Saving General Yang 2013 ★★★ Watched Aug 18, 2019. They are betrayed and have to fight for their lives against a much larger force. Film Review: ‘Saving General Yang’ Reviewed at Hong Kong Film Festival (Gala Premiere), March 28, 2013. Great potential drama - but Yu spends zero time differentiating the brothers or giving them any background or personality. Saving General Yang. From this point onward, director Yu maintains a vigorous pace and a varied range of action setpieces, from chases across treacherous terrain to combat scenes showcasing the Yang brothers’ signature weapons. And this film reaches back to the legendary Yang Clan which has been portrayed in all sorts of medium - books, plays and a number of films - a few of them quite famous - The 14 Amazons and The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter from the Shaw Brothers and Legendary Amazons from 2011. They lived during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) and fought against the Khitan empire who were from Mongolia and primarily nomads who raided China constantly. Yang Ye, the venerable eponymous character in Saving General Yang, was the patriarch of a celebrated Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) military clan with female as well as male members. Review by BrianNaas.
And though Yu uses some familiar faces - Ekin Cheng as the eldest son, Adam Cheng as Yang Ye and Leung Kar-yan as the general of the supposed allies - many of the slots were given to pop stars - and they act like pop stars - not that Ekin shows even an ounce of personality but I am used to that. Well, Yu sort of forgot the human element. But that is besides the point these days - it doesn't matter which Dynasty it is - Song, Han or the Shang - they are a stand-in for China of today. Saving General Yang is a rushed gory and glory macho men on-a-mission movie that is held back by hokey stodgy tedium and as a result does not feel like a current film. It had everything else. However, the Yang wives usually took centerstage in prior tellings, as in 2011’s “Legendary Amazons,” helmed by Frankie Chan. Saving General Yang Blu-ray Review.