Pretty Good

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.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

This film, in my view, is one of the new classics, new, because it's not that old since 1986. What surprised me is its IMDb rating, just 5.3, but ''Bahubali'', Indian naturally, there is 8.8, just I am amaze. One of my "little big actors" plays in the movie - Brian Brown, and I think it's "the role of his life," not that there are not others, but I think here is the main role and he performs it perfectly. The other big is Joan Chen, who plays his Chinese wife, and for her performance I also have no words. I'm sorry, it is not possible for someone who likes the "Bahubali" to like this movie as well. Time will show which one is more valuable.

An 18th century merchant is involved in the establishment of Hong Kong as a trading outpost.In between the miniseries adaptations of Shogun and Noble House, James Clavell saw a big screen adaptation of his novel Taipan. While it is not a complete disaster, it has some grievous faults. These include: 1. Trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot - there is a reason why the other books are miniseries. There is far too much story for a single feature film.2. No names. The film needed a big box office draw to pull people into cinemas. It got Bryan Brown.3. Some bad casting. The Brocks are pretty badly cast, but Bryan Brown has to be the worst. If they were going to cast someone who wasn't a box office draw, why didn't they go with a Scotsman to play a Scotsman, rather than an Australian? There are some real rubbish Scots accents here.4. There are also some fairly dodgy effects, especially travelling mattes. Having said that, they are fairly standard for the time.

first, inject countless clichés and stereotypes, populate the cast with some well-knowns, and add some 'tit'illation. and wait for the box office receipts to pour in!!! I am very very disappointed in this film which I purchased on VHS. its one of those I *know* I wont be watching a 2nd time. it meanders, gap toothed, and those stereotypes just weigh it down till it sinks in Hong Kong harbor. and of course, top it all off with a quickie pan of modern day Hong Kong. some good acting but not enough to overcome the numerous shortcomings.I didn't read the book but Im sure it far outclasses this quickie 2 + hour 'featurette'. is there a Hollywood ombudsman you can call up to you know, get your money back or something?Im glad IMDb exists so that duds like this can be outed and red-flagged.

I found this movie to follow the novel pretty closely, considering of course that the novel is about 900 pages and the movie is only two hours! While not of the same outstanding caliber of adaptation as the Shogun miniseries, it nevertheless manages to generate some excitement and give a flavor for the happenings of that period, during which the colony of Hong Kong was founded.Joan Chen was especially good as Mai-Mai, and all the other parts were at least adequately cast. The locations, sets and production values were of uniformly good quality. The only thing lacking was enough time to tell a story this long and complex--in such a short production one only has time to hit the high points of the plot. But it was enjoyable nevertheless.