Lavish sets and costumes plus eye-popping CGI animation showed so much promise of an A-plus movie, but the script was just awful! Even the heavy star power of the two main leads couldn't save this disastrous attempt at bringing the eternal love story to life, let alone draw in the audience and make us care. The dialogue was stilted, scenes jumped from one to another with flashbacks that didn't seem to connect, the clumsy direction was horrible making romantic scenes seemed cartoonish, lines delivered were either too wooden or too exaggerated...the list goes on. In spite of the gorgeous costumes, the designer couldn't decide whether to showcase the beauty of ancient styles or appeal to the modern mode. The female lead's hair and attire were modernized while everyone else around her was in historical costumes. This caused more confusion to an already chaotic narrative. The ending was the worst part of the movie. I cringed instead of feeling enamored. WTF was that?! Heavy sigh, I was filled with high anticipation and had waited for a very long time to be able to watch it for free...and I'm so glad it was FREE. I would've been more upset if I had to pay. Instead, if you can find episodes free on YouTube, watch the "Eternal Love" TV series starring Mark Chao and Yang Mi.
47 Reviews
The movie seems so broken. It didn't make a good movie.
XueHuaBingYu6 February 2018
The movie is like taking the best scenes of the TV shows having the same name. The TV show is much better. This one is so broken. It doesn't have the important parts which it really needs to have, such as why Bai Qian ended on the place where she met Ye Hua? It's like if you haven't watched the TV series version, you wouldn't even get the whole story. The four stars I gave is for video effects, not for story. Finally, I would highly recommend to watch the TV series version first before watching this one. If you watch this one without watching TV series version, you wouldn't understand the whole movie completely.
Chinese paid internet army please leave me reviews along
ElliesWonder7 August 2017
Terrible ending!!!
I had a high exception earlier because of the unbelievable superior image quality in the beginning of the movie.
Yet storyline is terribly incomplete. The storytelling rhythm is crazy fast, plot driven in a hurry, like a millions dogs chased behind. Too much montage screen switch, and confusing characters recall methods. People who never read the original novel would never figured out the story, or either feel tire to a cheesy romantic story.
Storytelling is the basic foundation, amazing CGI can't save a bad storyline! It is call quality awful movie. The incomplete ending is the worst, totally bum me out. Beside, this movie is edit based on a copycat's novel. The movie failed is predictable because of the plagiarized work, it is empty and bombastic from the copycat because her character and setting were built on the others base. Then how can the director recreated a better piece from an empty work?
Updated: Chinese paid internet army please leave me review along, we all knew those rave reviews from this movie were artificial. Who else will interested to read the alibaba company copyrights news, and rated it high. Maybe idols fans will commend their idols acting, I don't have so much words on that. As long as they keep claim and be logic, it is welcome to describe movie and actor in IMDb. But just behave, stop ShuaFen. I thought I was very gentle to rate 6/10 base on the CGI already.
I had a high exception earlier because of the unbelievable superior image quality in the beginning of the movie.
Yet storyline is terribly incomplete. The storytelling rhythm is crazy fast, plot driven in a hurry, like a millions dogs chased behind. Too much montage screen switch, and confusing characters recall methods. People who never read the original novel would never figured out the story, or either feel tire to a cheesy romantic story.
Storytelling is the basic foundation, amazing CGI can't save a bad storyline! It is call quality awful movie. The incomplete ending is the worst, totally bum me out. Beside, this movie is edit based on a copycat's novel. The movie failed is predictable because of the plagiarized work, it is empty and bombastic from the copycat because her character and setting were built on the others base. Then how can the director recreated a better piece from an empty work?
Updated: Chinese paid internet army please leave me review along, we all knew those rave reviews from this movie were artificial. Who else will interested to read the alibaba company copyrights news, and rated it high. Maybe idols fans will commend their idols acting, I don't have so much words on that. As long as they keep claim and be logic, it is welcome to describe movie and actor in IMDb. But just behave, stop ShuaFen. I thought I was very gentle to rate 6/10 base on the CGI already.
Lavish, but butchered
Hallelujah2898 April 2019
Chinese movie "Once Upon A Time" (2017) has blockbuster budget special effects and production values, with epic wide shots, huge armies, acrobatic fight scenes, a gorgeous color palette and exotic costumes, as well as insanely attractive actors (Yang Yang) and actresses. I am not familiar with the copyright scandal or the books "Once Upon A Time" is supposedly based on, but there was even a hint of a good story to draw from: humorous, tragic, heroic, villainous, a broken kind of humanity on which to savor. But with all this surefire appeal, even a comical animal sidekick akin to Disney films, "Once Upon A Time" quite definitely missed its mark.
The vast armies had no clout, the fight scenes held little meaning or surprise, the attractive actors became generic-in many ways, there was more splendor than distinguishment. The story had mystery, but it fell apart. One scene skipped to the next, one location became another giving the audience no sense of context or sequence. The story of so much grandiose complexity (300 year heartbreak, 70,000 year missed connections) revealed itself as flimsy. Everything which seemed meant to be epic had little significance, much like a special effect move in a video game with puny attack damage.
Major potential, but not a major let down because I didn't expect much when after forty minutes I still didn't feel any story progess or emotional investment. At this point I just finished the remaining hour and twenty minutes to be able to write this review. Too long, if you ask me and not really worth it.
For starters, the title actress Yiu Lifei who plays the forgetful immortal Queen is sorely uncharismatic although a few drinking scenes almost held hope. Her romantic interest played by Yang Yang is much more appealing and even might have acting chops, but his character had next to no dimension. The extent of their romance seemed only to be to cry on cue in a single, solitary tear across their porcelain cheeks. Boring, after a while.
Many of the side characters however do have a lot of charisma and some emotional depth. One feels there were some casting mistakes for the leads with favor for beauty instead of ability to emote. Luo Jin plays Yiu Lifei's drunken Phoenix friend and his part is small but his expressions sympathetic. Chun Li has a larger part as Yang Yang's consort and Yiu Lifei's jealous rival and she is appropriately evil and vulnerable. Others also play minor roles but do a well enough job. One feels as though with different casting and leadership this movie could've soared.
I'm giving "Once Upon A Time" a 6/10 because truly, the color palette and costumes are next level. The lighting at times was beautiful, and I liked most of the set designs. But for an almost two hour run time, beautiful colors can't sustain a momentous cliche of a film without even basic storytelling skills to back it up. Whoever this director is, they must have missed a few film classes because too often exposition shots are sorely missing and vital exposition in terms of the rules of the world is forgotten until it is much too late. Some backpedaling helped things but by that point I had given up.
6/10 for this weird mix of utterly remarkable visual effects and utterly amateur storytelling. I mean seriously who hired this director and where did they get the editing team from? Intro to film class?
The vast armies had no clout, the fight scenes held little meaning or surprise, the attractive actors became generic-in many ways, there was more splendor than distinguishment. The story had mystery, but it fell apart. One scene skipped to the next, one location became another giving the audience no sense of context or sequence. The story of so much grandiose complexity (300 year heartbreak, 70,000 year missed connections) revealed itself as flimsy. Everything which seemed meant to be epic had little significance, much like a special effect move in a video game with puny attack damage.
Major potential, but not a major let down because I didn't expect much when after forty minutes I still didn't feel any story progess or emotional investment. At this point I just finished the remaining hour and twenty minutes to be able to write this review. Too long, if you ask me and not really worth it.
For starters, the title actress Yiu Lifei who plays the forgetful immortal Queen is sorely uncharismatic although a few drinking scenes almost held hope. Her romantic interest played by Yang Yang is much more appealing and even might have acting chops, but his character had next to no dimension. The extent of their romance seemed only to be to cry on cue in a single, solitary tear across their porcelain cheeks. Boring, after a while.
Many of the side characters however do have a lot of charisma and some emotional depth. One feels there were some casting mistakes for the leads with favor for beauty instead of ability to emote. Luo Jin plays Yiu Lifei's drunken Phoenix friend and his part is small but his expressions sympathetic. Chun Li has a larger part as Yang Yang's consort and Yiu Lifei's jealous rival and she is appropriately evil and vulnerable. Others also play minor roles but do a well enough job. One feels as though with different casting and leadership this movie could've soared.
I'm giving "Once Upon A Time" a 6/10 because truly, the color palette and costumes are next level. The lighting at times was beautiful, and I liked most of the set designs. But for an almost two hour run time, beautiful colors can't sustain a momentous cliche of a film without even basic storytelling skills to back it up. Whoever this director is, they must have missed a few film classes because too often exposition shots are sorely missing and vital exposition in terms of the rules of the world is forgotten until it is much too late. Some backpedaling helped things but by that point I had given up.
6/10 for this weird mix of utterly remarkable visual effects and utterly amateur storytelling. I mean seriously who hired this director and where did they get the editing team from? Intro to film class?
Forgettable at best
psy00819 December 2020
This movie is the perfect bad example of trying to condense a long story under 2-hour time. It was like watching a beautiful music video with fast transitions, but no room for neither story development nor character development. On top of that, the main actors have zero chemistry. Start by watching the TV series starring Yang Mi and Mark Chao first, which does a much better justice of depicting the eternal love between Bai Qian and Ye Hua. Only watch this movie afterwards as a bonus feature.
A good movie
venuslim-4248119 August 2017
Although there are quite numbers of negative reviews on this movie (mostly about the novel plagiarism which I don't think it should stop people from watching this movie who already bought the copyright legally from the author), I choose to walk into the cinema as I only trust my own eyes and listen to my own hearts. Overall, this movie is worth watching with very beautiful scenes, costumes, BGM, CGI, good looking actors and actresses. The acting skills of Yang Yang and Crystal Liu are also impressive especially on those sad scenes. However, some of the scenes jump a bit sudden without good transition. Audiences who have never read the novels or series might not be able to enjoy the movie much. Hence, some points are cut because of the film editing.
Bad movie
svtkn15 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The editing was the primary catastrophe. It seemed like they blew all the money on the big name leads and CGI and forgot about a coherent plot and side characters. The chemistry between two main actor was sadly missing!
I don't recommend to person who never read the book.The movie editing was really poor.
I don't recommend to person who never read the book.The movie editing was really poor.
Once Upon A Time: Different, not perfect, but great!
longtochophap12 August 2017
It makes me angry to think of every injustice that this movie has suffered since its release in China. I don't know why Chinese audience always screams about how rubbish the Chinese cinematic works are becoming, yet they can treat such a hard-work dedicated piece of art like rubbish??? Well, I guess "you get what you give", Chinese people, if you treat such a good movie like rubbish, then how can you deserve anything better than rubbish?
Now let me express some sincere thoughts about this movie:
1.Plot: The plot is awesome! Not only it is clear, logical, precise and sharp enough to execute an attractive love story, but the ending is also amazing! So creative, so unpredictable, shocking and meaningful at the same time! Sincerely, I have expected a more traditional happy ending or sad ending like Romeo and Juliet, because any average love movie will have an ending like that! But the plot of OUAT has surprised me and won my applause! True artists should be daring and creative like that! Movies are not just to watch, they should also help us to feel, to join in and to think along with the characters!
2.Editing: Well, I think editing is the biggest flaw of the movie. The transition between scenes is so "sudden" and interrupts the emotional flow of the audience.
3.Acting: The cast are beautiful, dedicated to their roles, very good chemistry between all the characters. Although their acting skills are a bit more suitable for dramas and still "weak" in terms of movie acting, but their emotional facial expression are naturally convincing, their voice acting is very good, the action scenes are amazing too.
4.Music: It is a bit disappointing because the BGM is "ok" but does not help to nurture the emotion of the scene. I mean the music is there, but it does not support well the acting efforts of the cast. Meanwhile, the BGM in the trailers and the three theme songs (especially the song by Na Ying) are extremely beautiful and emotional-lifting, but pitifully they are not used in the movie!
5.Special effects: It a 9 out of 10! Perfect! The art concept, the 3D effect, the special effects of wind, water, fur/feather and light.... I really appreciate the great efforts of the Effect crews to complete all of the fancy fairy world scene. Especially, all the special effects are used wisely and appropriately to support the story and bring better emotion for the audience. Meanwhile with other Chinese movies, special effects are mostly "emotionless" and appear just to "show off" the skills of the crews.
Once Upon A Time is definitely like no other Chinese ancient movie before. From the costumes, to the voice line of the characters, to the plot, to the depiction of the fairy world is so different from the popular perception of Chinese audience. But is is beautifully different. You may like or don't like the movie, but it is definitely a piece of art that should be treated with respect and appreciation. It may not be a perfect movie, but it is a movie worth 109 minutes to watch! Actually I'm gonna watch it again several times to capture all of the beauty and ideas hidden in every scene, every line, every details of the plot.
Zhao Xiao Ding, keep on going! Yang Yang, Liu Yifei, keep on going! As long as you give out your whole heart, there will be people who can see it!
Now let me express some sincere thoughts about this movie:
1.Plot: The plot is awesome! Not only it is clear, logical, precise and sharp enough to execute an attractive love story, but the ending is also amazing! So creative, so unpredictable, shocking and meaningful at the same time! Sincerely, I have expected a more traditional happy ending or sad ending like Romeo and Juliet, because any average love movie will have an ending like that! But the plot of OUAT has surprised me and won my applause! True artists should be daring and creative like that! Movies are not just to watch, they should also help us to feel, to join in and to think along with the characters!
2.Editing: Well, I think editing is the biggest flaw of the movie. The transition between scenes is so "sudden" and interrupts the emotional flow of the audience.
3.Acting: The cast are beautiful, dedicated to their roles, very good chemistry between all the characters. Although their acting skills are a bit more suitable for dramas and still "weak" in terms of movie acting, but their emotional facial expression are naturally convincing, their voice acting is very good, the action scenes are amazing too.
4.Music: It is a bit disappointing because the BGM is "ok" but does not help to nurture the emotion of the scene. I mean the music is there, but it does not support well the acting efforts of the cast. Meanwhile, the BGM in the trailers and the three theme songs (especially the song by Na Ying) are extremely beautiful and emotional-lifting, but pitifully they are not used in the movie!
5.Special effects: It a 9 out of 10! Perfect! The art concept, the 3D effect, the special effects of wind, water, fur/feather and light.... I really appreciate the great efforts of the Effect crews to complete all of the fancy fairy world scene. Especially, all the special effects are used wisely and appropriately to support the story and bring better emotion for the audience. Meanwhile with other Chinese movies, special effects are mostly "emotionless" and appear just to "show off" the skills of the crews.
Once Upon A Time is definitely like no other Chinese ancient movie before. From the costumes, to the voice line of the characters, to the plot, to the depiction of the fairy world is so different from the popular perception of Chinese audience. But is is beautifully different. You may like or don't like the movie, but it is definitely a piece of art that should be treated with respect and appreciation. It may not be a perfect movie, but it is a movie worth 109 minutes to watch! Actually I'm gonna watch it again several times to capture all of the beauty and ideas hidden in every scene, every line, every details of the plot.
Zhao Xiao Ding, keep on going! Yang Yang, Liu Yifei, keep on going! As long as you give out your whole heart, there will be people who can see it!
Quite a good movie
sslws18 August 2017
I watch this movie because my friend who was already read the web story and watched the series. I on the other hand have not heard much of the story except knowing this series or novel is quite popular. I kinda enjoyed the nice cgi and beautiful scenes. As always Chinese fantasy movies usually do produce nice artworks.The costumes were fantastic. Love all the intricacies and beautiful details of each costume. The actor and actress both beautiful and handsome and their on screen chemistry were wonderful. The only thing about this movie is the editing of the story for me is that it's jumping from one scene to another without much explanation. For my friend who already knew the story line , can grasp the whole who, why and what it's happening .But for me it's a bit disjointed, and after she explained to me 'the summary' of the story that i can understand fully what really happened . I would say if the director spend a bit more time of slowly unfolding the story from the beginning i would enjoyed it far more. This movie is like a fan service "summary" of a popular story where the fans already knows the story well to enjoy it more on a big screen with elaborate costumes, stunning cgi and scenery.
Avoid this film unless you already know about it and are a hard-core fan.
enectere7 October 2017
I watched this film during an excursion for my Chinese class. Since I'm studying the language, the best way to learn is to listen to people talking in Chinese, so we watched this film as it was just released. Just to put it out there, I don't usually watch Chinese films. I'm more into films like Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Neverland, The Dark Knight, etc.
Did I end up being able to practice listening to some Chinese? Yes. Did I enjoy the movie? No. I thought the movie was really bad. I'm tempted to say it was rubbish.
Firstly, the plot. I think, in some weird way on a thin thread, the plot works if you can follow it. However, I went into the movie with only a brief synopsis/summary of the story, and half the time I had trouble following the story. This is partially because of the constant cutting between present time and flashback sequences - I often couldn't distinguish what time I was in; I had no idea whether Yifei Liu's character was supposed to be blind or not. The incoherent plot was also caused by the bad pacing of the film – it would jump between quick, short, action-packed scenes to long, drawn-out confessions of love.
I'm not a particular of the romance/drama genre so I won't consider this main theme when I'm rating the film. However, this film is absolutely loaded with romance and love. It tries to play with your emotions and, unless you're absolutely taken with the film, the attempt is futile.
Secondly, the characters. Most of the characters were played well. The performances by Yifei Liu and Yang Yang were not bad. There were, however, some moments that were cringe-worthy, either because their romantic lines were so cheesy or the actors were not as convincing in these moments.
Thirdly, the filming. The action scenes were quite entertaining. Costuming is very beautiful and effective in reflecting the Ancient Chinese context. Film score (music) was forgettable.
Visual/special effects are not so effective. Some scenes that showed vast landscapes/shots, like the underwater shot at the beginning, were breathtaking. However, there a moments where the effects are not so effective, such as the dragon(?) fight scene. Some visual effects didn't look real and made the film almost look like an animation feature. I can't help but compare these effects to other films I've seen, like Inception or Star Trek Beyond, where the effects are much more realistic and believable. (It is possible that this film had a much lower budget – I'm not sure).
Therefore, I recommend this movie to people who are interested in the Ancient Chinese theme, can handle romance overload, can ignore unrealistic visual effects, and like seeing a tiny bit of action. I do not recommend this film to people who have not done any pre-reading about the film. Even watching the trailer is not enough. (Besides, one of the trailers I watched only hinted about the love story – nothing about the context or the fantasy world it was set in).
Generally what I thought - I lost two hours of my life.
Did I end up being able to practice listening to some Chinese? Yes. Did I enjoy the movie? No. I thought the movie was really bad. I'm tempted to say it was rubbish.
Firstly, the plot. I think, in some weird way on a thin thread, the plot works if you can follow it. However, I went into the movie with only a brief synopsis/summary of the story, and half the time I had trouble following the story. This is partially because of the constant cutting between present time and flashback sequences - I often couldn't distinguish what time I was in; I had no idea whether Yifei Liu's character was supposed to be blind or not. The incoherent plot was also caused by the bad pacing of the film – it would jump between quick, short, action-packed scenes to long, drawn-out confessions of love.
I'm not a particular of the romance/drama genre so I won't consider this main theme when I'm rating the film. However, this film is absolutely loaded with romance and love. It tries to play with your emotions and, unless you're absolutely taken with the film, the attempt is futile.
Secondly, the characters. Most of the characters were played well. The performances by Yifei Liu and Yang Yang were not bad. There were, however, some moments that were cringe-worthy, either because their romantic lines were so cheesy or the actors were not as convincing in these moments.
Thirdly, the filming. The action scenes were quite entertaining. Costuming is very beautiful and effective in reflecting the Ancient Chinese context. Film score (music) was forgettable.
Visual/special effects are not so effective. Some scenes that showed vast landscapes/shots, like the underwater shot at the beginning, were breathtaking. However, there a moments where the effects are not so effective, such as the dragon(?) fight scene. Some visual effects didn't look real and made the film almost look like an animation feature. I can't help but compare these effects to other films I've seen, like Inception or Star Trek Beyond, where the effects are much more realistic and believable. (It is possible that this film had a much lower budget – I'm not sure).
Therefore, I recommend this movie to people who are interested in the Ancient Chinese theme, can handle romance overload, can ignore unrealistic visual effects, and like seeing a tiny bit of action. I do not recommend this film to people who have not done any pre-reading about the film. Even watching the trailer is not enough. (Besides, one of the trailers I watched only hinted about the love story – nothing about the context or the fantasy world it was set in).
Generally what I thought - I lost two hours of my life.
In my honest opinion
ameliaj-5063110 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
For the first time, I've been filled with indignation.You may not believe all that low scores, hateful comments toward two leading actors and hateful comments toward the movie itself, just for a movie. Yes,I have saw the movie and it's time to speak up for it. This reminds me of Running for Governor by Mark Twain. In short, the story is about a very good man with very good reputation that is running for the governor. It seems obvious that he will win. But,to his surprise,all kinds of accusations came suddenly. All medias have report his nonexistent crime .It's ridiculous and unbelievable,but people believe in such fallacious rumors and that this true good men was thought as a criminal,so he have to drop out of the campaign with all kinds of slander. The great Mark Twain had uncovered the strategy of how to destroy a good person, or in this case, a movie. To be honest,I used to think that the novel is just a novel.But now I think that the great writer have told us a ridiculous but true fact. What the movie Once Upon a Time have gone through these days was an sound evidence. Some people can be so villainous to slander and defaming the film just in order to prevent audiences from going to see it. Don't you ever wonder why there are so many authors that gave bad comments are Chinese? I can think of no others but conspiracy. They are employed by some other film companies to spread rumors to undermine the film. These people disguise as judicial people to condemn the film .But,in fact,do you think an illegal production can be showed in foreign countries?The rumor is ridiculous and totally unreliable. What's more ,the original book has been adapted to both film and TV show. Ironically,they enjoy the TV show and flatter it everywhere but slander the film as a product of plagiarism. Simply because they suspect that the original author of Three Lifetime ;Ten Miles of peach Blossoms is a chief .But I really want to ask them this: why don't you condemn the TV show and the supposedly guilty original author but only speak ill of the film if they are such justiciars.
Now back to the movie: in my honest opinion, if you are interested in the ancient Chinese culture,It's a good movie for you.There are so many beautiful and magnificent hand-made costumes with beautiful embroidery. What' more, the story is really heart-warming and tell us that Love is, and can be eternal. In a word ,the film Once Upon a Time is a fantastic movie,if you are interested in this kind of movie ,you can enjoy it in the theater.But don't believe in those who spread rumors.After all,they can take profit by doing so and bear no legal liability. It's easy to write something bad without seeing the movie right?
I wish people can watch the film before giving their opinions. And don't ever get fooled by some pretentious "fighting for the rights" comments.
Lastly, for those who said this movie is based on a plagiarized book, please give solid proof that this book was truly plagiarized, i wish to see the LEGAL proof. As anyone can simply accuse another of stealing. For those who said the production teams knew, please give proofs. If not, there are no evidence to back up your statements. And in the end, they are all specious statements, and you're just making a fool out of yourselves.
Evidence to prove this book is not plagiarized: http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404138764917191884 Comparison of two books http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404138763457539876 Legal statement https://m.weibo.cn/1496939465/4138782569045259 Result of examination
Conclusion: no plagiarism, court will dismiss the case.
Now back to the movie: in my honest opinion, if you are interested in the ancient Chinese culture,It's a good movie for you.There are so many beautiful and magnificent hand-made costumes with beautiful embroidery. What' more, the story is really heart-warming and tell us that Love is, and can be eternal. In a word ,the film Once Upon a Time is a fantastic movie,if you are interested in this kind of movie ,you can enjoy it in the theater.But don't believe in those who spread rumors.After all,they can take profit by doing so and bear no legal liability. It's easy to write something bad without seeing the movie right?
I wish people can watch the film before giving their opinions. And don't ever get fooled by some pretentious "fighting for the rights" comments.
Lastly, for those who said this movie is based on a plagiarized book, please give solid proof that this book was truly plagiarized, i wish to see the LEGAL proof. As anyone can simply accuse another of stealing. For those who said the production teams knew, please give proofs. If not, there are no evidence to back up your statements. And in the end, they are all specious statements, and you're just making a fool out of yourselves.
Evidence to prove this book is not plagiarized: http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404138764917191884 Comparison of two books http://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309404138763457539876 Legal statement https://m.weibo.cn/1496939465/4138782569045259 Result of examination
Conclusion: no plagiarism, court will dismiss the case.
Love and Drama
kosmasp13 January 2021
Now I understand that for many this is overly dramatic, not to mention very predictable. But it can also be seen as an escape and an entertaining movie to watch. I've seen way better movies that touch similar subjects, but I always try to not think about that if possible (not always achievable of course).
The CGI is more than obvious, which may contribute to you not having as much entertainment served as you would like. Themes about life, love and regrets are all here. With a touch of magic and some well choreographed fight scenes of course ... does that sound good to you? Then dig in
The CGI is more than obvious, which may contribute to you not having as much entertainment served as you would like. Themes about life, love and regrets are all here. With a touch of magic and some well choreographed fight scenes of course ... does that sound good to you? Then dig in
Don't Waste Your Time!
Geeta3524 February 2019
Once Upon A Time is a disappointing adaptation of To The Sky Kingdom by Tang Qi and in no way compares to the book or the masterfully presented internet/tv series entitled "Eternal Love" starring Mark Chao and Yang Mi. This movie, is at best, a rushed summation of the book with many of the essential elements and important characters missing or IMO, misrepresented. I suggest that you watch the series on Netflix or You Tube to grasp the magnitude of this great love story.
Heavenly cast + Carnival costumes + Hellish story telling
yunfengruancoding22 August 2017
No doubt Yang Yang and Liu Yifei are 2 of the most charming actors in China. Enjoy their beautiful faces! But remember the movie meant to tell an Eastern story, or more specifically speaking, a fairy tale based on a typical Ancient Chinese world setting. I don't believe all those Carnival costumes have anything to do with ancient Chinese deities. I will still use my previous phrase here: the costumes are too much colorful and lousy. They make the characters look like genetically modified goldfish. If you are interested in ancient Chinese costumes, thank you and go to the museum instead of watching this movie. The storytelling is...Err... Maybe I am not qualified enough to say because I just felt very bewildered and confused about what was happening in the movie all the time. Read the Hollywood Reporter's review. They've made a very good point and I quote here: "Confused identities and scrambled romance make plot summaries impossible, and even describing the picture's quicksilver mood changes might test a reader's patience. " BTW, as to the plagiarism scandal. The movie might have tried to be original, but the resource novel was a big plagiarism scandal in China. I love China. Chinese writers can write amazing stories. Unfortunately, the protection of copyrights in China is as solid as a thin tissue
It's so bad I had to leave a review
kuchinkk10 September 2019
Watched this because of the series "Eternal Love" / "Three Lives, Three World, 10 Miles of Peach Blossom" that I love very much..
And got extremely disappointed..
The 2 stars is for: 1. Soundtrack is amazing (I got into the series because of listening to this movie's soundtrack) 2. CGI is not bad
I think this movie earned a lot because of the series.. I recommend the series.. worth the 58 episode. The cast and story for the series are amazing. Esp Mark Chao. and Yang Mi. Both are so so so beautiful and acting was superb
- Acting was bad, it wasn't moving at all. Feel like character development is 0
- Plotline is confusing. If I hadn't watched the series, I probably will get confused with the storyline. (they prolly didn't have enough time to summarize everything in 109 mins, but I feel it could have been improved)
- Ending is confusing (I don't know if they purposely end it that way to raise discussion amongst watcher)
The 2 stars is for: 1. Soundtrack is amazing (I got into the series because of listening to this movie's soundtrack) 2. CGI is not bad
I think this movie earned a lot because of the series.. I recommend the series.. worth the 58 episode. The cast and story for the series are amazing. Esp Mark Chao. and Yang Mi. Both are so so so beautiful and acting was superb
If you watched the series don't bother with this filth
princesschristy21 October 2019
I wish I didn't pollute my brain and my love for this world with this garbage of a movie. It completely butchered the story from the eternal love series.
I understand that this is "their take" on the story, but if I had watched this movie without seeing eternal love I would've rated it as 0/10
- It was a horrible decision today start the story where they did. Too much back story omitted
- too many changes to the original plot
I understand that this is "their take" on the story, but if I had watched this movie without seeing eternal love I would've rated it as 0/10
This movie has nothing to do with "plagiarism"
lemmechu7 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
First off, Alibaba bought the COPYRIGHT of this story from Tang Qi before the plagiarism scandal. This information can be found on their production website. So the production team had no idea that this story was part of the scandal. Second off, it was never proved that this story, was in fact, plagiarized. As no legal actions have be taken. Third, the production team has modified the story since they bought the COPYRIGHT. During the scandal, the production team made sure to take out all "suspicious" parts of the written story. The movie contained no controversial materials, as the plot have been modified based on suggestions of general public. This movie is irreverent to the written story. Anyone who wants evidence, photo evidence can be found on the production team's Weibo.
This movie is very different in story telling and world setting than western movies. The amount of time taken to finish this movie produced astonishing CGI.
Please don't let the plagiarism scandal stop anyone from wanting to see a movie about the fascinating Chinese Xian Xia. As we rarely see anything from the "mysterious" eastern culture.
Lastly, boycotting the movie will not hurt the supposed "plagiarizer", as again, the COPYRIGHT was bought from TANG Qi a few years back. It is unfair to abase a movie based on a canard. The best way to boycott plagiarism is to boycott the writer herself. Rate her works low, don't watch anything that has direct association with her. It is interesting to see that most wanted to boycott the movie, give it a low score (5/10) but enjoyed the TV drama that came out earlier this year (8.4/10) as the TV production team have not bought the COPYRIGHT from her (so she benefits from it.)
Double standard much?
This movie is very different in story telling and world setting than western movies. The amount of time taken to finish this movie produced astonishing CGI.
Please don't let the plagiarism scandal stop anyone from wanting to see a movie about the fascinating Chinese Xian Xia. As we rarely see anything from the "mysterious" eastern culture.
Lastly, boycotting the movie will not hurt the supposed "plagiarizer", as again, the COPYRIGHT was bought from TANG Qi a few years back. It is unfair to abase a movie based on a canard. The best way to boycott plagiarism is to boycott the writer herself. Rate her works low, don't watch anything that has direct association with her. It is interesting to see that most wanted to boycott the movie, give it a low score (5/10) but enjoyed the TV drama that came out earlier this year (8.4/10) as the TV production team have not bought the COPYRIGHT from her (so she benefits from it.)
Double standard much?
Watch "Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms" if you wanted better.
INFPBAE27 July 2022
This is a Chinese fantasy film based on a novel, "To The Sky Kingdom."
"Ten Miles of Peach Blossom/Eternal Love" is a drama series starring Yang Mi & Mark Chao that came out before this film and it is so much better.
This "Once Upon A Time" version is like a half assed version of that.
I don't understand the point of this creation.
"Ten Miles of Peach Blossom/Eternal Love" is a drama series starring Yang Mi & Mark Chao that came out before this film and it is so much better.
This "Once Upon A Time" version is like a half assed version of that.
I don't understand the point of this creation.
The wonderful and beautiful love story is worth seeing
q-778067 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
When I was at a party with my friends in China, I went to see the movie which was being released in China. I thought it was very beautiful, the pictures were beautiful, the special effects were beautiful and the leading actress was beautiful. More importantly, the story behind the movie makes me cry, it's a story about the reincarnation of life, the hero's love for the heroine, let the person weep. There is an imax version of this movie in China. I recommend IMAX! If you like the magic of the love story, highly recommended, it's worth seeing
The worst movie I've ever seen, ever
gouoid23 August 2022
The movie was so bad that I wanted to leave in the middle of it many times. Without popcorn, I wouldn't have made it to the end of the movie. The leading man, in particular, seems to be playing a model rather than a prince.
This review may contain spoilers
huyenrung-2161311 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Yesterday ran out to buy tickets in anticipation of the first day of filming in Yangyang, despite previously hearing anti-China reviews.
First of all, the technique is not what you say anti anti. Technically very beautiful, vibrant color because of 3D viewing should be even more authentic, attractive. Each scene is carefully post-production, the US is really impressive from the first minute. The ten-footed forest has its own air, which is as if you are walking into it. Bach Thao step foot to the East Sea only admire praise. In the end, Da Ha Hoa war with Kình Thương is excellent, this is a large scale scene in a battle between the League and the race in his heart.
About acting, Liu Yifei and Yangyang have made great strides. Yangyan's moving scene is quite good, and the tears are really painful. Only the last song when Da Hoa sealed under water, his own opinion felt Liu Yifei slightly mild, not distressed to.
About the costume wedding with the controversial crown of Bach Thien, because know it should not fall short. With only ten seconds of screen surfing, it is not recommended to underestimate the movie. In contrast, the shape and costumes of the United have revealed the substance, extremely contentment. Feel your Daughter cut some hair down to a special marshal, high columns look slightly skinny and quite young than White.
In short, what you see with your own eyes is the truth. A sad love story, the sacrifice of Da Hoa for Bach Thuy touched the heart. In particular, they both have a dance background, a special action scene that can not be seen in other actors. You should go to the cinema and feel free to make sure not to charge your 2 hours.
First of all, the technique is not what you say anti anti. Technically very beautiful, vibrant color because of 3D viewing should be even more authentic, attractive. Each scene is carefully post-production, the US is really impressive from the first minute. The ten-footed forest has its own air, which is as if you are walking into it. Bach Thao step foot to the East Sea only admire praise. In the end, Da Ha Hoa war with Kình Thương is excellent, this is a large scale scene in a battle between the League and the race in his heart.
About acting, Liu Yifei and Yangyang have made great strides. Yangyan's moving scene is quite good, and the tears are really painful. Only the last song when Da Hoa sealed under water, his own opinion felt Liu Yifei slightly mild, not distressed to.
About the costume wedding with the controversial crown of Bach Thien, because know it should not fall short. With only ten seconds of screen surfing, it is not recommended to underestimate the movie. In contrast, the shape and costumes of the United have revealed the substance, extremely contentment. Feel your Daughter cut some hair down to a special marshal, high columns look slightly skinny and quite young than White.
In short, what you see with your own eyes is the truth. A sad love story, the sacrifice of Da Hoa for Bach Thuy touched the heart. In particular, they both have a dance background, a special action scene that can not be seen in other actors. You should go to the cinema and feel free to make sure not to charge your 2 hours.
Movie with original script and cutting edge CG
Windgrey11 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I have not watched the movie and will write another review after watching it. I give a 10 because the trailers they made worth the 10
Decided to write this review as seems like there are anti here keep mentioning about plagiarism.
I am not a fan of the book, neither have I watched the Drama version. Personally, I don't like being influenced by reviews but this plagiarism scandal really took my attention and I had to do some research on it to find out what exactly is going on.
So in the most recent interview with the Producer and the Director (You can buy easily in china website or the film's official weibo aka China's twitter), apparently when Alibaba Pictures bought over the filming rights from the author of the novel, they were not aware of the plagiarism scandal. so when was the acquisition?
First, movie adaptation was announced by then CEO of Alibaba on late 2014. So I believe the acquisition was made earlier before that, so most likely early 2014. The earliest article that I could find in china website that stated the plagiarism is late 2014. So, it sounds reasonable to me.
Second, while searching for the earliest article, I realised majority are dated around mid 2015. That was when Alibaba Pictures announced the confirmed cast of Female lead Liu Yifei. fishy there
So what did Alibaba Picture do about the plagiarism? Since they have already acquired the rights, all the contract and even confirming the cast.
They scraped the so called plagiarism content and redraft the script with original lines and even some parts of the story lines. Meaning, this movie can also be considered a new movie with different concept and lines from the novel and even the drama. No surprises that it is different from any other versions so please stop complaining about why they don't follow the novel and very different from the drama!
My conclusion, they are making a new story with only same characters from the novel so personally, I would say the film has no relation to the plagiarism scandal.
While researching, I had to look at all their videos such as trailers and BTS. I must say, if you are curious about the Eastern mythology or love Mandarin, this could be for you. The fact that they use animals to represent every characters, different yet unique characters and the originals lines they said (I saw in the trailer) are just so beautiful and mysterious. Every word of their lines has a meaning and they just made me feel like learning Mandarin all over again.
Not to forget the absolutely brilliant graphic, I must admit this is by far the best CG China has ever made. The costumes are so exquisite and scenery are so beautiful and dreamy, yet they could retain the mysterious eastern elements inside.
So anti, please let us watch the film peacefully. if it's really that bad, we, including me, will definitely our ORIGINAL reviews. Don't flood us with your anti comments. Just saying plagiarism is not a review and definitely not helpful
Decided to write this review as seems like there are anti here keep mentioning about plagiarism.
I am not a fan of the book, neither have I watched the Drama version. Personally, I don't like being influenced by reviews but this plagiarism scandal really took my attention and I had to do some research on it to find out what exactly is going on.
So in the most recent interview with the Producer and the Director (You can buy easily in china website or the film's official weibo aka China's twitter), apparently when Alibaba Pictures bought over the filming rights from the author of the novel, they were not aware of the plagiarism scandal. so when was the acquisition?
First, movie adaptation was announced by then CEO of Alibaba on late 2014. So I believe the acquisition was made earlier before that, so most likely early 2014. The earliest article that I could find in china website that stated the plagiarism is late 2014. So, it sounds reasonable to me.
Second, while searching for the earliest article, I realised majority are dated around mid 2015. That was when Alibaba Pictures announced the confirmed cast of Female lead Liu Yifei. fishy there
So what did Alibaba Picture do about the plagiarism? Since they have already acquired the rights, all the contract and even confirming the cast.
They scraped the so called plagiarism content and redraft the script with original lines and even some parts of the story lines. Meaning, this movie can also be considered a new movie with different concept and lines from the novel and even the drama. No surprises that it is different from any other versions so please stop complaining about why they don't follow the novel and very different from the drama!
My conclusion, they are making a new story with only same characters from the novel so personally, I would say the film has no relation to the plagiarism scandal.
While researching, I had to look at all their videos such as trailers and BTS. I must say, if you are curious about the Eastern mythology or love Mandarin, this could be for you. The fact that they use animals to represent every characters, different yet unique characters and the originals lines they said (I saw in the trailer) are just so beautiful and mysterious. Every word of their lines has a meaning and they just made me feel like learning Mandarin all over again.
Not to forget the absolutely brilliant graphic, I must admit this is by far the best CG China has ever made. The costumes are so exquisite and scenery are so beautiful and dreamy, yet they could retain the mysterious eastern elements inside.
So anti, please let us watch the film peacefully. if it's really that bad, we, including me, will definitely our ORIGINAL reviews. Don't flood us with your anti comments. Just saying plagiarism is not a review and definitely not helpful
Don't miss the moving love story of Eastern myth.
chensh-9716010 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
This film is extremely moving and imaginative. It based on the ancient times, telling a love story about Bai Qian and Ye Hua. They experienced three-times- life and were deeply in love with each other. Yes, their love moved my friends and me. It is full of eastern mythologies. In this film, you can see the human race, devil race and SkyClan of eastern. I think it's a good movie and you can't miss it.
It's a love story that you have never seen it in the film
g-2443710 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The film describes two people fall in love in three lifetimes.The film is full of Oriental Fantasy color.It's amazing.The sense of rhythm in movies are very good ,and the theme of love demonstrated by the film appeals to me very much. I had watched it in China.So i know how it shocked me.Hope u guys will like it.
one upon a time
vuthingoc11 August 2017
I like the technique of the film. The cast is very good and very beautiful.Actors are really beautiful, they are from China really? A colorful fairy tale. I like being immersed in the fairy world. I also like the boy in the movie, it is so cute. Hope everyone will like the movie .
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
