Lancoor A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

rightwingisevil then try to watch this 'Warriors of The Rainbow', and tell me if you could spot the similarities of these two movies. The invasion of the British soldiers to north America vs the Japanese soldiers invaded Taiwan; then there's a great fighter among the Mohicans warriors on par with a ferocious fighter among the Taiwanese aboriginal tribes; then again, the Mohicans got feudal sworn enemy of another tribe to the similar feud of two Taiwanese aboriginal tribes....Then when i watched this movie, i suddenly realized that the whole picture is more like when the American forces invaded Iraq, there were tribes to become the collaborators helping Americans and using them to help killed their own feudal enemies... But this is the first time that I felt this movie was a very mature production since I never found anything like it out of Taiwan. Because usually, all movies from Taiwan, the dialogs were disgustingly embarrassing feminine, males whining like females. Yet this movie is absolutely masculine and this is first time that I felt the male population in Taiwan sounded and acted more like man, not just whiners. Furthermore, this is also the first time that I consider this movie is at a higher international level with great acting, directing and cinematographic achievement. And this is very rare to me and totally win my respect back to the Taiwanese movie industry. Salute!

justin chen first things first, seediq bale came out in USA today. I'm not sure what version i watched... but it was a 2.5 hour movie without any mention of a second part. anyways throughout the movie, it kept me entertained. It kept me thinking and trying to figure out the back story, who the new characters were and etc. There were bits of the movie that was so ridiculous, it seemed almost comical... though it's not supposed to be but the theater laughed anyways. The movie is presented in the Seediq native tongue and so, translations/subtitles were necessary which kept me from fully enjoying the beauty of the shots of landscape and action / etc. It tells the whole incident and explains everything that happens perfectly. the introduction is sufficient, the building to the climax is smooth, but what i think killed it was the hour or so fighting scene... it made it seem too long and by the end of the movie, i felt as if the whole movie was basically fighting... though that IS what it's based upon, it felt... a bit too much. not that its a bad thing or anything, but all in all, i think it was a great movie... for anyone 14 or above.

fishbelly2002 First of all it is better to watch the film in full 4.5 hr instead of watching as 2 parts, which is what I did in film fest.Secondly, you have to know a little of history and tradition of Taiwan and roles of aboriginals to truly have a feeling for the movie. Just Wiki "Wushe Incident", and "Taiwanese Aboriginal" and that makes things much better as you watch.Anyway back to the film, the selling point seems to be all the killing, the action, the big budget. However after watching it I've found out it's more about the value of "death" that the film tries to bring to us, and death weights in front of abstract values such as "tradition", "dignity", etc.It's really an entertaining film for sure and throughout the 4.5 hrs time just flies, and you have to adjust yourself to have that desire to discover more about aboriginals believes and ways of living, much like watching documentary films mentality.I can't stop comparing this "Civilization vs. Barbarian" plot to what is happening in middle east right now. In such sense history is repeating, and the film is definitely pointing out how pointless the loss of lives is (depends on which stand you are taking though).Overall this is one of the best and most enjoyable films in recent years. The director is trying to lead us to think critically towards topics on death, values, tradition and how these would change when worlds collide.

asia_extreme One of Taiwan's biggest ever films today, probably the most expensive ever made and looks set to be the highest earning to date. The story of Seediq Bale, based on the Wushe Incident is split into two segments, the first being entitled The Sun Flag (tai-yang qi) and the second, The Rainbow Bridge (cai-hong qiao). Seediq Bale is the best looking Taiwanese production to date, it seems on par with the majority of action films coming straight out of Hollywood. The battle scenes are impressive, they're fast paced with a lot of of excitement and thrills, there's explosions, blood splatters and much like you'd expect from headhunters, there's a few heads rolling.Story: The story moves quickly despite the movie being close to 2 and a half hours long. There is a small bit of background and lead up to the Japanese arriving but not a great deal. When the Japanese arrive it also doesn't seem that much happens in the story, it doesn't give you complex characters or anything you must grasp or understand. It's a simple story but flows well and entertains.Characters: Character building and general development is a problem in this movie, although it is entertaining with no boredom from start to finish it doesn't have much depth to it. You must take the characters on face value as you don't really get a sense of who they are. There is one character who can be classed as the lead but you even don't get to know who he is. Throughout the movie you're introduced to numerous characters, both on the aboriginal side and the Japanese side, yet you don't get to know more than the basics of who they are.Directing: Te-Sheng Wei has previous had a bit hit in Taiwan with Cape No.7 which guaranteed him the funding for this movie. But still his style is not flawless, at times he comes across as still being an amateur with some very strange shots and some even more bizarre cuts. More than one scene had him building up, suspense and emotion was all there and then he suddenly cuts to something completely different. It kills the feeling but also provides a kind of shock.Also its probably worth having a little background on headhunting traditions before watching this film, without understanding about their culture at times you might just find yourself rooting for the Japanese side.Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, sure it could've been better but at the same time it could've been a lot worse. It's receiving a lot of praise in Taiwan with this movie smashing records and the follow up looking set to break even more. One things for sure, I'll be booking my tickets for the second instalment.