On Wings of Eagles (2016)
Eric Liddell - China's first gold medalist and one of Scotland's greatest athletes - returns to war-torn China.
- Stephen Shin
- Michael Parker
- Michael Parker
- Rubby Xu
- Christopher C. Chan
- Stephen Shin
Rating: 5.596/10 by 47 users
Alternative Title:
The Last Race - US
Wings of Eagles - GB
Les Ailes de la Victoire - FR
終極勝利 - CN
Invencible - ES
Country:
China
Hong Kong
United States of America
Language:
English
日本語
普通话
Runtime: 01 hour 36 minutes
Budget: $12,000,000
Revenue: $155,111
Plot Keyword: sports, prisoner of war, based on true story, japanese occupation of china
This film picks up where "Chariots of Fire" (1981) leaves off with the Olympic champion Eric Liddell (Joseph Fiennes) now a missionary in the land of his birth - now war-torn - China. When the Japanese invade, he is initially fêted - well fed and looked after, but that is all part of the ultimate game of humiliation as he is basically being groomed for a race against "Xu Niu" (Shawn Dou). This is quite an interesting depiction of just how this man's Christian faith and sense of decency were pitched against the ruthlessness of his captors who used both physical and psychological methods to reduce their captives to jelly. Whilst this certainly hints at those atrocities, the whole look and feel of the film is just a little sterile and Fiennes isn't really up to much in the lead. Somehow his strength of faith and purpose is lost in a really mediocre production that never quite gets going properly. Based in fact, it does offer us a truth about the truly shameful ending for this man of principle, but perhaps a remake with a better cast, writing and more vision from a director who understands how to better deliver a story of a complex individual would leave us feeling better fulfilled. Watchable, but forgettable I am afraid.
