Excellent but underrated film

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Saving General Yang" turns out to be a very watchable, very good historical drama based on the historical Song general, Yang Ye, of the Northern Song dynasty. This is refreshing from the earlier historical Chinese dramas that distracted with incredulous kung fu flying stunts and such. Here the warriors, good guys and bad guys, are ordinary mortal men. Think of, "Saving General Yang" as a East Asian version of, "Vikings" from the History Channel. Yes, it's that violent but at least much more realistic. The movie is based only but one historical interpretation. The storyline blames colleague Song general, Pan Li, for treachery and cowardice by refusing to come to the aid of the ambushed and outnumbered general Yang Ye. But another history account tells it differently. The first Song dynasty emperor relied on three, experienced and highly competent generals to conquer the remaining, independent Han Chinese states, thus reuniting all of China since the time of the T'ang Dynasty. These men were, Cao Bi, Pan Li, and Yang Ye. All three proved highly effective senior generals, each man commanding subordinate junior generals. Cao Bi was a righteous, modest man who eschewed riches, wealth, rejected bribes and prevented his soldiers from plundering. Pan Li was an experienced battlefield tactician who knew how to attack Song enemies at their weak spots and weak moments and proved good at motivating subordinates. Yang Ye was from a more refined social class and upbringing and was also an astute battlefield tactician. Operating separately, the rest of China succumbed and Song China reunited the entire country, except for the far northeastern 16 prefectures which were lost in 950 A.D. by a previous, short-lived, rump Chinese dynasty, to the foreign Liao Dynasty, known as the Khitans. The second Song emperor dispatched Cao Bi, Pan Li, and Yang Ye north to reclaim the 16 prefectures from the Khitan. The three invading columns moved independently and were not coordinated with each other. The Liao armies attacked and defeated each Song Chinese army, starting with Cao Bi, then Pan Li, finally Yang Ye. Pan Li had been attacked and was unable to support Yang Ye. The failure of the Northern Expedition infuriated the second Song emperor. He demoted Pan Li three ranks. Cao and Yang were dead. The Chinese have become rediscovering and reassessing the heretofore ignored Song Dynasty because militarily and diplomatically it was the weakest of all the major Han Chinese dynasties. But a historical reassessment reveals China underwent a technological, scientific, agricultural, cultural, economic, and social 'golden age' under the Song, especially during the Northern Song era. Even when the foreign Jin Dynasty (Jurchens) conquered the northern 1/3rd of China, the remaining 2/3rds under the Southern Song remained prosperous for another 150 years until the Mongols finally violently liquidated the Song. The Song dynasty proved wealthier and more advanced than its glorious T'ang predecessor. Song China is considered a time of scientific and technological invention, many of which still exist today, such as the compass and paper money.

First of all, please do not believe people who tell you this is based on a "true" story. While there is a historical Yang Ye and his son Yang Yanchao, the events of this movie is extremely fictionalized. In fact, the only thing that can be verified to be true is that both Yang Ye and Yang Yanchao existed. Second, this is the kind of "idol" movie that plagues Chinese cinema nowadays. Yes, the dudes are good looking movie stars and the style looks good. But, substance-wise, there's not much here. There's no distinguishable personality difference about these guys. The common thread is that hey these are handsome and awesome heroes who are all willing to sacrifice themselves (as well as their unfortunate followers) to save their dad. Anyhow, there's a lot of melodramatic shots of heroism and sacrifice, and the end is an ironic twist to the prediction made by the old mystic man who says "seven sons will go, six will return." The cinematography and choreography is very well done. Unfortunately, like which many big-budget Asian films, it's more about style than substance. The characters do inexplicably stupid things in the name of honor (and looking cool), and at the end, this little more than a typical brainless waste of 100 minutes.I gave this a 5 because the fight scenes are very nice, and at least not a mess of CGI. There have been far worse Asian movies out there in recent years, so while I would not recommend this movie, at least it's not an utter disaster.

I agree with the rest of the reviewers here. It's hard to believe that this film received only a 6 (6.4 as of the date of this review). But enigmatically there is always a second meaning to numbers as one wise man might say. Perhaps it is a 9. Personally I have seen several thousand movies and this one ranks better than about 95% of them. Few action films are better and this one integrates CGI and action so very well. There is comparison to Troy or 300, but this film ranks with Troy (both far better than 300) and as well as the best action films.Director Ronny Yu uses his craft to create an epic of loyalty and revenge. Acting was very strong for an action film although we don't really have time to develop any characters, the best were Bing Shao's Yelu Yuan, the toughest enemy for the brothers to face, Fan Xu who plays the general's wife and Chun Wu, the sixth son. It gets sentimental at times as most any film that portrays legendary figures but that helps build the loyalty sentiments of the brothers. The best scenes were with the fourth and fifth brothers charging into the enemies and the archers in the field. Not every action film has artistic merits, but that last scene draws comparison with Hero and House of Flying Daggers. This film is more gripping than either of those other films and perhaps just as well made. It uses the CGI battle scenes fairly well, although improvements could be made, but it's not as impressive as Red Cliff.Unfortunately, perhaps some in the audience and some reviewers get confused and sentimental action films sometimes get panned. Yet, why we remember fairy tales is because they are so good. This one not withstanding is a near classic.

Saving General Yang is an excellent Chinese period war movie in the same vein as Red Cliff and Warlords. Of course, the three of these films differ greatly. SGY takes place in Northeast China, early Song dynasty where the righteous General Yang is trapped behind enemy lines and his seven sons rush to the battlefield to rescue him. Directed by Ronny Yu, who directed some of my favorite Chinese language movies such as Fearless and The Bride With White Hair. As usual for Ronny Yu, SGY is real sharp looking with exceptional camera-work. Yu did well with this period epic with top notch cinematography, great action, nice sets/costumes, good storytelling and solid performances from the cast. As this is a war movie, I felt the film needed more blood. Even so, that is a minor complaint as SGY is a very solid and well made movie.