Review: I really enjoyed this emotional drama, and the fact that it's based on a true story, made the whole journey truly amazing. Its another one of those films were it needed some big names to play the main roles, because it needed someone who could have brought the intensity and emotion of the 1,000 kilometre track to the edge of the Mongolian desert. The little kids played there roles extremely well and the authenticity seemed extremely real and it was great to see Chow Yun-Fat (Jack) and Michelle Yeoh (Mrs. Wang) in the same film, even though they didn't have any scenes together. Jonathan Rhyl Meyers (George Hogg), put in a decent performance, alongside Radha Mitchell (Lee Pearson) but for a movie of this scale, it really needed someone who could push the boundaries, so you could feel how hard there journey really was. I did feel quite emotional when I saw the real kids, as grown ups, at the end but it did finish quite abruptly, which was slightly disappointing after watching these orphans travel so far. With that aside, I was still amazed with the story and the fact that these young children all pulled together to get to there destination. I'm glad that the director didn't delve into the whole love story element of the film because it would have taken away how important there journey really was. Anyway, I found this movie very entertaining, and it's part of Chinese history which needed to be brought out, into the open. Enjoyable!Round-Up: This movie really did make a massive lose at the box office, which is a shame because it really didn't deserve it. I personally didn't know anything about the film when it was released, so the studio didn't really push the distribution, even though they invested so much money into the project. Although Jonathan Rhys Meyers, 38, has starred in some decent films like Michael Collins, Misson Impossible III and Alexander, I still think that this movie was a bit too big for him at this stage of his career. He's not one that usually takes the lead in big budget movies so I personally would have chosen a more established actor. The movie was directed by Roger Spottiswoode, 71, who has made a range of movies like the Best of Times, Deadly Pursuit, Turner & Hooch, Air America, the terrible Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Tomorrow Never Dies, and with 5 more movies in the pipeline, he's still going strong. I doubt that this film would damage his reputation, even though it made a heavy lose but I still think that this amazing story could be told with a A class cast and huge distribution.Budget: $40million Worldwide Gross: $8millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/war movie starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh and David Wenham. 7/10

It seems most of the reviewers have concentrated on the historical and philosophical aspects of this movie, but I'd like to focus on it terms of its success as a film. In general, I love a good epic, but this effort simply is no match for such brilliant achievements as David Lean's best -- Dr. Zhivago, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia. This is a compelling story, whatever the historical inaccuracies may be; also, it's well produced, directed and acted, largely gorgeous to see, generally effective for this kind of big film. What it lacks is the physical and emotional sweep, the irresistible suspension of disbelief, the ability to grab your attention and hold it -- in other words, the extraordinary talents of such as Lean and a few others (John Ford, Henry Hathaway and William Wyler come to mind). Despite all this, I really enjoyed it on many levels and would recommend it to any lover of large-scale films of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I think it would not have suffered a bit had it been filmed in black & white. Nor did I miss the electronic enhancements so common in today's movies.

OK, so this story is based on true events, I can see why someone would like this story to be told. But why didn't they work with good writers, this story is cut in little pieces, cliché upon cliché and then tight together to make one piece out of it. The actors really don't know what to do with the lines they get and the director really didn't know what he wanted to tell. Is this a hero-story? Is this a love-story? Is this a historic adventure? Is this a war-story? I give one example: in the beginning of the story, the love-interest (Mitchell) is talking to the hero (Meyers) about how important it is that she is around, being a nurse, and knows that one scratch can lead to an infection and to death. So she tells that she cleans the wounds and tells the patient how important it is to do this as quick as possible, even if 'it's just a scratch'. Later on in the movie Meyers cuts himself when he's working on replacing a tire and tells Mitchell 'it's just a scratch'. And she SMILES at him.What the f?!! Wasn't she supposed to clean this wound as she told all those people she nursed in the war to do so they wouldn't die? Guess what happens to Meyers... And actually it's her fault I yelled at the screen annoyed.and please, don't even mention the monologues the actors get to work with during the movie. Even a first year scriptwriters school student would do better in writing them. So cliché and predictable. I pity the actors - they must have read the script before they said yes. Why did they accept such bad writing? They probably needed the money. The sceneries are beautiful, Michelle Yeoh has the best part and is the only actor that I believed. (maybe because she didn't have that many lines?). I'm afraid those are the only things that worked out well. The story is fabricated and doesn't have a nice flow, the actors really have difficulties working the lines they get from the writers and clearly the director didn't know what he wanted to do with this story.If it wasn't for the beautiful settings, and the fact that you could sense there was (somewhere) a story worth telling, it would have been a total waste of time watching this movie. Well it definitely was a waste of money making it, I would read the book if I were you.

THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI is a long (greater than two hours) epic tale that happens to be a true story of an extraordinary hero's life and gift to humanity during World War II. If as a film the telling of this story is a bit shaky in spots, it is probably due to the episodic series of events that happened very quickly and under existing conditions of profound stress. Yet despite the occasional misfires in production this remains a bit of history we all should know. George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a journalist assigned to Shanghai in 1937 and with his colleagues he plans to explore the extent of the invasion of China by the Japanese. Under the guise of Red Cross workers his small band manages to enter Nanjing where now alone due to the loss of his friends to battle he observes and photographs the atrocities of mass murders of the people of Nanjing. He is captured by the Japanese, tortured when his confiscated camera reveals his terrifying photographs, and it is only by acts of fortune and the aid of a Chinese Nationalist Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-Fat) that he escapes. Hogg probes the Chinese countryside for further evidences of the evil of the Japanese invasion, and he finds a village of children (adults are all absent) and realizes that he is in an orphanage without a leader. At first reluctant to assume the role of guardian of these impoverished and filthy frightened children, he soon accepts his responsibility and is challenged by an Australian nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) to become not only the caretaker but also the father/teacher/provider/role model these children so desperately need. Seeing the advancing of the Japanese, Hogg decides to take his wards 700 mile away to a small village by the Gobi desert reachable only by the infamous Silk Road. It is this journey and the way both the children and Hogg are affected by the challenge that absorb the greater part of the film. Observing the transformation of George Hogg's view of the world is made credible by Jonathan Rhys Meyers' performance. The cast of children often steals the limelight, but with supporting cast members such as Chow Yun-Fat, Radha Mitchell and Michelle Yeoh as an opium merchant the story never lacks color and character. The look of the film is dark, but the message of this story is full of light. Here is a bit of Chinese history we should all know! Grady Harp