1911 (2011)

I've been excited for Jackie Chan's 100th movie for quite some time, initially I thought it would be the currently being filmed Armour of God 3: Zodiac (His Final "Kung Fu Super Stunt" Film), was depressed when I saw it was not. Then I began to see photos of 1911 and read up on the pre-production notes, and to me any Jackie Chan film is an amazing film - His track record in HK lately has been A-A+.

--100th Jackie Chan Movie: Check --100th Anniversary of the Chinese Revolution: Check

--Star Studded Cast of Jackie Chan, His son; Jaycee Chan, Lee Bing Bing, Winston Chao, and 70 famous HK actors even in small soldier roles that don't even get a speaking line?: Check

--30 Million USD Budget: Check (30 Million just for filming, no CGI all real explosions). --War scenes that stand next to Saving Private Ryan: Check

--Kung Fu / Fight Scenes: Check (One scene of which Jackie faces 6 men realistically --Incredible Directing and Cinematography: Check --Incredible Performances by all Actors: Check

I shall not ruin anything, but the first 20 minutes of this 2 hour long movie are filled with about 15 minutes of non-stop action, explosions, Gatling gun mowing down Dr. Sun and Jackie's Rebellions Soldiers, until Jackie is given suppressing fire and throws two grenades but his arm strength doesn't reach the Gatling gun, so he drops a grenade and kicks it like a football, moments that like scream out "AWESOME" even when its drenched in this depressing dramatic splurge of violence and realization of the lost lives that each battle taking place has, and that each person is 100% willing to die for the change of China. This does not ease the pain and impact from one persons death, the look on Jackie's face as one character sacrifices himself to save others as he is being dragged unwillingly by soldiers getting him to safety is one that sticks in the viewers memory.

I cannot sum up in words how this movie feels, it just feels perfect. It is substantial. It makes you cry, it gives a smile a few short times through-out the film, it keeps you on the edge of your seat, it churns your stomach at the body count, it dazzles you with the beauty in how the chaos was filmed. It equally dazzles you in the character development and the emotional bond the film creates.

As Jackie Chan's 100th movie; I could not see any other film standing at that career mile-stone. This is Jackie at his acting best, and directing best. He rides off of the Exceptional performance of Karate Kid (2010) and more notably the brilliant performances of Shinjuku Incident (2009) and Little Big Soldier (2010) - Jackie is perfect in the movie, and the movie itself is non-bias and perfect.

It feels human as a war film, unlike a Hollywood war epic such as "Pearl Harbor". Congratulations Jackie, I salute you; I hope you win Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Director and that the academy recognizes this film.

Fmovies: This film in a word is a mess.

The problem with a lot of historical dramas in general is that their historical scopes are too big to fit neatly into the format of a film. 1911 suffers the same weakness as many other recent "propaganda" movies from mainland China: Irrespective of their propagandistic flairs or contents, they are all trying to cover everything and quickly into a usual 2 hrs duration, a task impossible if not improbable to do well. One has to question how much creative freedom Jackie really had with directing it but even without outside pressure, we can intuit that even Jackie won't want to be liberal with a source material so sensitive and "weighty".

I am not going to delve into the history as you can find better information elsewhere but judging this historical film purely as film, it is unsatisfactory at best. If you want to learn about the 1911 Revolution then perhaps this film would give you a rundown of its historical development; it is mostly centred from the perspective of the revolutionary faction led by Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founding father of modern nationhood and democracy in China.

As required, you would see plenty of explosions and scenes of war, albeit distributed rather evenly throughout the film, providing as bits of "action" before or after the "civil" and political acts by Sun Yat Sen and the other "players" in the political manoeuvres. The film is littered with bits of textual information supposed to fill you in on the historical facts and significances, but if you are not a fast reader, all of it would fly past your head unless you are a professor in the study of the Revolution. So right off the bat you are witnessing an educational material that lacks substance and depth but only provides you with a general picture and even incomplete at that.

With the typical colour filtering for battle scenes, you are treated with the usual grittiness of war. It is very apparent you are supposed to feel the up welling of emotion as men and women sacrificed their lives for the revolution but if anything, the scenes are so short that before you have the chance/time for up welling, it is over. All we know is that battles were fought, people died, and we move on to the (politic) next part. As a historical book, that is fine, as a movie, it does not work. (Granted some scenes might have been touching but within a film world crammed up with similar attempts at dragging out your inner weak spots, we are emotionally fatigued at best to be moved so easily.)

One would also be appalled at the film's treatment of westerners. They are stereotyped/caricatured and acted awkwardly, seemingly only needed for their appearances and that none of the people hired to act knows how to act. (I mean come on, this is the 21th century, aren't we smart enough now to see through all the old stereotypes and know that people aren't paper cutouts?)

Along with that comes some bad acting on the part of the Chinese casts, where most of them are either wooden or overly melodramatic, some even managed both. Even the Doctor at certain parts of the movie came out awkwardly.

Cinematography. This might be much more centred on my own personal opinion but I find some of the cuts and techniques trying too hard, focusing on style rather than lending itself to the story and the scenes. A lot of potentially good scenes are ruined by fast cuts and awkward transitions which in some cases even provide some hilarious results on a film

"1911" is an epic Chinese historical drama that honours the centennial anniversary of the revolution against the Qing dynasty. The movie convinces with great special effects in the battle scenes, beautiful and authentic locations, bombastic costumes, many intellectual words and impressive images and a bunch of great and internationally recognized actors such as the very unusual and surprisingly convincing Jackie Chan, the once again very diversified Joan Chan or the charming shooting star Bingbing Li. This movies teaches us a lot about Chinese culture and history and captures the essential of a complex story in a short and intense running time. Even for someone who doesn't know a lot about China, the introduction and the subtitles reveal and explain enough to understand and get into a beautiful movie even though the ending could have been a little bit more expanded. I think the movie could have focused a little bit more on the situation and the authentic everyday life of the Chinese population instead of focusing only on the fate of the famous historic characters.

Normally, this movie would have got one point more but I cut off one point because this feature has some elements that remind me of a propaganda cinema. Good and evil are too opposite and well defined and I'm sure that this movie is not always faithful towards the true history behind it. The good guys are wise, selfless and honest while the camp of the bad guys are one dimensional, egoistic and helpless. The movie tries to create a lot of sympathy for the main characters such as Sun Yat-Sen. In one scene, he convinces with his wise words only a bunch of ignorant, selfish and capitalist politics representing a very negative image of the Western civilization. That's a very romantic and epic scene but it's simply to pathetic to be true. This kind of falsification spoils the enjoyment of this otherwise technically perfect movie a lot. At least, after many American, Russian and German propaganda movies that I saw, this is a rather intriguing and also moderate movie with propagandistic tendencies from an Asian country.

Apart of this little but though important flaw, this movie is a definite must see and yet another great history flick from China that easily beats the boring patriotic American war movies that have flooded the cinemas of the world a decade ago. It's time for a change and from a qualitative and cultural point of view, I happen to find these detailed, epic and entertaining Chinese history flicks very addicting.

1911 fmovies. Excellence is too easy a term to describe the brilliant film Mr. Chan has put together. As a life long fan I have followed his progression (and regression in the states aside from a few good films such as the Shanghai Noon and Knights movies, along with Karate Kid, Around the World in 80 days gets a big nod for having Sammo Hung along with Andy Lau)

Donnie Yen was in a movie along with an actor that is tied with Jackie Chan as my favorite... Tony Leung Ka-Fai. - It was called Assasians and Bodyguards. That movie pretty much sets up the scene for 1911 pocket watches and all (you'll see plenty of pocket watches in this film, thats for sure.) I suggest watching it for more background on who Dr. Sun is and why he is so important to the revolution as A&B takes place in 1906.

Lets skip ahead 5 years to 1911, The country is in Chaos, the rebels (good guys!) are being slaughtered but taking out the enemy for the cause to gain Nationalism and end the evil Qing Dynasty. - No propaganda is used in the film which surprised me, I sat in a theater in Hong Kong to loud "AHHH" "Ohhh" "OH MY GOD" "WOW" even some women crying. by the end a standing ovation occurred and I was floored by what I had experienced.

Jackie Chan's labor of love, and wallet as he spent 30 Million American Dollars of his own money to fund this movie, pays off in the biggest way possible, by making an instant classic. by the FIRST 2 minutes you know the movie is going to be brutally epic and heart tearingly painful, in a gorgeous way. The movie moves into action very quickly, and Jackie Chan's role as the 8 fingered general is so very well suited, a very important historical figure but not as important as Winston Chao's Dr. Sun, the leader and idealist / strategist of the rebellion, Thus they share screen time 50/50, although the most shining moments in action and drama are with Jackie - Soaked in blood unloading endless hail of bullets to a nice kung-fu realism scene. This movie has something for everyone that has an interest in War, Drama, even Romance.

This is an instant classic, an easy 10 out of 10. I'd probably give it a 99%/100% if I had to rate it, only a point off due to wishing the movie added an extra 20-25 minutes 5 more of the amazing action that engulfs the film already, and another 20 minutes of more character development during the warfare; but don't get me wrong at 2 hours everything you need to know and will need to know is given.. and the performances are to die for. Hong Kong Film Assoc. will most certainly give Jackie the Movie of the year, I hope they give him Actor of the year as he deserves it along with Director (split award). Perhaps Bing BIng Lee as best supporting actress and Winston Chao as best supporting actor.

Go see this. Now.

1911, also known as 1911 Revolution, is a China production which marks two special occasions: 1. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of Xinhai Revolution, which Dr Sun Yat Sen over throws the corrupted Qing Monarchy, marking the two thousand years of monarchy control of China to an end. 2. This is actor and director Jackie Chan's 100th movie. What audience can see from 1911 is not only about how China has come to its way today from the past, but also witness how Jackie Chan is taking a new approach in the types of movie he is making.

Generally 1911 revolves around the few main characters: Chan as Huang Xing, the commander who lead his army to overthrow the Qing Monarchy, Winston Chao as Dr Sun, Li Bing Bing as Xu Zonghan, a revolutionist, who is also a good friend of Sun and Huang's lover, lastly with Joan Chen as Aisin Gioro Lungyu, the Empress who son is Puyi, the last emperor of China. The storyline of 1911 takes place around the last year of Qing Monarchy before the outbreak of Xinhai Revolution, where the story can be split into 2 parts: Huang leading the army to fight against the Qing army, and Sun gathering the support of the Chinese overseas through donations to fund the revolution, and stopping European banks from providing loans to Qing Monarchy. In the later part of the film, however, it falls on how Sun Yat Sen appoints Yuan Shikai, the Prime Minister of Qing Monarchy, as the first President of China Republic.

For those who are expecting Jackie Chan to create something new with his stunts and comical acts, they will be disappointed. 1911 marks Chan taking a serious role in his movie career by telling the remarkable chapter of the China history, which can be seen as another breakthrough after his role as a Chinese illegal immigrant paving a better life at Japan in Shinjuku Incident. (2009) As the director, he did not create any stunts or scenes of war for the sake of pleasing the audience who are seeing more action from him. War scenes are created to tell the pain people go through in a revolution, just as what was mentioned in the film, 'Revolution is not about death, but rather, paving a better future for the future generation.' The movie packs in plenty of details about the stages of the revolution, which provides a good reference for audience who do not have much knowledge about the revolution, and the aftermath of the founding of the Republic. However, those who are seeking action in the film will find 1911 a bore than something that entertains them.

While it seems that Chan is the leading character of 1911, the fact is Chao's role of Sun Yat Sen takes a heavier role compared to other leading role. This is the third time Chao reprise the role of Sun, which he did not disappoints audience who have watched his role as Sun in previous films such as The Soong Sisters (1997). While Chen's role of Lungyu could have been elaborated further, nevertheless it is a good try to see Chen taking one of the leading role, since it is not often she appears in a movie. We can see how Chen brings out the agony of Lungyu, after hearing from the officials in the imperial court on how King Louis XVI was executed by the French's during the French Revolution, hoping that both her son Puyi and herself will be spared from execution. It is also delighting to see Jackie's son, Jaycee, making a cameo appearance as a captain, together with Dennis To (Ip Man 2, The Legend is Born – Ip Man) as a soldier fighting in the revolution.

In short, do not expect too much action and comica

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the other reviewers. I just spent $4.99 renting this film from Time Warner Cable and it was not money well spent. Having been excited by the splendid and creative resurgence of Chinese cinema in the reform period, especially in the 1980s when it burst on the international scene with classics like Yellow Earth (Huang Tudi), it was surprising to see such a throwback to the 1950s and 1960s. This is very much like The Opium War, though the battleship in this film is clearly not a model. In those days (the 1960s), western actors were not available, since China was closed to the outside world, so they had to use some of the few expatriate English language teachers. It looks like they have done the same this time, though surely Jackie Chan could have got anyone he wanted from Hollywood. The characterisation is one- dimensional. The dialogue sounds like it is from the history books, with the film merely providing visual illustration. There are lots of close- ups of Sun Yat-sen taken from below or with him standing in a presidential position, exactly like the shots of Mao Zedong in earlier films about the Communist revolution. This is understandable -- Sun has always been considered the "father of the nation" (guo fu) by both the Communists and the Guomindang, who warred for decades -- but Sun is too interesting a character to be treated to the standard Stalinist "cult of personality" adulation. He was not, after all, a Kim Jong-Il. He was a real politician. He wrote a development plan for China. He planned, but did not live to lead, a Northern Expedition to reunite China under a republican government. The style of the movie seems to be heavily influenced by pre-war Soviet films (not, though, those of the brilliant Eisenstein and Pudovkin). It is surprising that Jackie Chan co-directed it. Surely he could have injected much more of his own cheeky humour? this film is so old-fashioned. I agree it would not have been centenary- reverential to have had fast cuts and rap music, but the slow-motion sentimental flashbacks are so hackneyed. Politically, the film doesn't say anything interesting and blithely ignores the unconscious irony of Sun saying that the Chinese people can now choose their own leaders after two hundred years of monarchy. One hundred years later, they still can't.