Well now I've heard (and seen) it all. I saw the great reviews of this movie, and after watching the amazing "The Man From Nowhere" last night, thought I'd go 2 for 2.Not so!Other reviewers are saying this made you care for the characters. I can't believe that! I was laughing more than anything. How many times can you be reminded over and over and over of the same things... the man trying to protect his son, the man trying to overcome the death of the woman he loved, the man trying to fight for the daughter he almost had... blah blah blah.If it were done with great acting, then maybe, but this is far from it. This is by far the cheesiest movie I've seen in many years. Overacted, over-dramatized, over-directed, over-edited, and even the score was overdone."Over The Top." If Stallone hadn't made a movie with that title, this one should be called that for sure.At least I was hoping for some great action and fighting... but alas no... If it wasn't for the fight scenes starting at about 38 minutes left in the film, I would have given this movie one star.I can't believe I sat through the whole movie until that last part. But at least them I got to see some cool action, even if every time someone "important" to the plot died, they would flash their obituary on the screen... like I was going to cry or something?Honestly, don't believe the hype you're reading about this movie. I'm a HUGE fan of action, drama, and martial arts films. Finding one that has great action, drama, plot, fights, and acting is about impossible (unless it's "The Man From Nowhere"). This movie succeeds in having NONE of those great elements.It's boring. It's supremely cheesy. It's unsatisfying. And now I can't get my Saturday night back. Oh, well... I'll call it an experiment in movie watching and try something else tomorrow. The least I could do is to warn others to NOT waste their valuable time on this cheese-fest.Don't make me say I told you so... Watch something else.

I enjoyed this film, as I do anything with Donnie Yen. Being a Westerner I have to say this movie is hard to follow. I don't know the history, and the subtitles leave a lot to be desired, but I feel it was a worthy purchase. Beautifully filmed, a little drawn out, well acted. No real fighting until the end, and an epic ending it is. Several scenes I had to back up and watch a few times to figure out exactly what happened in the fights because it all goes by fast. Lots of interesting side stories, convoluted plot, but a deeply touching and human tale of that period of Chinese history I guess. I'd give it two big thumbs up. I'll watch it again after a few months, sometimes it pays to put some time between the first viewing and subsequent watchings on stuff like this.I am a huge fan of Eastern cinema, I own a bunch of 'em ranging from Shaw Brothers stuff from the 70s to whatever is the latest. I especially love Japanese chambara, but a good Chinese film is hard to beat. Yeah, there is some wire fu, but the story is worth dealing with flying kung fu guys.That Donnie Yen is a badass, never disappoints. If you haven't seen his Ip Man stuff yet, do that. You won't be sorry.

Not based on a true story? I'm not sure but it sure could have fooled me. Don't know all China's history but imagine all the political assassinations and you wouldn't think that this was could have been real.Although the characters were great... being a Donnie Yen fan, I felt he lacked a strong and good character out of all. The martial arts scenes were great but the visual effects for blood could have been a lot more realistic instead of seeing just vivid & bright red color. Even some make-up on characters were very heavy.There's English subtitles but in the beginning, it tends to be a bit faster than later on in the movie. The story made it bearable to watch though and I recommend all to watch this.

First of all, I'm not familiar with Chinese history, so I wouldn't say anything about its historical bases. Still, this movie worth the time with no doubt. No matter where you live. Powerful, logical and heartbreaking. I say powerful because we got a well painted picture about the main characters in the first half. Yes, the movie does not only focus on the high profile action scenes and blood. That's one of its strengths. The audience - this time it's me - had enough time to acquaint the persons and like them. For this reason losing some of them is a heartbreaking effect in the second half. I think it's not a spoiler. Anyone can guess it who has seen the trailer. The acting is OK (some actors were great, especially Xueqi Wang) but my opinion is that the script and the director have done this movie for that it is. I really enjoyed that the movie has avoid to use mindless clichés, like ultimate fight of good vs. evil. The main bad character had also deep conviction that he has been doing the right thing for his country/highness. As it is so, for me, he was authentic in his role.Now there's only one word has to be explained - logical. Unfortunately I can't do it without revealing some moments from the story, so I leave it to you. Find it out yourself. If you like heroic tales, you should love it. I hope this movie will be released on DVD in my country, too.