It has been a long time since I've seen an epic movie, I don't know what it is about epic movies but they really spark a passion in my soul. At first glance it is a little hard to believe that this is a 2001 production, if I did not know better I would have sworn this movie was from the early 90's. Worry not that is not a bad thing, if you ask me it adds to the charm that this movie has to offer, like an old classic HK movie that I by some chance missed all these years. In truth Sino-Dutch War 1661 is not an HK production but mainland China if my information is accurate.

What is the first requirement in an epic film? An epic story of course, and I believe that this movie fills that requirement very well. You have a country in civil war where friends and family are forced to take opposing sides, loyalty to ones emperor and country will be questioned and hard discussions must be made to decide the fate of the country. Sounds like a good premise for a story, it may not be the most original but it was very well executed. I had the good fortune to see the theatre and the DVD version, I regret to inform you that the DVD version is cut. I can't remember exactly what is difference but there is some minor story elements missing. If you find the ending a little lacking it is because a chunk was removed (mostly explanatory stuff). Even with the cuts the story is good overall, keep in mind there are a lot of details to watch for as the story is stretched over many years, at times you may feel that you missed something but overall the story is easy to follow.

Another requirement for an epic film is an excellent cast of characters, here you have characters that will make you smile and bring a tear to your eye. Zhao Wen-Zhou's performance on screen was beautiful, he really managed to transmit the emotions onto the audience. I can say just as much for the supporting cast, everyone's performance was lively and full of emotion, definitely worthy for an epic type of film. There is one thing that I did not find convincing in this movie, and that is the Dutch. I don't know what it is about foreigners in Chinese movies but they don't really seem all that convincing or other times they are just flat out lame.

You'll find a decent amount of action in this movie, most of it is in the form of large military type battles. The battles are pretty entertaining, forts under siege, lots of soldiers, explosions, naval battles and all around good destruction. These battle scenes may not be state of the art but they still look good and are fun to watch. Besides the battle scenes there is not much action, there are a few scenes where our hero does some kung fu but that's about it. Between the action you will find a lot of drama, which includes a lot of talk and not a lot of action. If you're the patient type and like a good evolution of characters and story you will enjoy that, if not well you are going to find some long moments in this movie.

It might be my imagination but I have a feeling that this movie was somewhat influenced by Chinese government propaganda. There were several messages in the movie, one being that Taiwan (held by the Dutch) must be reunited with china and that all is not well till Taiwan and China are not together. If you look at it from today's political perspective is does have a propaganda undertone to it. Also the other message was loyalty and dedication to ones country and emperor. Nothing bad with any of it, it just something that tickled my imagination and wondered if it was just story or an actual propaganda add-on. Everything sounds good so far about this movie, a real winner but there is a negative aspect and that is production value. You'll notice that the movie is not state of the art nor is it stunning visually, it looks like an older HK movie. If you don't place an extremely high value on cinema aesthetics then there is no reason for you not to enjoy this movie. If you like epic styled movies set in the past you might want to check this out.