Little Big Soldier [DVD] [2010]

Brilliant

I was introduced to Jackie Chan movies long before he made it big in Hollywood and will always love those classics of his from the 70s and 80s, like Drunken Master and Police Story. That's not to say that he wasn't good in his recent Hollywood outings - he still shames all of his co-stars with his impeccable comic timing - but the films just felt empty some how.Little Big Soldier, though, is simultaneously a hark back to his roots whilst being a standing proof of Jackie's evolution as an actor (yes, he's actually acting now, instead of gurning inbetween the stunts and fight scenes). The other reviews will give you a competent enough synopsis of the plot, but I want to say that this movie both exceeded and defied my expectations. Jackie may have slowed down a bit and isn't doing those massive set-piece stunts that we know and love, but he still retains that unbeatable imagination for choreography and physical comedy and has learned to temper it with some genuine pathos.The film pulls you from laughing to crying and back to laughing again so quickly that you feel like you're being tossed and turned about in one of the fights yourself. You may even end up crying by the end, but nevertheless recommend it to your friends and family as still being a comedy. Truth be told, it's both a comedy and a tradegy - but your opinion on which it is entirely depends on your outlook on life, movies and Jackie Chan. Buy it, watch it, love it!

While it doesn't have much in the way of the kind of groundbreaking stunts that made his reputation and doesn't always work as well as it could, taken as a whole Little Big Soldier is the best thing Jackie Chan has done in years. Like Shanghai Noon, it was a pet project that was kicking around for decades before it all came together: so long, in fact, that Chan ended up playing a different part to the one he originally intended, ending up as the pragmatic old soldier pulling every trick and scam he knows to survive the vicious civil wars that would finally see China bloodily united. The last of his family line, his dreams of getting out of the army, buying a small farm, finding a wife and starting a family suddenly look like a real possibility when, after faking his death in a battle that sees both sides annihilated, he stumbles across an enemy general and tries to take him back to his own lines for his reward - pursued by bears, bandits, tribesmen and the ruthless traitors who set up the general's defeat to usurp his position and want to finish off the job. Naturally along the way the two men learn from each other - Leehom Wang's young general that for those who fight and die for him an honorable death is less important than a good life, Chan that there is some value in honor - without ever quite losing their determination to outwit the other.It's well-worn territory and certainly sentimental, but it's honest sentiment made all the more affecting by being set in a convincingly war-ravaged country sparsely populated by shell-shocked people out to survive any way they can. Despite the odd nod to Kurosawa (albeit the rarely unleashed knockabout comedy Kurosawa), it's really a Western in disguise, with tribes of nomads standing in for the Indians, but it's also a timeless anti-war fable that could just as easily be set in the American Civil War, the Wars of the Roses or the fall of Carthage. There's enough action along the way to keep things entertaining, and if Chan isn't as fast as he used to be there's still some ingenuity in the choreography of a fight for a sword neither man can get hold of long enough to wield or an escape from some slave-trading natives while they're distracted with a skirmish of their own, though unfortunately there are also some particularly nasty horse falls that clearly aren't faked even after two seconds were cut by the BBFC for animal cruelty (Asian films don't put much of a premium on animal welfare). Director Sheng Ding is great at action and emotion, but poor at visual comedy, with the various gizmos Chan uses to fake death - retractable arrows, fake blood - never quite presented to the best effect, but he gets enough right to redeem his failings, with the ending - surprisingly bleak for a Chan film - packing quite an emotional punch.It's the best thing Chan has done for years.The extras package on the UK DVD and BluRay release does unfortunately somewhat flatter to deceive. Whereas the Asian releases were light on extras - a couple of featurettes totalling 20 minutes, music video and stills gallery - CineAsia's UK release seems to be much more substantial but unfortunately suffers from a severe case of soundbiteitis. Aside from the Bey Logan audio commentary the extras are simply elements from the EPK (Electronic Press Kit) provided to TV channels - 7 x two-minute featurettes, 20 x 30-second featurettes (neither, frustratingly, with a play all option and with subtitles that aren't overly widescreen TV friendly), 69 minutes of raw behind the scenes b-roll footage and 11 soundbite cast and crew interviews, plus teaser trailer, full trailer, 2 TV spots and a music video. There's not much substance there, as if nobody could be bothered to assemble them once the film was finished. Just to add to the disappointment, the BluRay also suffers from that most inexplicable of recent phenomenons, tiny subtitles. They're not as absurdly unreadably small as the ones on the Red Cliff UK BluRay but they're still much smaller than they need to be - and presented partially over the picture area rather than on the black border below. (The bonus digital copy from their DVD release is not present on the BluRay, but since digital copies may well be the most pointless DVD extra ever that's no great loss.)

Subtitles were hard to follow. Abandoned watching it.

Great Jackie Chan classic. The dynamic between the two main characters is incredible

How many people get the message after watching the film? Yeah the film is funny enough but has its meaningful side.China,in ancient time was a country always had wars-wars between warlords and ethnics.There have been approximately about 56 ethnics in China and there have been conflicts between different ethnics along history...Chan, quite obvious, is telling us at the end that ordinary people just want to live a normal life that, not everyone wants to be hero.After Qi conquered Liang and Wei and other states,the country united eventually.Indeed individual glory should not be placed before national pride.Together the country stands.

one of my favourite movies of all time. Not the greatest film of its kind or even the greatest films jackie chan has made but its a fun ride through ancient china and hilarously funny, if a little sad.

Good film

Vendeur agréable. Il a réglé le problème de ma commande que je n'avais pas reçu.Il a immédiatement renvoyé un autre DVD en express. En 2 jours il est arrivé.Vendeur très professionnel et attentifs.Le film est super.Je recommande. Notre Jackie chan toujours avec de l'humour dans film de guerre.

Good

「ポリス・ストーリー、レジェンド」みたいな地味めジャッキー映画ですが、変わらずジャッキーアクションは素敵です。内容はシビアながら、アクションは全体的に笑い寄りで、終始、笑わせてくれます。一転、ドラマの部分は非常に胸に来ます。涙さえ誘われます。ラストは堪りません。子供達に受け継がせる祈りは、昨今の愛国中国映画には少ない、余韻を残します。かつての熱さとは違う、またこれも熱い想いに満ちた映画でした。テーマが香ぐわい、非常に高尚なドラマでも有ります。情がカタルシスで有り、近頃の中国に多い、愛国感は郷愁に納め、良きジャッキー映画の新たなる第一歩と成っていると思います。自分はやや道化を演じ、若い役者を立て、魅力的に輝かせてあげる、先人俳優の役割もしっかり魅せるジャッキー、カッコイイです。

I highly recommend this movie.....good story, good points to ponder, and yet a funny movie. The sub-titles... who cares, they are not a problem in this movie .... the visuals communicate as much or more as the words do. This has to be one of Jackie Chan's best movies I've ever seen.I highly recommend seeing this movie.I have handed it to some people and told them they needed to watch it. They look at it, and say ... " I don't think this is my type of movie at all " .... and I've convinced them to watch 10 minutes and turn it off if they don't like it. Everyone has ended up watching it all the way thru and telling me how great a movie it was, and they had to buy a DVD of it as well. Typically, they are sharing "scenes" that they enjoyed the most, and laughing at some of them.

Non sapevo neanche l'esistenza di questo film...è stato stesso amazon a suggerirmelo. Sorprendentemente bello per il sarcasmo di Jackie in guerra. Bella la scenografia e la fotografia, ottima performance di Jackie. Spedizione più che puntuale. Consiglio vivamente per gli amanti del genere. Contenuti extra nella media.