Review: The Eight Hundred

Digital, DVD & Limited Edition Blu-ray: The Eight Hundred (2020)

The highest grossing film of 2020, The Eight Hundred is a visually stunning Chinese historical military drama, which tells the true story of how a few hundred Chinese soldiers hunkered down in a warehouse trying against all odds to defend it from Japanese invaders.

The relentless action and constantly loud soundtrack can all become a little bit too much across a 150 minute running time, with scenes of quiet reflection from characters being few and far between. But regular moments of impressive cinematography, incredible sound design, and shocking action set pieces continued to have me glued to the screen and wondering what the hell was going to happen next.

The subtitled english dialogue does sometimes rattle along a little too quickly to keep up with what is being said (or shouted mostly) and also keep a close eye on yet another battle scene, but this is a film that I will most definitely return to again for a rewatch and will catch up on the little things that may well have passed me by on this first viewing.

I’m not sure of how historically accurate it is with everything portrayed onscreen, but taken as simply a two and a half hour piece of entertainment, this is an experience that will linger long in the mind.

Best watched on as big a screen as you can (no laptops or phones please!) and crank up the sound as loud as you can get away with.

Trinity CineAsia presents The Eight Hundred on DVD from 22nd March and Blu-ray & Digital from 12th April.

Review by Dave from a screening link kindly supplied by Trinity CineAsia via The Warrior Agency.