On the hunt for a fabled treasure of gold, a band of warriors, assassins, and a rogue British soldier descend upon a village in feudal China, where a humble blacksmith looks to defend himself and his fellow villagers.
Rather than excitement, the most convincing feeling evoked here is déjà vu.
It’s sure to gain cult status but it’s still a real mess.
The story is both dull and confusing with a profusion of characters scrapping over some fabled gold.
Utterly preposterous.
Don't let the 'Quentin Tarantino Presents' tag deceive you, this is a mixed bag of lumpen dialogue and martial-arts magic that never quite coalesces into the delirious mayhem we'd hoped for.
The thematic parallels to Tarantino’s forthcoming Django Unchained are strangely blatant, but we’ll be in for a crushing disappointment if that doesn’t up the ante. This one is numb pastiche, so frazzled you can’t find a pulse.
It's leaden, boorish and dull.
Maybe we can write off the silly wigs and mahogany performances as an inside joke. But, faced with both intentional badness and unintentional badness, the viewer has to be the man or woman with the iron constitution.
The violence is extreme and preposterous, the fights ingeniously choreographed, the producer Tarantino (his actual credit is "presents").
Already forgotten.
...but no brain.
[It] isn't half bad.
General release. Check local listings for show times.