THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN 3D | 智取威虎山 (China, 2014)
Directed by: Tsui Hark
Starring: Zhang Hanyu, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Lin Gengxin, Yu Nan, Tong Liya, Han Geng, Chen Xiao

Tsui Hark’s gonzo war movie is China’s 11th highest-grossing movie of all time, and this is the only chance you’ll ever get to see it projected in 3D, the way Tsui intended. Tiger Mountain is a Chinese national epic, but Tsui has reinvigorated this tale of 30 PLA soldiers taking down a 1,000-strong bandit army by stripping out the ideology and returning it to its action roots. That means he serves up heaped helpings of tiger attacks, human dogs, a Lord of the Rings–sized mountain fortress, bandits wearing black lipstick, ski attacks, grenades, a tank, a fight on top of a crashing biplane, and a New York City traffic jam. A spectacular mid-movie setpiece of bandits laying siege to a snowbound village reminds us that Tsui’s sheer craftsmanship is unequaled today, and that’s only one of the spectacular sequences sprinkled over this movie like chocolate chips on a magical motion-picture sundae made of fire! Tsui is a 3D true believer and he makes sure that not a second goes by when something isn’t poking, shooting, stabbing, exploding, or leaping off the screen right into your lap, whether it’s tigers, bandits, biplanes, or Tony Leung Ka-fai sporting an outrageous fake nose.