an extraordinary film
This is an extraordinary offering. Some understanding of the background is helpful for those not familiar with the complex history of Taiwan: The original inhabitants of this island were not Chinese at all but a race akin to many of the tribes in the Philippines and DNA work suggests that most Polynesians can trace their origins back to movements south out of Taiwan. Some 500 years ago Chinese immigration from Fu Jian and later other provinces increased rapidly and these original clans were pushed into the hills where they can still be found in small numbers today. The story begins in 1895 when the aggressive Japanese Empire was ceded Taiwan by the decaying Qing Dynasty and the Japanese sent in their powerful military and civil forces to develop the resources for an expanding economy.
The coastal Han (Chinese) were pretty quickly brought to heel and indeed the Chinese in Taiwan have enjoyed a good relationship with Japan ever since. Most elderly Taiwanese speak Japanese,...
Violent and stunning but unfulfilling
There are two versions of "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" coming to DVD and Blu-ray; the four and a half hour original version and the cut two and a half hour US version. This is a review of the two and a half hour version, which certainly seems as though it received the wrong end of the stick. It feels like much of the story was dumped for the massive amount of action sequences.
The historical drama is absolutely gorgeous on Blu-ray. The never ending supply of lush forests and trees just always adds a splash of color to whatever is transpiring. The nonstop bloodshed never ceases to add a little red to the fray, as well. Nature, sunsets, waterfalls, and wildlife; the Taiwan scenery is just stunning. Unfortunately, it's usually sacrificed for cluttered CGI and awkward camera movements.
The CGI is used for a rock slide, some of the more difficult to film wildlife shots, animals, mist, steam, and even explosions. If there was a middle class for special...
Unbelievably amazing movie!
Wow just Wow is all I can say about the film. I was surprised to see the movie even had reviews below 4 stars I'm not quite sure what that's about. I watched this movie on 2 occasions. The first time I wasn't sure I was in the mood for it and I didn't like the first portion of it so much but on a better day I watched the movie from the beginning again and it's fantastic. There's so much emotion and pride hidden behind the movie. Warriors of the Rainbow is about a tribe of people known as the Seediq Bale that live in harmony with the forests they call home. One day they find themselves being invaded by Japanese soldiers. They try to fight back but are conquered and become ruled under the Japanese that end up forcing them to become a servant class amongst their social group. Using them to do heavy manual labor for cheap, introducing wine to keep them drink, raping their women and basically destroying their culture. One of the tribes men said something interesting in the film about being...
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