FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

leonblackwood Review: What a brilliant movie but I must admit, I missed a lot of the plot because the subtitles are going too fast. With that aside, the witty script and brilliant performances from Chow Yun- Fat, (Master Huang) and Wen Jiang, (Pocky Zhang), made this crazy, unique, and definitely unpredictable ride, a joy to watch. When I heard that this movie had a western backdrop, I thought that it was going to be, more like a Cowboys & Indians type of storyline but once the movie gets going, it's a funny political comedy about a ruthless bandit who steals from the rich to give to the poor. The script is top class but it does get a bit complicated after a while, mainly because you have to concentrate on the annoying subtitles. The cinematography and costumes are authentic and the real governor, who wouldn't stop going on about losing his wife, cracked me up. The clever mind and coolness of Pocky Zhang is truly something to watch and the few action scenes were also impressive. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, even though I lost the plot but it's definitely worth a watch, for its originality and crazy storyline. Enjoyable! Round-Up: When this movie was released in December 2010, it broke several box office records in China, and has received critical acclaim. It became the highest grossing domestic film until 2012, when it was beaten by Painted Skin: The Resurrection, which grossed $140million worldwide. The movie was directed by Wen Jiang, 53, who also played the leading character, so he really did give this movie his all. He also contributed his directing skills to New York, I Love You in 2008, which had a top cast, and he brought you Devil's on the Doorstep, The Sun Also Rises and Gone with the Bullets. This movie definitely has something for everybody but you have to be a fast reader to keep up with it.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $104millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their action/comedy/westerns starring Chow Yun-Fat, You Ge, Wen Jiang, Carina Lau and Jon Hu. 7/10

Bai Gan I didn't like it as a movie and was slightly offended by it after seeing it for the firs time. Then I watched it again and realized it is actually a series of encrypted political messages disguised as a movie. You can call it a movie if you consider movie an 'entertainment' and that this is the way Chinese people in China are entertained, with bitterness and cynicism. Everything in the movie is just too 'real' and it is painful (for me) to watch. Director Jiang, Wen had too much to say and couldn't say it directly. Starting from the title, if you notice that the title that first appeared was translated to be 'let the bullet fly for a while; then 'for a while' was removed. This was Jiang Wen's first message: everything he tries to say has to be in disguise, sometimes mixed with jokes in bad tastes such as when he said how he followed General Cai'e during the revolution then became bandit after Cai died in Japan, which was followed by Ge You's digression on when he was 17 blah blah blah, the title means you need to wait for a while before the message goes through to audience (had to bypass censorship first) There were dialogues in the movie nobody can get right away and tell what logical purpose it serves, such as when Huang Cilang said he met Ma bandit 20 years before, together with other mysterious dialogues reveal who they were and how they became who they are now. They both implied that they know Japanese suicide rituals well, which meant they were both close to the revolution etc. Anyway, it is painful to watch because it is so real.

lasttimeisaw I'm quite lagging behind the progress of recent Chinese film market, LET THE BULLETS FLY is still the No.1 film in the all-time domestic grossing (approximately 100 million US dollars, it seems that the record still holds steady judging by the under-performance of Yimou Zhang's THE FLOWERS OF WAR 2011 and Hark Tsui's THE FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE 2011 in the past Christmas season), and its preeminent word-of-mouth prompts itself as a must-see for every aficionado, it is a bit shameful of me to been not have watched this one, aside from that I'm a bona fide Chinese, thus I chose this one as the first film to start my 2012. However the road is bumpier than I thought, at first the abrupt dialogs and some implausible scenes grate on my nerves (particularly the absurdly droll disembowelment suicide). But it is a genuine slow burner, the tension ignited by a spanked-up manhood hegemony is sterlingly fabricated at the latter part, there is a conspicuous political intent has been underlined in a metaphorical method while contains some visceral vibes being spiritually entertaining and optically stylish! As a matter of fact the censorship of cinema in China is harshly stern (politically preferred), thus it is wondrous to guess how this film had evaded it and subsequently became the highest grossing one in the Chinese film history, lots of context reading could be arresting and effectual for other film directors. As the elite in contemporary Chinese film market, LET THE BULLETS FLY is Wen Jiang's most ambitious work to date (after a failed attempt with DEVILS ON THE DOORSTEP 2000, which was shut down completely in the domestic cinema due to some political reasons, and a box office debacle in 2007 with THE SUN ALSO RISES), Wen cunningly harness a cast with trio male leaders, which has an overpowering appeal towards nearly all the Chinese audience. You Ge (a household name in China and majorly allures the large northern demography) stands out in the mêlée, his satirical aura is the key catalyst in the film and also salts his tragical doom with a poignant flavor. Yun-Fat Chow (the Hongkong marque name which has more box-office sway in southern area) is solid too, but his villainy is a trifle overstated with his over-stately appearance. The real top dog is Wen himself, the winner both in and outside the film, with a gutsy supporting characters (Yun Zhou, Carina Lau is the meager female included).Hardware-wise, the film represents the top-notch level of contemporary Chinese film (one exception is the CGI effect of the opening train accident, which is risibly artificial), and the final battle of the strategy about acquiring the dominance and manipulating of the mass demonstrates that Wen is the master of fashioning a compelling period mainstream work with modern political allegory, which is a highly valued rare bird in this era.

fullpaperjacket In early 1920s, China was in civil war and it was an era when disorder became part of life. Bangde Ma ( GE, You) who just became the mayor of a remote town through bribery was robbed by a group of bandits led by Pock Zhang ( JIANG, Wen). However Ma could not afford any ransom because he had used up all his money for bribery and the only way to collect money was to use the ruling power of the mayor title. Zhang decided to take Ma's position as the new mayor while Ma posed as his private adviser under the name of Tang.Their destination, the Goose Town, was actually controlled by notorious mafia clan of the Huang family and the only way to collect money was to fully cooperate with the family and handed out most of their gains. However Zhang was only interested in rich families black money and believed in fair justice for each person, which made Huang the IV ( CHOW, Yun-Fat), the boss of the clan, very very unhappy. Almost immediately Zhang and Huang became enemies and the Goose Town would soon turn to be a battle field as well as a stage of hypocrisy, cheating, apathy and snobbery.The first impression of the movie is that it is no doubt of a typical Hollywood style action comedy composed by every piece of commercial element you can find in other Hollywood action movies such as gun firing, explosions, beauties, muscles, fast moving, slangs, and etc. The movie itself is of great fun and you will laugh from the beginning to the end. Also the story is told in a straightforward way and there would be no problem of understanding it even if you have no idea where China is located. The problem, however, is how to interpret Jiang Wen. Let the Bullets Fly is becoming one of the hottest and the most appraised movies in recent years in China neither because it is more dazzling than the Avatar nor because it is more surprising than the Inception. It is welcomed because many Chinese viewers regard the story as a mirror of present China and a movie with strong critical acclaim should have not been approved for public show by the authority such as Jiang Wen's previous movie the Devils on the Doorstep. Interestingly, different people can interpret the movie in a way they like and this may be the power of a comedy. Frankly speaking, if you are not a Chinese, chances are you will enjoy the movie for funny stuff while not the metaphor of the movie.