91%
11 Reviews
Tomatometer
88%
2,500+ Ratings
Audience Score
Read More
Read Less
Audience Member
It's about real life disaster event. A girl who missing her family and left alone after the disaster, she been rescue by another family and raise her as their child. The girl grow up to find her true family and finally home with her true family. It about sad story, disaster, family and memories of people who loss because of disaster.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/04/23
Full Review
dan m
This is a really good drama that takes place about every ten years from 1976 to 2008. It all starts with a major earthquake and there's a Sophie's Choice moment that happens when a mom must choose between saving her son or daughter. The daughter miraculously survives unbeknownst to her mom and gets adopted. Predictable reunion at the end sure, but it's definitely got all the feels. Only some very few minor nitpicks not worth mentioning here, overall it's a terrific movie.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
In 1976 an earthquake happens in Tangshan. It's a big one, nearly 250.000 people die, actually. A woman has already lost her husband and during the rescue she can only save one of her little twins. Which one will she choose? Well, we will find out - and, boing - spoiler: the other one lives too. We follow the lives of the mom, the twin boy and the twin girl. Different lives with different struggles and the mixing is not very fluent.
This is a very strong film. It's based on true happenings and the actors deliver exceptionally. The sorrow and grief is huge, the lighter scenes are rare. It looks really good and the pace is pretty nice. Some slow scenes in the middle of it is not really rewarding but the first and last half hours are making up for it.
I can't understand how this has fallen out of the big radar here in Europe since this is pure quality on most levels. It was a big hit in China, though.
8.5 out of 10 tomatoes.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/17/23
Full Review
simon d
Excellent Chinese depiction of one family's lives after an Earthquake tore through their village back in the 1970's. Very powerful and emotional film. I stumbled across this and feel lucky that I did. I highly recommend it.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is my first Chinese film but wow....... I can see why it was nominated for an Oscar. A powerful & touching story.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Well filmed epic based on the 1976 earthquake in Tangshan. Typical Chinese tearjerker that pulls on your heart strings and gives you dehydration from crying throughout the entire movie.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Read all reviews
Post a rating
Show Less
Cast & Crew
Show More
Cast & Crew
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
There's no doubt about it: this film's an unashamed heart-wringer and a tear-jerker, but it packs an almighty punch and the CGI work at the very beginning, as Tangshan crumbles into nothingness, is impressive and pretty scary.
Rated: 3/5
Nov 11, 2010
Full Review
David Jenkins
Time Out
Perfect hokum for those who don't mind having their heart strings strummed like a banjo.
Rated: 3/5
Nov 10, 2010
Full Review
Mike Hale
New York Times
The film may be a blunt instrument, but it's rarely maudlin -- the exception being the performance of Mr. Feng's wife, Fan Xu, as the long-suffering mother -- and is, on occasion, quite moving.
Rated: 3.5/5
Nov 4, 2010
Full Review
Sabina Pasaniuc
CineVue
Delivers what it promises, and at times more so. Xiaogang Feng manages to tell a touching story, whilst also expanding it to incorporate a larger tale of China and its people's survival through hardship.
Rated: 3/5
Nov 6, 2018
Full Review
Simon Kinnear
Total Film
Mimics the worst of Hollywood's excesses, pairing gratuitous shock with patriotism and a flood of tear-jerking moments calculated for awards bodies' consideration.
Rated: 2/5
Dec 1, 2010
Full Review
Henry Fitzherbert
Daily Express (UK)
Aftershock is a gruelling and sombre watch, occasionally over-wrought and melodramatic, yet an absorbing and thought-provoking insight into the consequences of human catastrophe.
Rated: 3/5
Nov 12, 2010
Full Review
Read all reviews
>
