User reviews

When I bought this movie from Amazon, I believed it to be a disaster movie in the likes of Hollywood movies such as "Volcano", "2012" and such. And the cover and text on the back of the cover didn't really let on to what this movie was, it all just showed something of a typical disaster movie.

So I wasn't prepared for what was ahead. Also because I hadn't done any research of reviews prior to buying (and watching) the movie. So I was in for one big surprise. There are those rare moments when you stumble upon something truly unique by sheer luck, and this was one such moment for me.

"Aftershock" blew me away. This movie is so much more than your average disaster movie. Sure there is a breathtakingly amazing disaster scene early on in the movie. And you just sit there with your hands clenched and biting your lip, because that whole part is so intense and so amazingly shot. It is like you are there right in the midst of the chaos. I will go as far as saying that the earthquake scene in this movie far outshines any of that I have seen in Hollywood disaster movies.

But "Aftershock" is not just a disaster movie, it is also a movie that has a very touching story to tell, a very sad and unfortunate story as well. But it tell its story in a very good way, without being too much. You really get immersed in the story, and it sweeps you off your feet and takes you along on an emotional roller-coaster ride. You might actually want to have some tissue at hand, because there are some very, very emotional scenes in this movie. It is also a story of emotions; a story of how our lives and fates can change in the blink of an eye.

The characters in "Aftershock" are very believable and they are so well portrayed on the screen by the actors and actresses. Each and every of the main characters are given so much room to grown and develop that you really get to feel with them, grow with them, feel their sadness, loss and happiness. And for this, the director was right on the money. This story was so well-told and well-shot that it is hard not to get caught up in the moment.

The 130 minutes that the movie is in length doesn't feel that long, because you get so caught up in the movie. I didn't leave the screen for a single moment. I just sat there mesmerized, wanting to see what happened next, what would happen to Fang Deng, Fang Da and everyone else.

I am a big fan of Asian cinema, though I had never heard about this movie prior to finding it by sheer luck on Amazon. Now that I have seen it, "Aftershock" will stay with me for a long, long time. It was one of the most emotional and honest stories I have had the pleasure of witnessing in a long, long time.

Even if you are not a fan of Asian cinema or have a phobia of watching movies in a foreign language, you should overcome that and do yourself the pleasure of sitting down to watch this movie, because it is really worth it. This movie is truly an amazing one, and it the story is one that deserves to be told.

I watched a subbed version of this movie and the first few minutes remind me of Hollywood sensational movie and I was about to end the viewing. I'm very glad that I did not do it because otherwise I have missed one of the best movies I have watched so far. The emotion just goes up in you until it hit a peaks then it starts going down calmly to have a good ending. Do not let the English title of the movie misleads you, the movie is much much more than about the earthquake or natural disaster itself, it's about the human's nature, how they dealt with difficult situations. The earthquake is just pretext and it can be anything tragic like war, exodus, deportation etc...Remember "Sophie's choice" ?

In some ways, Aftershock as a big budgeted epic sort of plays out like Feng Xiaogang's Assembly, with the money shots concentrated in the first few minutes, followed by a masterful treatment of human drama against an historical backdrop of events in China. As a fan of Feng's films thus far, he continues to show that he's equally adept in handling commercial, studio tentpole films like this one, and smaller, more intimate films like If You Are The One, dealing with equal ability a cast of plenty, or just a handful.

Aftershock cuts to the chase and puts the audience smack into 1976 Tangshan, China, just about when the big quake struck. We're introduced to a family of four, where soon enough Mother Nature's unforeseen wrath swallows up the entire city, and shattering countless of lives and families in the process. What follows will set the stage for the entire two more hours to come, where Yuan Ni (Xu Fan) has to make that Sophie's Choice of which twin for the rescuers to save - son Da Feng, or daughter Fang Deng - since a beam separates the two. Tradition, culture and custom will unfortunately make this a no-brainer when push comes to shove, coupled with the fact that the death of her husband in rescuing her, and her role as the dutiful wife to ensure the preservation of the family line, but worst, this decision is made within earshot of Fang Deng who's fighting for her life in the rubble.

Heaven's compassion means Fang Deng survives the ordeal nonetheless, but gets picked up by a PLA soldier and sent to a survivor's camp, where she gets adopted into a foster family (Chen Jin and Chen Daoming in excellent form here as foster mom and dad respectively). The narrative then tangents into two halves, one following the grown up Da Feng (Li Chen), and the other Fang Deng (Zhang Jingchu), in their trials and tribulations of growing up in China in the last 30 years, interspersed with shots of a growingly vibrant Tangshan (and other cities of China) where we see the economic development of the country. However, Nature still is that unfortunate leveller, and for all the technological advancement, human emotions and a mother's love still continue to form the basis of a heart-wrench when dealt with an unfair card in life.

Based upon a novel, What works here are the many small subplots that get introduced, such as teenage romance, filial piety, and essentially the all important theme of family, that merges well with the inclusion of landmark events such as Chairman Mao's death, and another more recent quake that brings characters together. What more, all the cast members gave stellar performances (Save for the token Caucasian) that will tug at your heartstrings, and enable the melodramatic, emotional finale to be all the more powerful as we come to learn how bitterness and hatred accumulated over the years, can dissipate with the passage of time, and the opportunity presented to seek forgiveness.

Which somehow the editing seemed to give way under the weight of emotions, and introduced some abrupt cuts away from scenes you'd think will linger for a more emotional closure. However, art direction from costuming to sets here are superb in capturing the look and feel depicting the different eras from the 70s to the 90s, and brought to mind other similarly crafted dramas like Heaven Eternal, Earth Everlasting and Electric Shadow, both films that you should give a watch as well should you dig powerful dramas like Aftershock.

I can't attest to how great this film would have been on a larger than life IMAX screen simply because Singapore, for all our record movie attendance, we still find it not viable to have one (we had one before), but one thing's for sure, the special effects employed here is on par with what Hollywood can dish out. While Hollywood can serve exaggeration for that wow factor (think 2012 where everything falls apart), Feng employs digital effects prudently to ensure that the emotional aspect doesn't get neglected. For all the individuals affected by the Big Quake, one will actually feel for them when they get pulverized, and it's hard not to be saddened when you realize it's actually all very futile when the ground beneath you starts swallowing everything. As one character said in the film, there's no worry if it's a small quake, and if it's a big one there'll be no escape anyway. It's this exasperation and resignation from a survivor that succinctly explains not only the physical scars, but the emotional ones as well that lingers far longer with the survivors, coming close to becoming pangs of guilt.

So don't go in expecting a special effects extravaganza like what Hollywood will do. An earthquake doesn't last for that long, but the emotional journey of family members set apart by a catastrophic event goes on for much longer. Aftershock is that film set on the right path in choosing to focus on this aspect, and delivered a film rich in the human emotions of pain, distress and suffering. Highly recommended, and a natural inclusion to the shortlist of this year's best.

Aftershock is one of those movies where you really feel the experience and journey of all your characters for the length of its time and really connect with the characters. Even those who don't understand Chinese (myself included) will connect with the human story and its wonderful drama, not to mention some amazing visual effects at the beginning.

I'm not going to go into the plot of the film but it is essentially a very real human family drama that deals with the pain of continuing to live with guilt and having to restore one's life after a tragedy. It may sound familiar but the beauty of Aftershock is that its emotional core is something it never shies away from. You see and feel the journey of all three central characters and how a natural disaster can shape our destinies and change our perspectives on ourselves and those around us.

While you can sort of see the plot unfolding before it gets there in the end, it is essentially what you want. I really cared about these characters so anything less than what you would expect would have been even more harrowing. But the resolution which seems to solve everything yet still leaves an emptiness is remarkable.

This is a film not to be missed. I was almost in tears by the end of the film - it has been one of the most captivating films I have seen in a long time and is a remarkable piece of cinema. Not to be missed.

An epic disaster picture, disguised with a special human core...

Aftershocks works because it believed in the simple message about human lives – value. In the midst of today's world, people always conjure on the negatives, rather than the positives in our lives. For a moment of two, we forget about the person next to you, and focuses on the troubles that surrounds us. Ultimately, Aftershock is a movie about human survival and it works not because of the impact of the earthquake, but how human beings deal with the aftermath of an extraordinary earthquake. Director Feng Xiaogang delivers an epic that is not about special effects, but one that touches the very essence of a human heart by tackling important themes like survival, how one deal with death, love, life and ultimate sacrifice. Aftershocks is a highly successful film, that manages to be commercially saleable and also extremely humane. In doing justice to the victims, it is certainly aren't easy, but somehow, Feng manages to engage, express and emotes.

Zhang Jingchu is a wonderful actress. Her main strength is the ability to make a character performance so believable yet human, is almost extraordinary. In saying that she is the central to the success of this film, will be an overstatement, but without her, Feng would not be so successful. Look no further than the scenes when she faces her mum again, after 32 years for a moment of heart to heart cinematic performance. The highlight for me is most certainly the person who played Jet Li's Hero, in the class of Chen Daoming. While he was subtlety cunning in Hero as the first emperor of China, Chen is all class and humane as the caring fostering father of Zhang. His portray of the fatherly role is fitting and steals the show with his glaring eyes. His moments of anger are a joy to watch, along with his interaction with his wife and daughter.

All in all, Aftershock is the blockbuster Chinese epic of the year and to wipe internal tears from my heart, Feng have created something very special. It is not a easy job to satisfy both Chinese censors and still manages to create something worthy of our 5 senses. Feng knows the impending audience and smartly delivers what is essential a human drama about the aftermath of a devastating event. In the journey of their survival and seeing how every one of these characters due with life in their own way, allows us to re-think, re-evaluate, refresh and re-value the very essence of our own lives. It isn't so bad and it's good to be alive and loved. Most certainly the Chinese blockbuster, not to be missed...(Neo 2010)

I rate it 10/10

• www.thehkneo.com

excerpt, more at my location - As China's highest-grossing film, and their entry for the Oscars Best Foreign Language Film 2011, Aftershock has a lot to live up to. It spans the thirty-two years between the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake and the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, both traumatic events within living memory. While dealing with this deeply emotive material, director Xiaogang Feng chose to concentrate on the effect of these disasters on an average Chinese family.

As a film, Aftershock has not pleased everybody, despite it being a box office hit. When dealing with recent and sensitive subject matter, it is hard to get it right. In many ways, it can be applauded as an emotive family drama, but it is possible that a greater historical and political perspective would have given it depth and made it more satisfying to those still dealing with the fallout from these events.

As i sit here typing up this review, my eyes are sore from the tears shed from watching this stunning film. This is no ordinary documentary like film. The characters are portrayed in a way that establishes a deep connection with the audience, the actors/actresses in this this film were absolutely flawless. The emotions, gestures and dialogue were all perfect.

Apart from complimenting the set, the movie had great computer generated scenes of the devastating effects of the earthquake. This really puts the audiences in a perspective like never before , as u see the people being smashed by boulders and collapsing buildings with people inside.

This movie focuses on the main idea of FAMILY. It shows the bonding of natural disaster victims and the the journey of recovering from the emotional wounds.

This movie was a master piece. I highly recommend it.

I expected a disaster film of 'epic proportions', as the media stated, but this was a family drama instead. Despite this, I enjoyed the film and thought it was absolutely brilliant. Where do I actually start with how good it was? I understand now, the film is not about the earthquake, but about the 'aftershock' of the earthquake - used figuratively. This is about a family torn apart by one of nature's most devastating disasters. (In fact, the Tangshan earthquake of 1976 was the third most devastating earthquake in history).

The film beautifully captures how one's ordinary existence can turn to chaos within a matter of seconds. The acting was superb and the visual effects when the earthquake hit was some of the most impressive I've seen. It showed how brutal and deadly an earthquake really can be. From there the film was emotional and tugged at the heart strings. It was a beautiful depiction of loss, love and keeping memories alive, and a mother's grief that lasted more than three decades.

If you're into disaster films, you might not appreciate the film, but if you're into drama movies, this is perfect.

As an old white guy I have this knee jerk reaction to resist all things not American. Darn. That said, and considering all the dribble that comes out of Hollywood these days, juxtaposed against this truly wonderful film from China, all I can say is... if this is the kind of stuff they are capable of, "Hollywood, look out". One of the things that makes this movie so compelling is that it is not a "Chinese" story, its a "human" story. While the production and graphics are stellar, its the STORY that steals the show. How many times have we all sat through an hour and a half of incredible (and often gratuitous) graphics with a mediocre story sandwiched in between stuff being blown up. Here the graphics are truly great, but take second place to whats important... the story.

Acting is good, production values are high and the kids are cute. The movie is well made and there is some genuine drama too despite the subtle Chinese (communist government) propaganda. The movie shows - and I suspect it was the real intention of the film makers - how China has grown over the years, how small villages are now transformed into modern towns and cities, how big department stores are built in previously impoverished neighborhoods, how a villager can start a successful business in modern China, how great the Chinese army is etc. I am not familiar with the Chinese culture but it seems the husband's family/mother has more say in the affairs of a child than the child's own mother and makes you wonder if all Chinese women of the past generation are unreasonably stubborn. Overall, it is just not a bad movie that doesn't always hold your attention.

Okay, so I bought this thinking it was a disaster film – maybe like a modern-day EARTHQUAKE with a distinctly Asian slant. The box, showing a cover image of a little girl surrounded by rubble with the tag-line 'A Turbo-Charged Blockbuster Epic…Packs An Almighty Punch!', would lead you to believe that's exactly what this movie's about. Except it isn't. The earthquake happens briefly at the beginning of the film, and the subsequent devastation is of the emotional variety, taking place in a story that spans thirty years.

Yes, this is melodrama, and not a disaster film at all (the earthquake scene, while good, is short and over too quickly). I could handle that if the subsequent family drama was interesting or engaging, but it left me utterly cold and untouched throughout. It's extremely overlong, featuring characters I either disliked or openly hated, and I didn't care anything about their upset or bereavement. I found the acting to be shrill and unrealistic. The film just goes on and on until a too-obvious outcome that I could have predicted a couple of hours previously with little story to sustain or indeed justify that bloated running time.

After reading the other very eloquent and well thought of reviews posted so far I believe there is little I can ad to this string. That is, unless I can express my view as a true outsider of Chinese cinema and relatively inexperienced at your beautiful culture.

It's nearly impossible to find words to describe quickly I was sucked into the plot and became a member of the family of four portrayed in this masterpiece. I was in awe of the human tragedy this earthquake was and the amazing technology used to recreate it. However, nothing could have possibly prepared me for the tragic, sad, warm and beautiful human drama that would follow.

I was hoping to say I enjoyed this as much as or even more than any other movie. However, I have never experienced a movie that I can even begin to compare this to. This is a masterpiece and treasure.

This has to be one of the best films I have ever seen! From the minute you are drawn in by the amazing cinematography and the story set before you, you are hooked.

This film flows like the Three gorges dam, powerfully! Have a box of tissues handy as you'll need them. The film moves along at a nice steady pace punctuated with moments of such drama that if your of a certain disposition you will weep openly.

At 2 hours 15 minuets I was so glad it ended. Not because I hadn't enjoyed it but because I was an emotional wreck.

I could wax lyrical for paragraph upon paragraph about this film but the most poignant thing I could say is... Just watch it.

10/10 easily.

Aftershock is a film that goes about exploring its characters, after a terrific happening of both grief and consequence occurred in their lives, in a straight up and in the most diligent of manners. There are few tricks, no long nor drawn out nor overly expansive arcs; nor are there masses of supporting acts coming and going and all having to go through rigmarole to make the same point - just sharp, up-front and refreshingly honest portrayals of post traumatic stress disorders and that of grievances that tie together a mere handful of character - some people call it inadvertent melodrama, I call it the refreshing antithesis to meandering, pandering drudge such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Magnolia.

The film's sense of unavoidable gloom, indeed impending disaster, is present in the opening sequence; a swarm of dragon flies seemingly uncharacteristically flocking away from a freight train yard and towards a level crossing pausing for one of those trains chugging by. Those exposed to the open air, that is to say those not within the confines of an automobile or the cab of a lorry, look on pensively; caught in a situation that could escalate into something much more unpleasant by the barriers in-front of them that prevent them escape. This is 1976, and the Chinese city of Tangshan; a searing summer sees a family of four consisting of mother Yuan Ni (Xu), with her husband, looking over their young children barely ten or so in daughter Fang Deng (Zhang) and son Fang Da (Li). The family operate happily together, the purchase of an item as simple or indeed as humbling as an electric fan for these hot summer evenings bringing about much joy; Fang's victimisation at the hands of some equally young bullies whom he knows from here and there in stark comparison to his sister's empowered ability to stand up to them and effectively foil them so as to allow both their escape.

Such a happening is symptomatic with young Fang Deng, a fighter and a brave person whose attitude sees them thrust down onto a separate path as to what life would almost have certainly had in store for her had certain events not interfered. Then there is the item of that natural disaster; a harrowing, alarming and really rather affecting sequence of events treading a fine line between what makes for high-end drama and just full on horror; a sequence of events which in no way attempts to water down the scenario of death and destruction on a mass scale nor indeed eroticise content consisting of masses of buildings being torn down and people caught up in the midst of it. If criticism arose however many number of years ago citing a human-beings' inability to outrun explosions and what-not, Aftershock is very much the antithesis to any Hollywoodised action-come-disaster film feeding off of that suspended belief that humans can, in fact, out run natural disasters or fireballs born out of whatever; hanging back to focus on what we can only speculate truly happens to those caught up and consequently perished amidst the chaos. One gripe which usually arises during said above filmic procedures comes in the form of characters often knowing precisely where to run, or where to go in regards to being able to escape such a scenario; Aftershock's emphasis on hapless Chinese citizens just blindly turning left and right in desperate attempts to escape the carnage is what particularly resonates.

In effect, the titular aftershocks are the events and revelations born out of this infamous, true-to-life Earthquake which went on to dramatically shape lives despite being an initial event grossly indebted to ending many others. These are aftershocks beginning in the aforementioned 1976 before broadening out across the 1980s and 90s, each tiny event and happening very much character and action imbued in that the fallout from the earthquake has its own specific tremor, or ripple, on the lives of Yuan and her son as they live on with the presumption Fang Deng died that day. Her adoption, following a series of unfortunate incidences, by a married pair of rather loving Chinese soldiers from such an era of Communism; oppression and whatnot, sees her future foster parents watch on from within a makeshift orphanage through a small rectangular slat at Fang sitting on a crude stool, eerily echoing that of hundreds of now parent-less kids watching on in similar fashion at a film playing on a large screen in this, a makeshift cinema.

To a fair old degree, Xiaogang Feng's film owes a great debt to that of Oliver Stone's 2006 piece World Trade Centre; a film utilising a tragedy, in doing so constructing the occurrence of which poignantly and dramatically in equal measure, before going on to zero in on a handful of people whose lives are shaped in the aftermath of such an event. The films' time-frames are incomparably variable, one spread out over a handful of decades with the other a mere few days at the most; but the films are indelibly linked by a burning sense of everlasting tragedy born out of the break up of, or potential of, a family unit. Where both great terror and drama was wedged out of Stone's situating of his core characters underneath that of skyscraper rubble, Feng's film effectively goes on to cover the lives of those under an emotional array of rubble; a more metaphorical sense of being trapped under that of refuse and waste with what terrific happenings in the past having its effect down the ages. The results are resounding, an engrossing character drama posing, or perhaps sold, as a disaster movie whose idea of great drama is not 'the event' itself but but how a broken family strive to survive their newfound new order, in what is an amply played character drama.

"god! you BASTARD!" wow... that scene took my breath away. i actually had to snap out of the movie for a second and make myself realize that i'm watching a movie, and its not real! (atleast not for me. but to imagine people actually go through such emotions in times like this makes you feel nauseous.) what an amazing movie! i only saw the 1st hour of it for time restraints... but i cannot wait to finish it. nothing i've seen in recent years compares to this movie. i don't know a word of Chinese, but the acting is just superb. i was reluctant to watch a movie in a language i don't understand, especially reading reviews about it being a "heart-felt" and "touching" movie; i'm so glad i didn't skip this one. brilliant!brilliant! brilliant!

This movie covers the aftermath of the 1976 Tangshan earthquake and follows two families coming to grips with the disaster. I wouldn't class this movie as a disaster movie more of a family drama stretching over a few decades.

It is interesting to watch if you want to see China coming out of the cultural revolution and into its capitalist era in the 90s/00s. There is a bit of propaganda making the PLA look good, but it can easily overlooked if you know its there.

After a good start the movie gets a bit slow in the middle and fails to show key moments in the end.

Aftershock is a highly emotional drama about the Tangshan earthquake. It tells the story of a simple but happy family consisting of a father, a mother and two twins, a daughter and a son. When the earthquake hits, the father dies when he tries to rescue his children. The young kids are trapped under a large slab of concrete. Lifting the slab to save one child would mean to probably kill the other one as well. The surviving mother who just witnessed her husband die must make a quick choice whether she wants to try to save her daughter or her son. She feels unable to take such a decision but doesn't have any choice and ultimately chooses to save her son.

The son is saved but loses his arm. Ridden by guilt and unable to turn the page, his mother lives as a recluse and refuses to get married again. She is afraid to let her son go away from home when he is older because she knows she will be all alone at that moment. He becomes a rickshaw driver and eventually the boss of a successful travel agency. He tries to leave his difficult past behind. He gets married and has a son but his mother doesn't want to live with them or move to another place which leads to conflicts, debates and discussions between the mother, her son and her daughter-in-law as old emotional wounds are opened again.

On the other side, the daughter has miraculously survived the earthquake as she wakes up next to her father's dead body. Traumatized by the events, she first lives in a military camp before she gets adopted by a couple that doesn't have any children of its own. In the beginning, she refuses to speak and accept her new family. While her foster father is very gentle and patient with her, her foster mother is quite emotional and severe because she always wanted to have a daughter and is afraid of losing her. As she grows up, the girl studies medicine but gets pregnant in the last year of her studies. When her boyfriend tries to convince her to abort the child, she is unable to do this because of her childhood memories. She is shocked, leaves her boyfriend, doesn't finish her studies and moves to another town where she earns some money as a private English teacher. She tries to forget about her difficult past but when she meets a Canadian lawyer and decides to move to Vancouver, she has to go see her foster father again who is bitterly disappointed that she left town and didn't even bother to call or contact him.

The twins meet again by chance thirty-two years after the Tangshan earthquake when both volunteer to rescue the victims of the Sichuan earthquake since they know how terrible such an earthquake can be. The young woman accepts to finally meet the mother that decided to let her die twenty-two years earlier. A broken family reunites and has to deal with sorrow, loss and despair but ends up finding forgiveness, hope and optimism.

Aftershock convinces on many levels. The acting performances are very authentic. The movie touches many philosophical topics and exposes numerous ambiguous, difficult and life-changing decisions and situations. The story has epic proportions and remains yet profoundly human. The movie shows all characters with their flaws and strengths which makes the viewers feel empathy for them.

On the other side, the film's extremely emotional vibe gets a little bit overtly melodramatic at times. The movie is also at least half an hour too long and it's quite tough to sit through a series of tear-jerking events for far over two hours. The movie loses some momentum towards the middle when the prodigal daughter mourns the death of her foster mother or when the handicapped son argues with his wife. On the other side, the moment when the two twins talk to each other for the first time in thirty-two years isn't shown. This would have been one of the climaxes of the movie and I can't understand why the director didn't emphasize on it.

In the end, Aftershock is a very philosophical drama. It convinces with authentic characters and great actors and an overall gripping story that convinces both emotionally and intellectually. On the other side, it has an overlong middle section and is quite hard to digest at times. Fans of Asian cinema and profound dramas should watch this movie but it isn't as essential as some critics claim the film to be.

After an devastating earthquake reduces a prosperous town to rubble, a young sister and brother are torn apart - and it takes another disaster to resolve the situation.

This is melodrama, no question, and it's appropriate that the initial earthquake would cause so much grief and terror. The quake seems to take over two minutes, causing such complete destruction that not a single structure remains standing - but that's part of what makes TANGSHAN DADIZHEN such an emotionally taxing film. The digital effects are competent if overdone, and but the drama itself attempts to transcend many of the typical pitfalls of the genre, and mostly succeeds with its grand scale and intimate stories. It takes a while for the plot to coalesce, with grave seriousness (and not a hint of humor) - and I expected a wider range of emotions.