Aftershock

This has to be one of the best films I have ever seen! From the minute you are drawn in by the amazing cinematography and the story set before you, you are hooked.

This film flows like the Three gorges dam, powerfully! Have a box of tissues handy as you'll need them. The film moves along at a nice steady pace punctuated with moments of such drama that if your of a certain disposition you will weep openly.

At 2 hours 15 minuets I was so glad it ended. Not because I hadn't enjoyed it but because I was an emotional wreck.

I could wax lyrical for paragraph upon paragraph about this film but the most poignant thing I could say is... Just watch it.

10/10 easily.

As an old white guy I have this knee jerk reaction to resist all things not American. Darn. That said, and considering all the dribble that comes out of Hollywood these days, juxtaposed against this truly wonderful film from China, all I can say is... if this is the kind of stuff they are capable of, "Hollywood, look out". One of the things that makes this movie so compelling is that it is not a "Chinese" story, its a "human" story. While the production and graphics are stellar, its the STORY that steals the show. How many times have we all sat through an hour and a half of incredible (and often gratuitous) graphics with a mediocre story sandwiched in between stuff being blown up. Here the graphics are truly great, but take second place to whats important... the story.

An epic disaster picture, disguised with a special human core...

Aftershocks works because it believed in the simple message about human lives – value. In the midst of today's world, people always conjure on the negatives, rather than the positives in our lives. For a moment of two, we forget about the person next to you, and focuses on the troubles that surrounds us. Ultimately, Aftershock is a movie about human survival and it works not because of the impact of the earthquake, but how human beings deal with the aftermath of an extraordinary earthquake. Director Feng Xiaogang delivers an epic that is not about special effects, but one that touches the very essence of a human heart by tackling important themes like survival, how one deal with death, love, life and ultimate sacrifice. Aftershocks is a highly successful film, that manages to be commercially saleable and also extremely humane. In doing justice to the victims, it is certainly aren't easy, but somehow, Feng manages to engage, express and emotes.

Zhang Jingchu is a wonderful actress. Her main strength is the ability to make a character performance so believable yet human, is almost extraordinary. In saying that she is the central to the success of this film, will be an overstatement, but without her, Feng would not be so successful. Look no further than the scenes when she faces her mum again, after 32 years for a moment of heart to heart cinematic performance. The highlight for me is most certainly the person who played Jet Li's Hero, in the class of Chen Daoming. While he was subtlety cunning in Hero as the first emperor of China, Chen is all class and humane as the caring fostering father of Zhang. His portray of the fatherly role is fitting and steals the show with his glaring eyes. His moments of anger are a joy to watch, along with his interaction with his wife and daughter.

All in all, Aftershock is the blockbuster Chinese epic of the year and to wipe internal tears from my heart, Feng have created something very special. It is not a easy job to satisfy both Chinese censors and still manages to create something worthy of our 5 senses. Feng knows the impending audience and smartly delivers what is essential a human drama about the aftermath of a devastating event. In the journey of their survival and seeing how every one of these characters due with life in their own way, allows us to re-think, re-evaluate, refresh and re-value the very essence of our own lives. It isn't so bad and it's good to be alive and loved. Most certainly the Chinese blockbuster, not to be missed...(Neo 2010)

I rate it 10/10

• www.thehkneo.com

I watched a subbed version of this movie and the first few minutes remind me of Hollywood sensational movie and I was about to end the viewing. I'm very glad that I did not do it because otherwise I have missed one of the best movies I have watched so far. The emotion just goes up in you until it hit a peaks then it starts going down calmly to have a good ending. Do not let the English title of the movie misleads you, the movie is much much more than about the earthquake or natural disaster itself, it's about the human's nature, how they dealt with difficult situations. The earthquake is just pretext and it can be anything tragic like war, exodus, deportation etc...Remember "Sophie's choice" ?

After reading the other very eloquent and well thought of reviews posted so far I believe there is little I can ad to this string. That is, unless I can express my view as a true outsider of Chinese cinema and relatively inexperienced at your beautiful culture.

It's nearly impossible to find words to describe quickly I was sucked into the plot and became a member of the family of four portrayed in this masterpiece. I was in awe of the human tragedy this earthquake was and the amazing technology used to recreate it. However, nothing could have possibly prepared me for the tragic, sad, warm and beautiful human drama that would follow.

I was hoping to say I enjoyed this as much as or even more than any other movie. However, I have never experienced a movie that I can even begin to compare this to. This is a masterpiece and treasure.