"Once Upon a Time: Top Gun" is actually the weakest among the trilogy in terms of plot.
But this chapter can be said to be crucial, because the first "Top Gun" can be said to have truly laid the foundation for this series of movies.
It also opens the door for subsequent sequels.
In fact, "Once Upon a Time" has surprised many viewers present.
Because compared to the earlier "Once Upon a Time", the feeling of "Once Upon a Time" is more in line with the kind of martial arts in their impressions, but the difference is that "Once Upon a Time" integrates the historical background.
In an obviously artistic way, "Once Upon a Time" seems more natural.
It gives people the feeling that it is a story that happened in history.
Soon "Once Upon a Time in the Clouds" became a hit. There is no way around it. There are really few martial arts movies these days, but in fact, there is really no shortage of martial arts fans.
It can also be said that the film received rave reviews from critics.
"At first I thought that "Once Upon a Time" would be a martial arts style like "One Sword of the City", but the result was far beyond expectations. The historical background and character settings are very interesting. The great master Huang Feihong is in the movie.
, it doesn’t give people the impression of being serious at all, and the Thirteenth Aunt is so fashionable and beautiful, Huang Feihong is both superb in martial arts, strong-willed and has a naughty side as a teenager, and there are also supporting roles such as Yacasu, Pork Rong, and even the villain Yan Zhendong.
, are very three-dimensional, and can be said to represent a type of people of that era. This movie has shadows of martial arts in the past, but it is more of a surprise."
"It has to be said that Director Gou chose an era that is very suitable for film creation. It is an era where the old and the new are changing, and the collision of Eastern and Western cultures is the most intense. The state of people in that era is shown one by one through different characters in the film."
"It's particularly interesting. Huang Feihong is undoubtedly a great master. He has a stubborn and conservative side, but also an open side. The most impressive thing is that Master Huang was wrongly imprisoned and sat in meditation in the prison, as stable as Mount Tai. The jailer respected his noble character and prestigious reputation.
Hehe, wanted to let him escape. Unexpectedly, Master Huang flatly refused, saying that the country has national laws, and he was impassioned. However, as soon as he heard that his girlfriend had been robbed, he stood up and ran away. Although this made the serious side of the great master instantly shattered, but instead
It gives people a more flesh-and-blood feeling!”
"The opening show, the ambition of the director of this movie is really great, there are so many clues, so many images, Li Yi used Huang Feihong to experience various things. There are also many "spectators", self-criticism, so many contradictions, so heavy.
Master Huang endured it for an hour and a half, and the action design was really amazing, fast and high. Asu Shirong, two civil and military ugly men, were born to play tricks, and Liang Kuan had to go through the needle again, pulling the two masters of the north and south legs, Chinese, American and British
There are six or seven forces in the Guangfo Theater, connecting the Jinshan Mountains and oceans in Annan outside the customs. No wonder it can't be solved in two hours. What is the West? Demon or saint? What is China? Broad or declining? Master Yan is actually the most unforgettable
.”
"Looking forward to the sequel, I always felt that the first part wanted to express too many things, so it seemed a bit messy, but with such a background and such characters, it is worth looking forward to! I heard that Director Gou is filming a trilogy this time.
I hope the plot can be more smooth in the follow-up!"
The film critics' interpretation of this film is much richer than these short reviews.
Zhou Qingquan liked "Once Upon a Time" so much that he even watched it three times during the screening period before coming back to write a review.
"I have watched the movie "Once Upon a Time" three times. Many people may think that this movie is not so perfect, and this is also true. But what I want to say is that because this is the beginning of this series, Li Yi
The director wanted to convey too many things and show too many things through the first film, which resulted in a relatively weak plot.
But this doesn't stop me from loving this film.
Let’s start with character design!
First of all, we'll leave "Once Upon a Time" later. In my personal opinion, this movie is definitely brilliant and thoughtful enough in terms of character setting.
The heroine, Aunt Thirteen, what kind of woman is she?
First of all, she is a white and rich woman. Being able to study abroad in that era is enough to show that her family background is very good. Her background of returning from studying abroad also makes her have both the generosity and enlightenment of modern Western women and the characteristics of traditional Chinese women.
Conservative and elegant, it can be said that from this aspect, she is a perfect lover and a dream lover.
Different from our time, in that era, studying abroad was absolutely rare.
The reason why this role is indispensable and plays a vital role in the movie is because she is the key figure in Huang Feihong's ideological change.
People who have watched the movie can see that she is the most colorful character in the whole movie except Huang Feihong, and she is an indispensable character.
She appeared with a Western camera in hand, wearing light-colored European clothes, with a tall figure, fair skin, and an almost flawless face. From the very beginning, she not only showed the character's identity and background concisely and clearly, but also left a deep impression on people.
The impression almost makes people feel that if there really was a Thirteenth Aunt in history, she would be her.
Aunt Thirteen received a relatively good Western education in Eagle Country, and has a strong ability to accept Western modernization and the new things it has produced. From the moment she returned to China and entered Huang Feihong's life, she was destined to have a negative impact on him.
Lasting influence.
Although the first film is not long, the impact that Aunt Thirteen brought to Huang Feihong is felt all the time.
She is enthusiastic and generous, and she is different from the conservative and introverted Chinese women. On the contrary, she has the courage to express her feelings for Huang Feihong, and she even takes the initiative to point out that they are not related by blood.
For such a beautiful and generous woman, a childhood sweetheart, and a beautiful woman, not even our Master Huang can resist her.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! On the surface: Aunt Thirteen, who has just returned to China, as an elder, directly said such ambiguous words to the younger generation. On the one hand, she can see the effect of modern Western civilization on her, and on the other hand, she can see the effect of modern Western civilization on her.
On the one hand, it also shows her reluctance to abandon the tradition represented by Huang Feihong. From a deeper perspective: it seems that we can express an attitude. Although Aunt Thirteen received Western education, she still maintains the Chinese tradition.
The good side of culture is that she does not completely deny or disdain traditions. After staying in a foreign country for so many years, she still loves Chinese men. In other words, there are things and flavors in Chinese men that attract her. This
She didn't see it in Western men, so she came back. And after she came back, she often wore traditional Chinese women's clothes, without forgetting or rejecting traditional culture.
Let’s look at Yan Zhendong again.
Liang Kuan, who was living in embarrassment at the beginning, failed to become a disciple of Huang Feihong due to various coincidences and misunderstandings. He was also made things difficult for him while working, and was also hunted down by the Shahe Gang. Finally, when he saw Yan Zhendong, a master from Shandong who had the same disease as him, he became his disciple.
.
Yan Zhendong is not a great traitor, but he is the most tragic character in the movie, a character who had a great impact on Huang Feihong's thoughts. His decline and ups and downs were the reflections of that era.
Human tragedy condensed.
He came all the way south from Shandong to Foshan, wanting to open a gym to recruit disciples and start his own martial arts career, but he was penniless, precarious, and ostracized by the locals. In order to become famous, he inexplicably went to challenge Huang Feihong and challenged him.
There was unprovoked hatred.
His unique skill is the golden bell and iron cloth shirt, which is a conservative martial art that symbolizes extremely stubborn traditional conservatism. However, he was killed by foreign guns in the end. The traditional conservatism and stubbornness were concentrated in him, and even more
It concentrated on the inability of tradition to fight back against modernity, so his life was tragic, and his death was inevitable, and he was not killed by Huang Feihong, but by a foreign gun that symbolized advanced civilization. His
Death is the product of ancient Eastern civilization meeting modern Western civilization. Everything is accidental, but it is also inevitable. It depends on how you view and understand this accident, and how you acknowledge and face this necessity. As he said before his death
What Huang Feihong said: "No matter how good our kung fu is, we can't compete with foreign guns and cannons."
In fact, Yan Zhendong is one of the epitome of thousands of different tragic characters. He came to Foshan full of passion and made a name for himself, but was eventually reduced to a street performer and suffered the cold shoulder and humiliation.
Later, people from the Shahe Gang took a fancy to Yan Zhendong's reputation over Huang Feihong and asked him to be their master. With the title and silver coins, in order to make the gangsters of the Shahe Gang happy, he was now "Master Yan"
But he still performs acrobatic stunts for them.
He told A Kuan, who persuaded him to give up the money from unknown sources, that he would wait until he established himself in Foshan before he could uphold justice for the people. He might still have a trace of the conscience of a martial arts practitioner, but he had experienced the harshness of the world and received the lowest level of punishment.
Amid hardships and twists and turns, who can guarantee whether Yan Zhendong, who will become a prosperous person in the future, will continue to give up his bottom line again for his own benefit, just like A Kuan who gave up on following him in times of embarrassment.
He came to Foshan with great ambitions and martial arts, but he didn't even show his true role and ability, and eventually died an unexpected death. Perhaps the only one who truly treated him and could shed tears for him was A Kuan.
Of course, Yan Zhendong also has the most arrogant side.
Some details on the surface: the throwing knife hidden in the whip, the whip used to catch people during the competition.
The deeper details lie in the charlatanism displayed by this person in his speech: he bowed to the evil forces in order to open a martial arts gym, he lowered his head to pick up money, he pulled Liang Kuan and quietly said that we must be patient. This kind of character is actually very similar to most people.
The common people of China.
Let’s talk about Liang Kuan.
Liang Kuan initially became a disciple of Yan Zhendong, but because Yan Zhendong lost himself step by step in order to become famous, and even joined forces with the evil-doing Shahe Gang, Liang Kuan felt chilled and angry, and finally turned to Huang Feihong.
Rather than saying that Huang Feihong saved him, it is better to say that he made his own choice between Yan Zhendong and Huang Feihong. In a sense, he was also the link and medium between Yan Zhendong and Huang Feihong. He learned from Yan Zhendong
He saw the ugliness of traditional conservatism, which is unscrupulous in order to achieve the goal, and also saw the chivalrous and courageous side of traditional culture and the openness and tolerance of new things in Huang Feihong.
The choice is not a simple and pure change of sect, but also a microcosm of the change of ideas of the traditional and confused ordinary people represented by him.
And Huang Feihong also saw in Liang Kuan a glimmer of hope to save people who had lost their way to tradition, and through Liang Kuan's hook, he also saw the fate of the conservatism in his heart, the death of Yan Zhendong
It was proof that it had a great impact on his deeper ideological transformation.
Then pork bong.
This character is very interesting. Pork Rong can be said to represent those who love to fight against injustice!
Zhu Zhurong is the most impulsive and irritable among Huang Feihong's disciples, but he is also the most righteous and loves to fight against injustice. However, many problems are found in him, at least in two aspects: on the one hand, he shows that he is the representative of
Ordinary people who love to help others do not restrain their impulses. Whenever there is a problem, they immediately use weapons and fists to solve it. In the end, it is themselves who get hurt.
On the other hand, he shows the ignorance of ordinary people who are ignorant but do not know it yet laugh at the ignorance of others.
Here is a clip: Huang Feihong asked Yaca Su to get the gold medicine. Zhu Zhurong laughed at Yacasu because he couldn't speak Chinese well. He also snatched several medicine bottles from Yacasu and handed them to Huang Feihong himself, and then
Huang Feihong told his brothers to stop fighting all day long. Zhu Zhurong said: "Master, I'm teaching him how to be a Chinese." Huang Feihong said, then give me the Jinchuang Medicine. Zhu Zhurong held his hands.
I picked up a few medicine bottles and said: "Jinchuang Medicine, three words." But when I saw that several medicine bottles had three words written on them, I smiled embarrassedly and said, "Master, I have never studied."
Huang Feihong said: "Oh? Then you still laugh at me for not being Chinese?" Then Yacasu handed Huang Feihong the golden medicine. It was really ironic, a great irony.
The reason why Director Gou is very ambitious can actually be seen from the very first scene.
I still remember the many scenes in the movie of all kinds of people on the road. Western missionaries, monks, Manchu policemen, foreign troops, hawkers, foreign businessmen, etc. crowded together and walked together. The most typical one is at the beginning
, the Chinese musicians in the teahouse heard a group of missionaries passing by singing "Hallelujah" downstairs, and immediately said "here we go again", and then quickly played louder in an attempt to drown out the missionaries' voices.
, the missionaries did not show weakness and shouted louder. A vivid picture of the collision of Chinese and Western cultures, and the demeanor of others hit the mark. At the beginning, everyone was drinking tea and enjoying the music. Both ordinary people and monks stood
They watched blankly as the missionaries passed by. When the sound of the music got louder, everyone immediately covered their ears and couldn't bear to be disturbed. When the missionaries' voices got louder, everyone still stared blankly at them as they passed by.
There is another kind that can be said to be the numbness of most people of that era, which is also seen everywhere in the movie. The Shahe gang is chasing Liang Kuan, and Pork Rong leads the militia to help. The two forces are fighting in the streets and alleys.
The chaos was overwhelming. At this time, I only heard someone say, "The Prime Minister of the Six Kingdoms (meaning the chaos is unmanageable) is here. Come and see." A group of people climbed up the bamboo frame to watch. A vendor doing business shouted: "Selling sweets."
Come on, eat sweet cakes and watch the fight." Then another group of people crowded over, bought sweet cakes and ate them while enjoying the fight with relish. Indifference and numbness, no matter how appropriate these words were, could not offset the pain in their hearts.
When Huang Feihong arrested the Shahe Gang, he thought that everyone could help testify. Unfortunately, in the end, everything had nothing to do with him. Even the victim's teahouse owner chose to remain silent.
This made Huang Feihong feel confused for the first time! This scene was not just in that era, but in fact, it is not the same today."