:
Duo Bujie,
Duo Bujie,
Zhang Lei,
more...
:
Lu Chuan,
Lu Chuan
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Sony Pictures
: Drama, Foreign, China, Adventure, Wilderness & Nature
: 89 min.
: French
: English, French
see additional details...
|
|
GreenCine Says:
The Chinese film Mountain Patrol (Kekexili) is a real sleeper, and unforgettable - all the more so because it's based on a true story. Set in Tibet where a small group of Tibetans struggle to protect the Tibetan antelope (chiru) from poachers, Mountain Patrol is the rare ecologically-minded film that is extremely gripping rather than didactic; or, as Manhola Dargis wrote in the NY Times, it's "as tough and unsparing as its backdrop, a blood-boiling environmental thriller with a dash of Sergio Leone." The new DVD is not of the greatest quality in the world, but the film itself is highly recommended.
|
| Turkey Patrol
by notrust
September 8, 2006 - 5:08 PM PDT
|
|
|
0 out of 4 members found this review helpful
|
Why did I believe the positive reveiws I read for this movie? Renting this turkey wasted my time and money. I kept waiting for the thrilling "quicksand scene" to save the rest of the movie. I don't want to give anything away, but I've seen more dramatic quicksand scenes on "Lost in Space". And much better acting.
I also cannot recall ever having so much trouble telling the characters apart in a movie. Couldn't they give them eyepatches, missing teeth or funny hats, or some other way to easily distinguish them? But no, they all dress the same, act the same, speak the same, carry the same weapons, and drive the same dirty 4x4's.
I learned almost nothing about the poor oppressed antelopes by watching this film. About the only time you actually see the creatures is in approximately 10 seconds of shaky stock footage at the beginning of the movie. It looked like it was probably filmed from the window of passing car.
So here's what I was able to piece together: These mysterious furry animals were being hunted for their prized wool by poor starving people whose lives are evidently less important than the antelopes. So the Mountain Patrol vigilates and the look-alike bad-guy poachers capture and shoot each other, using very quiet AK 47's that sound like Daisy BB guns when fired. Several people are pointlessly and nonchalantly shot to death in the barren wastelands of Tibet (or possibly China).
The characters in this movie gladly lay down their lives to save the mysterious wooly antelopes. However, no motivation is given for their selfless devotion to the animals except for those 10 seconds of blurry stock footage of the animals running around at the beginning of the movie. But thanks to all this bloodshed, the impossible-to-film but easy to kill antelopes, along with their precious wool are now safe. Thank goodness! Now maybe they can plant a few trees over there.
The best line in the movie was, "Take off your pants, cross the river!" Guys running toward you firing AK-47's in the air are not quite as intimidating in their underoos. However, the scene was still not good enough to justify watching the other 90 minutes of this amatuerish low-budget production. Please think twice before renting this one.
|
| Environmental Murder/Chase Movie
by talltale
September 1, 2006 - 9:30 AM PDT
|
|
|
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
|
Imagine a taut, shocking crime thriller involving murder and theft in which--rather than jewels, drugs or money--the loot is living, breathing, beautiful Tibetan antelope, who are suddenly massacred (along with one of their human protectors) in front of your eyes and then skinned for their pelts. MOUNTAIN PATROL: KEKEXILI starts out with exactly such a scene and then holds you in its cold, sad embrace for 90 minutes, as some of the world's most breathtaking (if sometimes bleak) scenery and a story of loss, sacrifice and more loss passes before your wide eyes.
A joint effort of National Geographic, Columbia Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn releasing, this one-of-a-kind movie is among the most beautiful I have seen, with a DVD transfer that does full justice to its widescreen visuals. Although we don't learn all that much about the characters, we know enough to share their concerns and to feel for them--even for some of the "villains," who, as in the fine British TV miniseries 'Traffik," are simply trying to stay alive and feed their families. The "heroes," a group of volunteers who appear to be more concerned with saving the antelope than with themselves or their loved ones, give new meaning to that overused appellation. For the quicksand scene alone--as initially terrifying as it is finally moving and profound--this film is unforgettable. |
| Unsung Heroes
by ZenBones
August 15, 2006 - 5:07 PM PDT
|
|
|
3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
|
This film follows the harrowing misadventures of a Chinese journalist and a group of Tibetan mountain patrollers who are trying to catch up with a gang of poachers. The majority of the poachers are relentlessly cruel and the others are just trying to irk out a living. The animals that are being slaughtered are Tibetan antelopes, and although China cared a little bit about the extinction of this breed, their patrol budget was seriously under-funded. We see how these brave patrol men risk extremes of weather, and even murder by poachers, for virtually no money - just to save these beautiful creatures.
The landscapes of Tibet in all of its extremes are gorgeously filmed, and the film's cinema verite style is blessedly unobtrusive. This is a deliberately slow film that is punctuated by scenes that suddenly clutch you heart, particularly a scene involving quicksand that I have included in my pantheon of most powerful cinematic scenes of all time.
The film also gets major kudos for creating a backlash that has forced the Chinese to save the antelope. From what I've read, it seems that the Chinese have gone after the poachers themselves, and the antelope population is now increasing. Whew! Now if they can just treat Tibetan monks and nuns with as much decency and care as the antelopes! |
|
|
GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.86)
22 Votes
add to list 
|
|
|
Your cart
© 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. Portions of content provided by All Movie Guide®,
a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.