X
- 2011
- R
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 1 h 39 m
- 2011
- R
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 1 h 39 m
Summary During a period war epic set during the 1911 uprisings in China, Huang Xin leads of a burgeoning revolution that aims to upend the reign of the Qing Dynasty. After a disastrous attempt to attack the Royal Army resulting in hundreds of casualties, the revolutionaries regroup to figure out how, and if, they stand a chance against the well...
Directed By: Tao Hai, Wei Li, Guoqiang Tang, Li Zhang, Jackie Chan
Written By: Xingdong Wang, Baoguang Chen
- 2011
- R
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 1 h 39 m
- 2011
- R
- Well Go USA Entertainment
- 1 h 39 m
1911
37
6.0
Where to Watch
Summary During a period war epic set during the 1911 uprisings in China, Huang Xin leads of a burgeoning revolution that aims to upend the reign of the Qing Dynasty. After a disastrous attempt to attack the Royal Army resulting in hundreds of casualties, the revolutionaries regroup to figure out how, and if, they stand a chance against the well...
Directed By: Tao Hai, Wei Li, Guoqiang Tang, Li Zhang, Jackie Chan
Written By: Xingdong Wang, Baoguang Chen
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
37
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
69% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
31% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 13 Critic Reviews
37
0% Positive
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
69% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
31% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
Throughout 1911 the sense of dutiful intentions blocks any building momentum. When an English-speaking character appears to declare that history is being made, it only underlines the obvious.
If 1911 doesn't impress as historical spectacle, neither does it rank high as a Jackie Chan film.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 21 User Ratings
6.0
48% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
33% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
19% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 21 User Ratings
6.0
48% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
33% Mixed
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
19% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
I am amazed at the shallowness, ignorance and insularity reflected by both the reviews and the user reviews for this fine move. It is an excellent, well-paced summary of one of the most important, pro-democracy revolutions in world history. It may elude those whose knowledge of eastern civilization began and ended with a two-page review of it in a tenth-grade history book approved by the Texas School Book Commission, but for those of us to whom the name Sun Yat-Sen is well known as the father of democracy in China, and whose overthrow of the ancient imperial dynasty brought China into the modern age, this movie is as alive and exciting as any movie made about American history, including even (or especially) "Gone With The Wind", which next to this film looks like a second-rate soap opera. You know, it is the abject ignorance reflected by these reviews which may yet lead some Tea Party types to start World War III with China one day. Ye gods. Read a book, people! Get to know the good people of the most populated country in the world.
The production values of this film are first rate and immerse the view in the reality of the time. All the acting is above reproach, especially that of Jackie Chan, who co-directed, and who in this move establishes himself as an actor to be taken very seriously. From beginning to end, this movie has been a delightful discovery, and an informative filling out of the history of these important events. I feel privileged to have found it.
My only gripe at all, the ONLY one, is that the informational inserts were too small. But their content was important and I was grateful for them.
I thought Warren Beatty did a wonderful job with "Reds", a great film about the Russian revolution which, like this one, involved some Americans and West Europeans. This film is very much like that one, and it is as successful in artistic terms. I wonder if the lack of support for this film has to do with the fact that the lead characters were not Caucasian. Think about it.
Report
I must agree with DLWilson, because the reviws for this movie are... pretty bad. But in all honesty this is a great movie, though it's deffinitly not perfect. The first major problem is that people dislike... that it was to historical, well that makes sense for insane people but it really makes me quite annoyed. Another complaint is the camera work is bad, which I really don't understand at all, so I guess it's just a matter of opinion on that one. But in truth the thing that makes this movie so incredible is how historicly accurate it is, and when I compare that to movies like Grave of The Fireflies and Unbroken, who were more intrested with trying to show death and desperation in the most romanticized way possible, this is quite refreshing. Though the movie did have a few problems: I didn't like the American inventor very much, he just seemed really random. But other then that, and a few other problems, it was a great movie... and if anyone says they disliked reading subtitles, then I would really question anime scores.
Report
What should be rousing stuff - a republic is born! the chains of feudalism thrown off! - remains a kind of lavishly illustrated history lesson. Even the irrepressible Mr. Chan (this is his 100th film) seems subdued.
1911 isn't propaganda but more a relentless, serious, fiercely nationalistic bit of historical mythmaking.
Chan has not injected any of his playful charm or physical virtuosity into Wang Xingdong's and Chen Baoguang's insipid, poorly structured screenplay.
It swoops, it pans, it noses around. The camerawork is almost as agitated as the editing. The directors seem to be trying to compensate for all the speechifying with as much random motion as possible.
If the success of epic storytelling were determined by the sheer number of unnecessary on-screen name tags, 1911 would be a masterpiece. But the small matters of characterization, audience identification, and scene-making are entirely absent here.
I am giving it a 6, mainly because the movie is rather enjoyable, especially if you are interested in history but it makes the cardinal mistake of too much information crammed into too little time. The movie would have definatly benefited from being split into two films and allowed for the story to better pace itself. As it stands it is almost a crash course in the fall of Imperial China and the rise of the Republic of China later to be replaced by one failed Imperialist movement, and then transformed to communism. The movie itself follows the uprisings trying to overthrow the Qhin Dynasty and the political struggles of the falling government as well as the rising one. The action is frantic and adds to the chaos of battle, yet you can still manage to tell what is going on though unfortunately allot of subtitles tend to fly by talking about battles and events we never get to see. Again as said earlier a two-parter would have been much better to tell this epic story.
Report
The first half of the movie, with violence, uprisings, and battles is a blast. Unfortunately, when things settle down into politics it takes a nosedive. There is no character development whatsoever, one minute they show a character that seems interested and conflicted, then they do a cut of two days later where's completely convinced of the right thing to do. That's about the whole second part of the movie. People arguing/deciding stuff, with the interesting character development only happening offscreen. I would have given the movie a better score if they shaved off the really painful final 30 minutes off of it.
Report
Production Company
Shanghai Film Group,
Beijing Alnair Culture & Media,
Changchun Film Group,
Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation,
Sparkle Roll Media,
Xiaoxiang Film Group,
China City Construction,
Hebei Film Studio,
Tianjin North Film Group,
Media Asia Films,
Huaxia Film Distribution,
Hebei Broadcasting Film & TV,
Hillcas (Shanghai) Film Co.,
Nanjing Broadcasting Network,
Langfang Guohua Film Base,
Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party,
State Administration of Radio, Film and Television,
All-China Federation of Returned Overseas,
Fuxin City Government,
Hubei Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department
Release Date Oct 7, 2011
Duration 1 h 39 m
Rating R
Tagline Fall of the Last Empire
Website
http://ent.sina.com.cn/f/m/xhgm/
Awards
Hundred Flowers Awards
• 3 Wins & 9 Nominations
Changchun Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Shanghai Film Critics Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
