The ability to mount staggering epics that seize both the heart and the head has apparently become a lost art in the 21st century.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 16, 2021

More insight into each character's motivation would have made for a deeper film. Yet the excellent cast does a good job with what they are given.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 13, 2018

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 18, 2011

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 17, 2011

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 16, 2011

A disappointingly detached and tame film for such a subject matter.

| Original Score: C | Aug 10, 2011

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 18, 2009

...the film falls flat under the weight of its period-drama conventions and three performances that epitomize paycheck joylessness.

Full Review | Feb 13, 2009

Cynicism for another true story of a reckless white adventurer finding redemption and purpose helping 3rd World unfortunates evaporates with stunning and moving WWII scenes.

| Dec 7, 2008

It radiates intelligence. Of how many historical epics can that be said these days?

| Original Score: B | Oct 18, 2008

The real test of endurance is on the shoulders of an audience challenged to sit through more than two hours of predictable plot turns and recycled sentimentality.

| Oct 18, 2008

| Original Score: B- | Oct 18, 2008

It is, however, such a spectacular-looking movie, as shot by cinematographer Zhao Xiaoding that it is, to use that old cliche, worth the price of admission.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Oct 18, 2008

Though there are some powerful performances, notably those of Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yun-Fat, and some sweeping visuals, the movie feels melodramatic and overheated.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 18, 2008

Very pretty but very stiffly written, The Children of Huang Shi strives for epic canvases relaying an intimate story.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 18, 2008

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 18, 2008

If you can get past the Eurocentric focus, there are worse ways to pass the time than to see The Children of Huang Shi, if only because the glimpse into the time and place are captivating and the images are gorgeous.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 18, 2008

Nothing in this film is subtle or unexpected, and even the hero's several near-death experiences create no real tension

| Original Score: 4/10 | Sep 19, 2008

...an inspiring tale of a man answering a call to greatness even if he doesn't fully understand why it's fallen to him.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 12, 2008

Xiaoding Zhao's cinematography is splendid, Roger Spottiswoode's direction is workmanlike.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 7, 2008