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Dragon Blade | |
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Film poster | |
Traditional | 天將雄師 |
Simplified | 天将雄师 |
Mandarin | Tiān Jiàng Xióng Shī |
Cantonese | Tin¹ Zeong³ Hung⁴ Si¹ |
Literally | “Celestial General, Heroic Army” |
Directed by | Daniel Lee |
Produced by | Jackie ChanSusanna Tsang |
Written by | Daniel Lee |
Starring | Jackie Chan John Cusack Lin Peng Mika Wang Choi Siwon Adrien Brody |
Music by | Henry Lai Wan-man |
Cinematography | Tony Cheung |
Edited by | Yau Chi-wai |
Production companies | Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film & Television FundHome Media and EntertainmentHuayi Brothers Shanghai Film Group Shenzhen Tencent Video Culture Communication Sparkle Roll Cultural MediaVisualizer FilmsLionsgate Films |
Distributed by | SFC Film (China)Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) Ltd. (Hong Kong)Lionsgate Premiere (US) |
Release date | 18 February 2015 (Taiwan) 19 February 2015 (China)12 March 2015 (Hong Kong)4 September 2015 (United States) |
Running time | 127 minutes 103 minutes (U.S) |
Country | China, Hong Kong |
Language | Mandarin, English |
Budget | US$65 million |
Box office | US$122,606,884 |
Dragon Blade is a 2015 Chinese historical action film written and directed by Daniel Lee and starring Jackie Chan. In the film, Chan plays Huo An, the commander of the Protection Squad of the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty. Dragon Blade was released in IMAX 3D on 19 February 2015, the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. The film was released in the United States on 4 September 2015 by Lionsgate Premiere.
For the role of the Roman general, Lucius, Mel Gibson was initially rumored to be taking the role. During a press conference, neither Chan nor Lee confirmed Gibson’s participation and Chan only said,
All I can say is that he’s a foreigner – an A-list Hollywood star, a big name.
Ultimately, the role went to John Cusack.
Principal photography for Dragon Blade started on 15 April 2014 in Hengdian, China with some battle scenes. The cast and crew encountered difficult filming conditions due to the heat, their heavy costume and long filming hours. Two days later, a press conference for Dragon Blade was held at the Beijing International Film Festival where star Jackie Chan and director Daniel Lee attended and announced the film to be released in IMAX 3D on 19 February 2015, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Aside from Hengdian, production took place in Dunhuang and the Gobi Desert.
The film was shot with a budget of US$65 million. The film was financed by Sparkle Roll Media Corporation, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Shanghai Film Group, Home Media & Entertainment Fund, Tencent Video and the Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film and Television Fund. A signing ceremony for the launching of Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film and Television Fund also occurred there as Dragon Blade is the first film to receive an investment from the fund. International distribution of the film outside of China was handled by Golden Network Asia.
Dragon Blade was a commercial success in its native country, China. It opened Thursday, February 19 in China and grossed US$18.7 million on the opening day. Through Sunday, February 22, it had a 3-day opening weekend total of US$33 million, topping the Chinese box office (US$54.8 million from Thursday – Sunday) from 132,874 screenings and 8.14 million admissions. Through its opening week it earned US$72 million. The film fell to number three the following weekend, earning US$45.9 million (down 19%). As of March 15, 2015, Dragon Blade has earned US$120 million in China alone.
Dragon Blade has received a mixed reception, but with praise for its large-scale battle sequences, production design, and mixing of styles from both Hollywood and East Asian cinema. As of June 2020, the film holds a 37% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 46 reviews with an average rating of 4.62/10. The site’s consensus reads, “Dragon Blade is beautifully staged and choreographed, but between the battles, its talented cast is overwhelmed by a dull story and choppy editing.”
Variety‘s Maggie Lee applauded the film for its overall technical details and concluded it to be “a colossal entertainment with solid technique and terrific storytelling smarts”. Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter complimented Dragon Blade for its filmmaking quality and screenplay for a primarily mainland Chinese production.
IGN awarded it a score of 6 out of 10, saying “The story is rubbish, but Dragon Blade has some cool fight scenes thanks to Jackie Chan’s action direction.” In a negative review, Gabriel Chong from MovieXclusive.com panned Dragon Blade as being “utterly awful in every respect”, criticizing the performances of the starring cast and inconsistent changes in tone. He writes: “Indeed, Dragon Blade is a hot mess and a spectacular misfire, not just by its star but also by its director, and if anything, further confirms that the once-promising careers of Hollywood stars John Cusack and Adrien Brody are going the way of Nicolas Cage“.
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