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The Great Wall Trailer - starring Matt Damon - Zhang Yimou directed movie

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Arkos

Nose how to spell and rede to
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?
 

gwailo

Banned
He has made some pretty films. Judging by the trailer, this isn't one of them.

And is it just me, or does Andy Lau finally look his age?

I dunno, I just watched Saving Mr Wu and he still looks pretty good especially for a guy in his mid 50s.
 
Its hard to call whitewashing on a fictional movie with monsters.

But damn...cmon son.

I mean, the character is literally a foreigner in China.

And let's be frank, there is no Chinese actor on Earth who could've starred in this movie and justified a wide US release.

Look on the positive side of this. A lot of English-speaking Chinese actors are going to get major exposure from this film. So the next time a major studio needs to cast a bankable rising star for an adaptation of an Asian property, the arguement for casting a random white actor gets harder to justify.
 

Axial

Member
Just for a moment, at the 0:31 second mark into the trailer, I thought it said "what were they thinking"...
 
FROM AN OVERRATED VISIONARY DIRECTOR

COMES AN AMERICAN FUNDED FILM

BY A STUDIO OWNED BY A CHINESE CONGLOMERATE

STARRING JASON BOURNE

OBERYN MARTALL

NORMAN OSBORN

AND A PRETTY YOUNG CHINESE ACTRESS

HISTORY TELLS OF A GREAT WALL

COVERED IN CGI

AND MOTHERFUCKING DRAGONS

COMING IN 2017
I mean, I'll watch this.
 

Geist-

Member
I mean, the similarities to Gods of Egypt are striking, but unlike that movie, the white actors aren't playing Chinese people. And I love Chinese mythology. So I'm pretty sure I'm going to watch it. :-/
 
Yeah, definitely a watch from me although probably at home not in theaters but I'll go if the reviews are really glowing.

The monsters look kinda iffy, but we only see a few seconds in the trailer.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!

Ridley327

Member
So, I gotta ask: did something snap in Yimou after Hero? Before that, he was regarded highly for his lushly mounted period dramas and collaborations with Gong Li, but since Hero, and I'd argue for its inclusion as well, he seems to be big on doing schlockier material that looks great but is pretty vacuous in terms of content and, at least for Hero, highly questionable in the thematic department.

Like, House of Flying Daggers is not only a blatant CTHD ripoff, but it's a really bad one, too.
 

erlim

yes, that talented of a member
Do you know that Yimou is one of the most acclaimed foreign directors? Probably no judging by the responses. He is chinese, so he must be shit, is the sentiment if the day?

I think his artistic merit is coming off a little, especially with these bombastic co productions. He's not raise the red lantern, or to live auteur anymore. Hero was great, definitely Jet Li's best work.
 

gwailo

Banned
Will check out for Cusack...said no one ever. I actually like John Cusack will watch.

Cusack is pretty much in a "I need beer money" mode like most of the DTV movies he's been doing lately (though he turned down Hot Tub Time Machine 2?) but Adrien Brody actually puts in some effort and is fun to watch. It occasionally pops up on (I think) Cinemax.

So, I gotta ask: did something snap in Yimou after Hero? Before that, he was regarded highly for his lushly mounted period dramas and collaborations with Gong Li, but since Hero, and I'd argue for its inclusion as well, he seems to be big on doing schlockier material that looks great but is pretty vacuous in terms of content and, at least for Hero, highly questionable in the thematic department.

Like, House of Flying Daggers is not only a blatant CTHD ripoff, but it's a really bad one, too.

I don't think it's so much something with Zhang personally but it's more of increased interference by government censors.
 

Ridley327

Member
I don't think it's so much something with Zhang personally but it's more of increased interference by government censors.

[QUOTE="God's Beard!";211742958]Zhang Yimou is the only director able to make Chinese government propaganda pretty enough for me to love it.[/QUOTE]

Really? Wow, that's incredibly disappointing.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
lol hahahaah. this is so stupid.

but i guess when you can have dragons in a movie about the great wall of china then whats the harm in having a white person or two.
 

gwailo

Banned
Really? Wow, that's incredibly disappointing.

This article goes into a little bit about Zhang's relationship with the government. It should also be noted that many of his earlier films were actually banned in China and he was found to be in violation of the one child policy, so he may not have too much say in what he is creating. The Mainland government has been trying to portray modern China as a shiny happy place but if anything the censorship is even stronger than in the 80s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/world/asia/filmmaker-zhang-yimou-walks-a-fine-line-in-china.html
 

HMD

Member
I will only watch this for the awesome looking colourful cinematography. But the story and action look bland as fuck.
 

Ridley327

Member
This article goes into a little bit about Zhang's relationship with the government. It should also be noted that many of his earlier films were actually banned in China and he was found to be in violation of the one child policy, so he may not have too much say in what he is creating. The Mainland government has been trying to portray modern China as a shiny happy place but if anything the censorship is even stronger than in the 80s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/07/world/asia/filmmaker-zhang-yimou-walks-a-fine-line-in-china.html

Yeesh, it sounds like he's caught up in some kind of political red tape hell from which there is no escape for someone trying to stay local.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
The premise is great but the execution is lacking and it just comes off soulless. I'm still waiting to see the monsters but the couple shots of CGI scaly clawed hands wasn't exactly inspiring much excitement despite it being based on Chinese mythology.
 
Isn't this movie a collaboration between a Hollywood studio and a Chinese studio? Having Matt Damon as the lead makes sense because you need a pull for Americans and Americans aren't going to see a movie directed by a guy named Zhang Yimou.
 

Ridley327

Member
Isn't this movie a collaboration between a Hollywood studio and a Chinese studio? Having Matt Damon as the lead makes sense because you need a pull for Americans and Americans aren't going to see a movie directed by a guy named Zhang Yimou.

I mean, it wasn't that long ago that M. Night Shyamalan was a big name director. I don't think Americans would care so long as it was in English.
 
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