this movie, so I decided to watch it.Well, it wasn't as good as I expected at all. Essentially, it is just another Chinese communist propaganda. No matter how big the mistake the Party made, in the end, the Chinese communist party always does the right thing for its people. That is basically what every mainland Chinese movie is all about. This is just another updated version with better picture quality and better sound effects.For mainland Chinese people, they got brainwashed by the Chinese communist party. Of course, they love this movie. It makes them feel so touched and "proud". There is nothing to be proud of, because the Chinese communist soldiers were killing the Chinese nationalist soldiers who were also Chinese. At that time, the Chinese communist soldiers would be labeled at anti-government terrorists according to today's standard. If the Chinese communist party didn't win the civil war, China might be a better country than it is today. And look at today's China, so many common people have so many things that they want to complain to the communist party, but some of them were even sent to the psychiatric hospitals.The first hour was way too long. It was a simple story, there is no need to show the audience one event for an entire hour. Some of the scenes remind of me "Saving private Ryan." Remember people, only good things about the Chinese communist party are allowed to be made movies. The bad things are not even allowed to be published anywhere inside of mainland China. Those oversea web sites are also blocked inside of mainland China. That is the reality.
galith
Prior to watching this movie I have read a few decent reviews about it. After watching it, I must admit, it exceeded my expectations. Very realistic battle scenes, good character development, a bit weak on the romance side of things, but hey, this isn't a chick flick.My Chinese Mandarin skills are weak, so I appreciate the good quality English subtitles provided.Overall, I think China has taken a good step in creating this movie so that it does not appear like a "state-run, propaganda" film...rather a real film with deep meaning and quality entertainment value.This film makes me ponder the question, will there be more movies like this to come from China? I certainly hope so!
