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45
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71
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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65
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43
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69
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Year of the Yao, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Directed by:
Adam Del Deo
James D. Stern
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 15, 2005
DVD: March 14, 2006
Running Time: 88 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for some mild language
Starring Yao Ming, Colin Pine, and Shaquille O'Neal
This documentary is an exciting, inspiring chronicle of Yao Ming's tumultuous first year in the NBA. (Fine Line Features)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Every Little Step It's the Rage Michael Jordan to the Max
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A skillful and winning piece of honest booster portraiture.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Corny as it may sound though, it's all true-except, of course, for that mythical movie last-second championship bit.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Even if you know or care little about the sport, it's a fascinating saga.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Co-directed by James D. Stern (who made another NBA promotional documentary, "Michael Jordan to the Max") and Adam Del Deo, the story of the Americanization of Yao is determinedly upbeat.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Andrew Sun
What emerges is that Yao is a fascinating individual with great humor and modesty, as well as the potential to be one of the greats. Unfortunately, that's all we really find out about the guy.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
With their fawning documentary Year Of The Yao, directors James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo unreflectively buy into the spin on charismatic 7'6" basketball center Yao Ming, but on a certain level, who can blame them?
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
Provides little insight beyond hanging out with its super-sized star and would not be out of place as halftime filler except for its nearly 90-minute running time.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Tim Grierson
This glorified infomercial glosses over the underlying tension of a young man's introduction into a society whose materialistic, capitalist tendencies are diametrically opposed to his country's values.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Susan M. gave it a2:
Thanks for making basketball boring.
