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The Great Wall

  • 2016
  • PG-13
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
141K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
642
128
Matt Damon in The Great Wall (2016)
Follow the story of an elite force making a valiant stand for humanity on the world's most iconic structure.
Play trailer2:22
35 Videos
99+ Photos
ActionAdventureFantasy

In ancient China, a group of European mercenaries encounters a secret army that maintains and defends the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.In ancient China, a group of European mercenaries encounters a secret army that maintains and defends the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.In ancient China, a group of European mercenaries encounters a secret army that maintains and defends the Great Wall of China against a horde of monstrous creatures.

  • Director
    • Yimou Zhang
  • Writers
    • Carlo Bernard
    • Doug Miro
    • Tony Gilroy
  • Stars
    • Matt Damon
    • Tian Jing
    • Willem Dafoe
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    141K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    642
    128
    • Director
      • Yimou Zhang
    • Writers
      • Carlo Bernard
      • Doug Miro
      • Tony Gilroy
    • Stars
      • Matt Damon
      • Tian Jing
      • Willem Dafoe
    • 553User reviews
    • 299Critic reviews
    • 42Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 2 nominations

    Videos35

    Trailer #2
    Trailer 2:22
    Watch Trailer #2
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:34
    Watch Official Trailer
    William With The Bow
    Clip 0:59
    Watch William With The Bow
    Fight Off A Tao Tei
    Clip 0:47
    Watch Fight Off A Tao Tei
    The Great Wall: Tovar Confronts William About Staying With The Nameless Order
    Clip 0:46
    Watch The Great Wall: Tovar Confronts William About Staying With The Nameless Order
    The Great Wall: The Nameless Order Consider The Fate Of William And Tovar
    Clip 0:56
    Watch The Great Wall: The Nameless Order Consider The Fate Of William And Tovar
    The Great Wall: William Demonstrates His Abilities With The Bow
    Clip 0:53
    Watch The Great Wall: William Demonstrates His Abilities With The Bow
    The Great Wall: William And The Nameless Order Fight Off A Tao Tei
    Clip 0:41
    Watch The Great Wall: William And The Nameless Order Fight Off A Tao Tei
    The Great Wall
    Featurette 1:50
    Watch The Great Wall
    The Great Wall: Peter Loehr On Zhang Yimou
    Featurette 1:20
    Watch The Great Wall: Peter Loehr On Zhang Yimou
    The Great Wall: Costume Designer Mayes Rubeo (Featurette)
    Featurette 2:26
    Watch The Great Wall: Costume Designer Mayes Rubeo (Featurette)
    The Great Wall: Shooting In China (Featurette)
    Featurette 2:42
    Watch The Great Wall: Shooting In China (Featurette)

    Photos658

    Matt Damon in The Great Wall (2016)
    Matt Damon, Andy Lau, Tian Jing, and Cheney Chen in The Great Wall (2016)
    Han Lu in The Great Wall (2016)
    Tian Jing in The Great Wall (2016)
    Matt Damon and Pedro Pascal in The Great Wall (2016)
    The Great Wall (2016)
    The Great Wall (2016)
    Tian Jing, Hanyu Zhang, Eddie Peng, and Kenny Lin in The Great Wall (2016)
    Han Lu in The Great Wall (2016)
    Willem Dafoe in The Great Wall (2016)
    Han Lu in The Great Wall (2016)
    Eddie Peng, Xuan Huang, and Kenny Lin in The Great Wall (2016)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Matt Damon
    Matt Damon
    • William
    Tian Jing
    Tian Jing
    • Commander Lin Mae
    Willem Dafoe
    Willem Dafoe
    • Ballard
    Andy Lau
    Andy Lau
    • Strategist Wang
    Pedro Pascal
    Pedro Pascal
    • Tovar
    Hanyu Zhang
    Hanyu Zhang
    • General Shao
    Han Lu
    Han Lu
    • Peng Yong
    Kenny Lin
    Kenny Lin
    • Commander Chen
    Eddie Peng
    Eddie Peng
    • Commander Wu
    Xuan Huang
    Xuan Huang
    • Commander Deng
    Ryan Zheng
    Ryan Zheng
    • Shen
    • (as Zheng Kai)
    Karry Wang
    Karry Wang
    • Emperor
    • (as Junkai Wang)
    Cheney Chen
    Cheney Chen
    • Imperial Officer
    Pilou Asbæk
    Pilou Asbæk
    • Bouchard
    Numan Acar
    Numan Acar
    • Najid
    Johnny Cicco
    Johnny Cicco
    • Rizzetti
    Vicky Yu
    Vicky Yu
    • Lieutenant Xiao Yu
    • (as Xintian Yu)
    Bing Liu
    Bing Liu
    • Lin Mae's 2nd Lieutenant Li Qing
    • Director
      • Yimou Zhang
    • Writers
      • Carlo Bernard
      • Doug Miro
      • Tony Gilroy
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This was the most expensive Chinese film ever, with a budget of $135 million and, due to the huge amount of crew involved, had over 100 translators.
    • Goofs
      Only one magnetic stone, which can pacify the Tao Tei, appeared in the movie. The stone was brought in by William the European mercenary. In reality, Chinese civilization first made compasses from magnetic stones in Han dynasty (< AD100). By the time point of the movie (somewhen between AD960 and AD1127), the compass had been widely used in navigation. It shouldn't be hard to find more magnetic stones inside China.
    • Quotes

      William: I fought for Harold against the Danes. I saved a Duke's life. I fought for him until he died. Fought for Spain against the Franks. Fought for the Franks against the Boulogne. I fought for the Pope. Many flags.

    • Crazy credits
      The Universal logo appears quicker than usual, and after appearing the Earth zooms into China, going all the way to a section of the Great Wall and through a crack in the section.

      During the zoom the Legendary Pictures logo appears (in reverse).
    • Alternate versions
      This film will be released in the Mandarin language separately in English-speaking countries --- that is, at least Australia. Both English and Mandarin versions have been classified.
    • Connections
      Featured in Hollywood Express: Episode #14.32 (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      At the Border
      Vocal by Zhao Mu-Yang

      Lyrics by Wang Changling

      Melody by Leehom Wang

    User reviews553

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    5/10
    Exercising Your Damons
    Millions of people watching the 2017 Oscars would have seen Jimmy Kimmel roasting poor Matt Damon as a part of their long running 'feud'. At one point he points out that Matt gave up the leading role in "Manchester by the Sea" to star in a "Chinese ponytail movie" that "went on to lose $80 million at the box office". "The Great Wall" is that movie!

    So is it really that bad?

    Well, it's no "Manchester by the Sea" for sure. But I don't think it's quite the total turkey that critics have been labelling it as either. I went to see it on a Sunday afternoon, and approaching it as a matinée bit of frothy action is a good mental state to be in.

    Matt Damon plays the ponytailed-wonder William, a European mercenary travelling in 11th Century China with his colleague Tovar (Pedro Pascal) in an attempt to determine the secrets of black powder – a secret well-guarded by the Chinese. Captured by the 'New Order' at the Great Wall and imprisoned there by General Shao (Hanyu Zhang), William earns the respect of Shao and his beautiful warrior second- in- command Lin Mae (Tian Jing) with his bowmanship. This is almost immediately put to use by the arrival (after 60 year's absence – a funny thing, timing, isn't it?) of hoards of vicious creatures called Taoties. (I thought they said Tauntauns initially, so was expecting some sort of Chinese/Star Wars crossover! But no.)

    Taoties who scale the wall are defeated by William who poleaxes them. (This is an attempt at brilliant humour to anyone who has already seen the film – poleaxe…. get it? POLEaxe. Oh, never mind!) Despite being a mercenary at heart, William is torn between staying and helping Lin Mae fight the beasts and fleeing with Tovar, their new chum Ballard (Willem Dafoe) and their black powder loot. (I'm sure something about Lin Mae's tight-fitting blue armour was influential in his decision).

    This is an historic film in that although in recent years there has been cross-fertilization of Chinese actors into Western films for box-office reasons (for example, in the appalling "Independence Day: Resurgence" and the much better Damon vehicle "The Martian") this was the first truly co-produced Chinese/Hollywood feature filmed entirely in China. It might also be the last given the film's $150 million budget and the dismal box-office!

    To start with some positives, you can rely on a Chinese-set film (the film location was Qingdao) to allow the use of an army of extras and – although a whole bunch of CGI was also no doubt used – some of the battles scenes are impressive. There is a stirring choral theme by Ramin Djawadi (best known for his TV themes for "Game of Thrones" and the brilliant "Westworld") played over silk-screen painted end titles that just make for a beautiful combination. And Tian Jing as the heroine Lin Mae is not only stunningly good-looking but also injects some much needed acting talent into the cast, where most of those involved (including Damon himself) look like they would rather be somewhere else.

    And some of the action scenes are rather fun in a 'park your brain by the door' sort of way, including (nonsensically) cute warrior girls high-diving off the wall on bungey ropes to near certain death. While the CGI monsters are of the (yawn) over-the-top LoTR variety, their ability to swarm like locusts at the Queen's command is also quite entertainingly rendered.

    Where the movie balloon comes crashing down to earth in flames though is with the story and the screenplay – all done by three different people each, which is NEVER a good sign.

    The story (by Max Brooks ("World War Z"), Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (both on "The Last Samurai") is plain nonsensical at times. No spoilers here, but the transition from "wall under siege" to "wall not under siege" gives the word 'clunky' a bad name. As another absurdity, the "New Order" seem amazed how William was able to slay one of the creatures (thanks to the poleaxing 'McGuffin' previously referenced) but then throughout the rest of the film he slays creatures left right and centre (McGuffin-less) through just the use of a spear or an arrow! Bonkers.

    Things get worse when you add words to the actions. The screenplay by Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro (both "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time") and Tony Gilroy (Tony Gilroy? Surely not he of all the "Bourne" films and "Rogue One" fame? The very same!) has a reading age of about an 8 year old. It feels like it has been translated into Chinese and then back again to English with Google Translate. "Is that the best you can do?" asks Tovar to William at one point. I was thinking exactly the same thing.

    The combination of the cinematography and the special effects have the unfortunate effect of giving the film the veneer of a video game, but this is one where your kid-brother has stolen the controls and refuses to give them back to you.

    Having had the great thrill of visiting a section of The Great Wall near Beijing, I can confirm that it is an astonishing engineering masterpiece that has to be seen to be truly believed. It ranks as one of the genuine wonders of the world. The same can not be said of this movie. Early teens might enjoy it as a mindless action flick. But otherwise best avoided until it emerges on a raining Sunday afternoon on the TV.

    (For the graphical version of this review, and to comment, please visit bob-the-movie-man.com).
    helpful•109
    75
    • bob-the-movie-man
    • Mar 18, 2017

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 17, 2017 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • Australia
      • Canada
    • Official sites
      • Official Facebook
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Mandarin
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Tử Chiến Tường Thành
    • Filming locations
      • New Zealand
    • Production companies
      • Legendary East
      • Atlas Entertainment
      • China Film Co., Ltd.
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $150,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $45,540,830
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $18,469,620
      • Feb 19, 2017
    • Gross worldwide
      • $334,933,831
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 43 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Auro 11.1
      • IMAX 6-Track
      • Sonics-DDP
      • Dolby Surround 7.1
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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