Product Description

From the team that brought you the acclaimed 'Brotherhood' comes the epic, record-breaking box office smash. Based on a true story, ASSEMBLY follows one man s journey in search of truth and honour during a Civil War where China saw one of its bloodiest battles. Winter 1948: Captain Guzidi leads an infantry unit consisting of just 46 men on a sniping mission to defend the south bank of the Wen River. Their orders are to fight until the retreat assembly call is charged. That call never comes. After many long hours of defence and with ammunition running out, men are falling hard and fast. The realisation dawns on Guzidi that the call might have been missed in the heat of battle, contributing to the deaths of those under his command. Waking in hospital after a brutal campaign Guzidi believes the last of his men sacrificed themselves during the deadly engagement. But he is shocked to discover they have been deemed missing or worse, deserters. He returns to the site of the battle, determined to prove the existence the 46 heroes he fought with and honour their glorious deaths. Featuring some of the most intense battle scenes ever captured on film, 'Assembly' is a cinematic experience like no other.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10272 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-05-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 124 minutes

Synopsis
Featuring some of the most intense battle scenes ever committed to celluloid, ASSEMBLY re-enacts the true story of one man's path during one of China's most bloodiest civil wars.

Customer Reviews

omigosh!
The first half of this movie is Zulu meets Saving Private Ryan but with even more over the top pyrotechnics and the sort of stunt choreography you'd get in a Chinese Kung Fu epic, though nowhere near as fantastical. There's something about it that takes me back to the war movies from the 60s and 70s like The Big Red One or Cross of Iron. The film is set against the background of the Chinese civil war between the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party, whose side our protaganists are on. Unsurprisingly the politics of the situation isn't really explored at all. You're not really left with the impression of good guys and bad guys, just two different sides who're killing each other however they can.

Half an hour in I thought I had the measure of this movie and was settling in for, and cheering on, two hours of gory mindless violence. Then at the halfway mark it turned into a very different type of film.

I was a little surprised by the second half but suffice to say that the last few moments of the film, while not exactly reducing me to tears, were very effective and did a good job of capping off what I thought was an extremely enjoyable film. In fact one of the better films I've seen in the last few months.

Cons for what is a quite dramatic change of pace, some slightly clichéd translation and subtitles that aren't always clear against the action on screen - though the only alternative to that is the ugly box background for the text and that would be even worse. There are also some plot "conveniences" but nothing that made me throw my popcorn at the TV.

Recommended for war movie fans everywhere but sensitive souls should note it's pretty gory but nothing as harrowing as you'd get in a modern Hollywood horror movie (torture porn). Special mentions for the Chinese scenery, as usual, which can really take your breath away.

Private Ryan goes to China?
A movie in two halves, this Chinese film does a nifty job of both emulating the style that made Ryan such a hit, and providing enough of a soul to go along with it to be interesting on its own merit.
Based on a novel, which itself was based on a true story, the movie is set in the late 40's during the Chinese Civil War and goes on into the following decade. The first half sees the Captain ordered with his company into a desolate war zone in 1948, to hold and fight to the last man until he hears the bugle cry of assembly. It never comes... scenes of carnage in greyed out colours in very shaky camerawork (as patented my Spielberg) ensue... all fairly effectively done. However, it is in the second half, that the film finds its heart.. The Captain, now scarred both physically and emotionally, realizes his company are listed as missing, affording them no honour, and so he makes it his goal to find proof of their story and restore their name.
It is surprising to see a movie like this, after a decade or more of brightly coloured highly choreographed wushu epics made China more of an international movie force.. this is quite the opposite, with its realism, grim tone and very human heart. In taking so many cues from Western films like Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan, there is perhaps an element of disappointment in what at first seems a lack of originality. In fact, during some of the battle scenes the shaky camera work just seems a fraction too much, as if they have not quite developed the skill set yet. The script and the music both feel almost self consciously Western in origin. In addition, while the journey in the latter half to redemption is effective, the time and location shifts are clunky in places and serve to distract rather than build development of the story.
Having said that, this is a uniquely Chinese story, during a period of history that is close to Chinese hearts, and why not tell it? The latter half, the all important journey to redemption, is handled deftly, and the end result should move even the toughest hearts just a little, with themes of honour, loyalty and brotherhood unhindered by jingoism or propaganda.
A recommended watch then, and yet more signs that China is showing no end to its high quality movie output.
Extras include around an hour of in depth analysis of all aspects of the moviemaking, from story through cast to details such as effects and costumes.

A touching story about one man's quest to ensure his fallen comrades are remembered.
Set during the Chinese Civil War, this film follows Captain Gu Zidi of the Communist army. After ordering the execution of POWs in a fit of rage, Gu and his 46 men are disgraced and, as pennance, are sent to hold a remote forward post against overwhelming odds.

The battle scenes are every bit as exciting, horrific and visceral as anything you'll see in 'Saving Private Ryan' or the like. And, even though some of the characterisations are a little cliched (particularly the coward who finds his courage defending his comrades), it won't take you long to become attached to Gu and his men.

The latter half of the film focuses purely on Gu Zidi, the sole survivor of the battle. Held as a POW by his own forces due to having stolen an enemy uniform, Gu is horrified to learn that a bureaucratic reorganisation means that his original orders have been lost and his men have been dubbed missing in action, with suspicion of desertion falling on them.

Gu makes it his life's work to see that his fallen brothers are remembered as heroes, even when this means shovelling through a mountain of coal, which has since been dumped on the battlefield, in the hopes of finding their bodies.

When I began watching this film, I was wondering how I would take to the idea of Communist heroes (being born in the latter part of the Cold War meant that the Communists entered by psyche as 'the bad guys'). However, you soon see that this film isn't about Communist soldiers, per se. It's about every soldier who ever fought in any war. It's about the everyman and how, regardless of who they fought for, they should be remembered with respect and honour.