Very well executed

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A Disappointing Continuation

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

This film tells the story of China from shortly after the end of the Japanese Occupation in 1945 when Mao Tse-tung, chairman of the Communist party met with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek to discuss the future of the country, through a bitter civil war till the founding of the People's Republic of China and the retreat of the Nationalist it the island of Taiwan.Given that it was made by the Chinese State and dedicated to the 60th anniversary of its founding it is not surprising that it shows Mao in a better light than he is viewed in the west… that isn't the problem with the film; the problem is that it is just too stodgy. There are lots and lots of scenes with people just talking about things that aren't all that interesting at times; perhaps these are more interesting to people who know more about the history of China. The film was further let down by some very misleading packaging in the UK; the DVD cover boldly announces "For the first time in one epic film: Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen"… they may all have appeared but in cameos so minor it would be easy to miss them. There is not much in the way of action and the majority of what there is features sepia tinted footage of unknown foot soldiers rather than protagonists. The cast do a decent job; Guoqiang Tang was particularly good as Chairman Mao; of course it helped that he looked rather like him. On the plus side the film was more even handed than I expected; while Mao was obviously depicted as the good guy the Nationalists weren't shown as the villains they might have been. Overall I found this to be a bit disappointing but certainly not enough to regret watching it; I wouldn't particularly recommend it unless you are particularly interested in this period of Chinese history.

Currently, every film that is to be made in China has to be approved by the government first. Since this film is about the founding of the PRC, I expected that this film will be full of communist propaganda rhetoric materials. I was surprised that it has very few. It actually has some scenes which can be inferred to the current situation of Chinese communist party. Sundry celebrities appeared in the film, it is almost like watching the CCTV's yearly Chinese new year show.It seemed that it showed the history correctly without trying to make the Kuomintang people acting like idiots or clowns. Even though many historical people appeared in the film, this film is not hard to follow. I was captivated by it for the entire two hours.

HUGE retelling of the founding of modern China after the Second World War. Its the story of the battle between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong for control of the country. Despite some glimpse of battle this is a film that dwells mostly on the politics of the struggle. Its a fast paced tale that moves at a lightning speed through events. The speed is such that the film frequently uses titles to say where we are and who is speaking. Its large scale story that plays out like many of the American war films of the 1960's and 70's like The Longest Day, Tora Tora Tora, Midway (or to take another bend Towering Inferno) which play things out in a semi-documentary style. Like those films its both good and bad since it tells the huge story with a great deal of clarity, but its bad since the film contains a great deal of emotional distance since we're simply watching events not getting to know the characters. Who are all of these people? You really don't know, unless you already know the history. It kind of helps that the cast is full of many of China's biggest stars (Jackie Chan, Ziyi Zhang,Jet Li, Tony Lung Ka Fai, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, Donnie Yen, Vivian Wu to name a few) but at the same time many of them are reduced to little more than walk ons. I like the film, but in the the way I'd like a documentary on the History Channel with recreations because it showed me some things I didn't know before. But at the same time what it showed me was kind of disconnected to reality and was floating about in space and not likely to stick because unless you know the history already watching the recreation is going to mean little. Can you tell I'm mixed? I liked it, I think its good and I had no problem following what was going on but its too emotionally distant to the point that I don't know if I need to ever see it again. Worth a look if you stumble across it (especially if you're a fan of the multitude of stars) but its not something you need search out. The very definition of a footnote film or the one film that makes playing 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon with Chinese actors so much more simple.

i think if someone is to watch a movie, they should enjoy it. i mean you paid for it might as well. and not bring up your own opinion about the country you live in. a government cant make EVERYONE happy and for china to rise so high in this world means its doing things right. like the guy above. this is a movie review, not your personal preference of what your prefect government should be. as i am Chinese i am proud to see what my own country has become and was very excited to see this movie. i have seen a lot of china vs. taiwan films and TV series. and i've got to say this was one of the best ones i have seen. and i clearly don't think china needs to make more propaganda film to make people like them. and to be Chinese and not understand the culture...that person should be very ashamed of himself . ^