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I doubt most Americans even know they exist. I pay a lot of attention to China (through sources like HN, youtube channels, etc.) and even I am only barely famil

I doubt most Americans even know they exist. I pay a lot of attention to China (through sources like HN, youtube channels, etc.) and even I am only barely familiar with the genre. The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons), and Americans tend not to pay much attention to movies they themselves aren't going to watch. I've seen a few clips, and they look like if Marvel fired all their writers and cut their budgets by 80%. I tend not to like the writing of any Chinese movies I've seen though, which I guess is to be expected. Different culture, different emphasis, different ideas of realism.

habeebtc 5y ago
I don't know that I have quite the same issue with Chinese movies. Some have quite good production values, actually! Especially for the budgets. The challenge I have with Chinese films (especially high fantasy) is that it feels like I have missed something along the way and can't follow the plot. This is regardless of the translation quality, and regardless of how closely I am paying attention. I suspect it is the case that as a viewer you are assumed to be well versed in Chinese fairy tales, mythology or history. Certainly this is the case in lots of Western films. Pretty good example: Sorcerer and White Snake. Quite watchable (beautiful film, really), but hard to follow 100% of the time as a Westerner.
snowgrove 5y ago
>The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons) I saw Wolf Warrior 2 at the AMC cinema in Sunnyvale, California. There weren’t a lot of showtimes but the theater was packed for my showing. Chinese audio with English subtitles. Thought it was an entertaining action movie with some ridiculous propaganda set pieces a la Rambo. My mostly Chinese (maybe Taiwanese? didn’t ask) fellow audience members audibly groaned en masse at some of these, like when the hero gets a truck full of refugees past some African rebels by dramatically waving a PRC flag. An American friend of mine saw the film a few months later on a cross-country fight, the airline had it on the inflight entertainment system. It’s also apparently on Prime Video. So such movies can be found here for those who want to see them; that’s just a pretty small group of people.

habeebtc 5y ago

I don't know that I have quite the same issue with Chinese movies. Some have quite good production values, actually! Especially for the budgets. The challenge I have with Chinese films (especially high fantasy) is that it feels like I have missed something along the way and can't follow the plot. This is regardless of the translation quality, and regardless of how closely I am paying attention. I suspect it is the case that as a viewer you are assumed to be well versed in Chinese fairy tales, mythology or history. Certainly this is the case in lots of Western films. Pretty good example: Sorcerer and White Snake. Quite watchable (beautiful film, really), but hard to follow 100% of the time as a Westerner.

snowgrove 5y ago

>The movies don't get published here (for obvious reasons) I saw Wolf Warrior 2 at the AMC cinema in Sunnyvale, California. There weren’t a lot of showtimes but the theater was packed for my showing. Chinese audio with English subtitles. Thought it was an entertaining action movie with some ridiculous propaganda set pieces a la Rambo. My mostly Chinese (maybe Taiwanese? didn’t ask) fellow audience members audibly groaned en masse at some of these, like when the hero gets a truck full of refugees past some African rebels by dramatically waving a PRC flag. An American friend of mine saw the film a few months later on a cross-country fight, the airline had it on the inflight entertainment system. It’s also apparently on Prime Video. So such movies can be found here for those who want to see them; that’s just a pretty small group of people.