Well Go USA
Directors: Jackie Chan, Li Zhang
Stars: Jackie Chan, Bingbing Li and Winston Chao

What they say: At the beginning of the 20th century, China is in a state of crisis. The country is split into warring factions and people are starving. After 250 years of unquestioned power, the ruling Qing Dynasty, led by a seven-year-old emperor and his ruthless mother Empress Dowager Longyu, has become completely out of touch. With the citizens beginning to revolt, the Qings are creating a powerful, modern army to quash any rebellion. Huang Xing has recently returned from Japan, where he has studied the art of modern warfare. When he finds his country falling apart, he feels he has no choice but to join the opposition, leading a series of violent rebellions against the powerful Qing Dynasty.

What I say: Ladies and gentlemen, with this film we have a special occasion; 1911 Revolution is Jackie Chans 100th film! Congrats Jackie! Here’s to 100 more!

1911 is an interesting film, this is an area of history that does not seem to get much attention (well, other than The Last Emperor and that’s been a while). With China becoming quite the world power this is puzzling. The film focus’ on Sun Yat-Sen is actually refreshing in this kind of film. Normally the Jackie Chan character, Huang Xing, would have been the lead in this kind of film. But by focusing on the political intrigue, the film is able to avoid the clichés of the action based historical drama, and get to the meat of the story. Which is one man building a resistance and changing the course of a country.

Jackie Chan was one of the directors so this was a brave choice. I love a good political thriller and this fired on all cylinders. The performances were all fantastic, and while it is mostly a political film, there were incredible battle sequences. The film image was sharp and gorgeous. The sound mix was spectacular especially during the battles. Bravo!

If I had to find something to complain about, there were maybe too many characters to keep up with. I would at a couple of time forget what side a character was on, but thankfully that was kept to a minimum.

Extras include some deleted scenes, a DVD copy of the film, and an insert card with more details about the revolution. It was very interesting and helpful. Another fine release from Well GO USA!

Film: 8/10
Blu-Ray: 9/10
Recommended!

1911 Revolution will be released on Jan 10, 2012