From my opinion, 'Jian Guo Da Ye'(abbr JGDY) is a fairly good film anyway. This time the government stands out and makes a movie, what you expect? Usually government doesn't invest money on commercial films, once it does, it should reflect the highest film making level of this country as least. John Woo made the movie in which five pigeons fly out, whilst Han made this one nearly 5,000 pigeons fly out with a gunshot, what a difference! The CGI of warfare in this film is pretty good, though not as realistic as some newly released 'District 9' or sth but pretty good, reminding me of 'Pearl Harbor' when it comes to Kuomintang bombing Yanan. We know that many world-famous stars are participating in this film and Han wisely made the arrangement which no one performs out of the scenes. Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Ziyi Zhang...they are all soaked in their roles.
Historical and political thing is not always that bad...even US had its own - I still own a completely collections of ABC's 'War & Remembrance' series which panoramically goes from the start of WWII to the end with bunches of celebrities and Hollywood stars. Movies of course, shorten the story more than TV series. Actually JGDY just tells the story about 1945-1949's main political events that happened in China, and the story of two parties' leader - Mao & Jiang. The delicate plot ensures that the it doesn't look too messed up.
I think Han really did his best this time - Kaige Chan successfully portraits warlord Feng Yuxiang, Jet Li as a hero and Andy Lau as an air force commander, Jackie Chan as a journalist..oh my what a crew... The most unforgettable role that I think is Jiang Wen as Mao Renfeng. Actually it is a personalized history of Han himself - the story telling almost sticks with Zhang Guoli and Chen Kun from the start to the end. The Shanghai gang bloodbath is the most decent scene in this film, full of Han's style. If you've watch some movies he made you will realize that. This is definitely not, as some unknown media says, a government's propaganda film.
To say JGDY is about the rise and victory of the Communist, is not as proper as to say, JGDY is about the falling and defeat of the Kuomintang(Nationalist & Democratic). It has the historical reasons though, but a little bit more dramatic than the fact. Most people will not feel uneasy about it as Kuomintang and Communist are getting closer and closer after Kuomintang taking over Taiwan again in 2008. This is a good sign as people live both in China Mainland and Taiwan expect.
Anyway, 9 out of 10. If you like China history around 1940s, you will enjoy it.
Historical and political thing is not always that bad...even US had its own - I still own a completely collections of ABC's 'War & Remembrance' series which panoramically goes from the start of WWII to the end with bunches of celebrities and Hollywood stars. Movies of course, shorten the story more than TV series. Actually JGDY just tells the story about 1945-1949's main political events that happened in China, and the story of two parties' leader - Mao & Jiang. The delicate plot ensures that the it doesn't look too messed up.
I think Han really did his best this time - Kaige Chan successfully portraits warlord Feng Yuxiang, Jet Li as a hero and Andy Lau as an air force commander, Jackie Chan as a journalist..oh my what a crew... The most unforgettable role that I think is Jiang Wen as Mao Renfeng. Actually it is a personalized history of Han himself - the story telling almost sticks with Zhang Guoli and Chen Kun from the start to the end. The Shanghai gang bloodbath is the most decent scene in this film, full of Han's style. If you've watch some movies he made you will realize that. This is definitely not, as some unknown media says, a government's propaganda film.
To say JGDY is about the rise and victory of the Communist, is not as proper as to say, JGDY is about the falling and defeat of the Kuomintang(Nationalist & Democratic). It has the historical reasons though, but a little bit more dramatic than the fact. Most people will not feel uneasy about it as Kuomintang and Communist are getting closer and closer after Kuomintang taking over Taiwan again in 2008. This is a good sign as people live both in China Mainland and Taiwan expect.
Anyway, 9 out of 10. If you like China history around 1940s, you will enjoy it.