Once upon a Time

Worth a Try for its visuals :)

I personally found this movie to not be as bad as everyone claims it to be. Most of those who dislike this adaptation is due to comparing it to the drama. That aspect in itself doesn’t even make sense. It’s like you comparing a short story version to a novel, a 58 episode drama to a movie that’s about 1h and 45 min.

The story itself is really complicated so its really hard to have every detail in the movie. I felt they did ok with the story telling as I myself was able to understand the story expect perhaps the ending (also why they all look so tan in some of the scenes lol). If you want details I would recommend to just go watch the drama or read the novel then.

The story telling wise as I have said was ok and the big idea was still understandable. Side note (Small spoiler) there’s a part where it feature yang yangs awkward noodle making/ cooking lol. There was a lot of sweet moments though. Also Crystal’s fighting are as amazing as always (in china she’s well know for her Wuxia acting). Basically the movie is a highlight of the main plots of the story. It’s told in a way that when theres a portion that needs explaining it goes to a cut scene of what happen that lead up to scene and since the story talks about there 3 life/ reincarnation they give you pieces of each portion. You can then piece them together. For example, warning there will be a spoiler, theres a part where we see FL talking to a men frozen in ice then her master was almost thrown of the cliff then there was a cut scene showing why her master was frozen in the ice (showing he was frozen in the ice because his soul was shattered when sealing with the sword).

This movie gave me a Disney production vibe and the underwater scenes reminded me of Barbie in a Mermaid Tale. This movie was so aesthetically pleasing, from the visual to the ML and FL actor (both Yang Yang and Crystal Liu are some of the top best looking actors and they have very positive image in acting in historical shows as they particularly excel in this genre in china so this casting was really well done), to the voiceover, to every characters costumes and so much more. Each character’s design where made with thorough thoughts. (But Susu’s wedding outfit was not it lol, light spoiler that bright pink head piece ;-;)

There is some lacking in the acting but there something in them that makes you believe in the character they act. The little green guy is also kinda cute and through out the show he quite humorous (most of the joke are hard to understand for non Chinese speakers though). Each character made me see there emotions, I laughed and cried.

In conclusion I think you can give the movie a try don’t be affected by the over the top negative reviews. Don’t go into it with such strict expectations or else you will always be disappoint and as I said its a unfair comparison. If you are a hardcore fan of the drama then you can ignore what I said. We watch shows for entertainment nothing is perfect no?

I think the movie is a great preview of the this beautiful love story and if you’re intrigued you can then go on to watch the 58 episode drama.

Anyways everyone have there own preferences, I still believe this movie wasn’t bad at all. I would watch it again, and if you’re interested here’s a link to watch it with English subtitles: https://www.xiaoheimi.net/index.php/vod/play/id/20266/sid/1/nid/1.html

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So, I got to watch the movie last night at the Houston AMC theater in 3d. Let me tell you.... We were in a there that was half packed. By the end if the movie, there people there (including myself and my husband) were angry. If you liked the drama, this will be a huge letdown to you. If you've never even watched the drama, then this movie will be confusing. Like others have said, the graphics are amazing, but that's just about it. Riceball was adorable, as well as YeHua and Bai Qian. Had they focused more on the writing, rather than on the graphics, this could have been a much better movie. In the end, I wish I would have just watched a bootleg copy. At least I wouldn't be out the money that we spent to watch a horrible movie version of what was an excellent drama. That ending made me want to slap somebody LOL. It was awful.

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Finally got to see the movie!!!! I kinda understand why people have been complaining about the choppy script-writing. The plot might be slightly hard to follow if one doesn't know the story-line though the original complex plot has been cut down a lot and simplified.

As I have seen the drama and read the novel too...it just felt like they took half of the drama and half of the book and crammed it into the movie. But it wasn't that bad a watch.The story mostly followed the novel..... with its jumping story-line compared to the linear timeline in the drama.

Some things were quite new to watch...for example...the spirit forms of the immortals were shown more in the movie and the Eastern Sea palace was actually underwater!!(maybe because they had more budget for CGI). The costumes of a few of the characters were a bit overdone and bordering on weird. (Was Zhe Yan really supposed to be that........ glamorous?and the Demon Queen!!....LOL)

Acting of the two leads were quite good in their own way. The chemistry was good too. But all the other characters kinda faded to the background. With the time limit and complex plot there was no time for development of the supporting characters. I would have loved more of AhLi (one of my fav character in the drama :D ).

Overall...No regrets in watching it. It was nice to see the amazing story in another perspective. I would definitely recommend the drama-fans to give it a try. As for new people.... watch this...and then go straight to the drama if you want more...and maybe then to the book!!!

PS: Bai Qian has a serious drinking problem in the movie. She was a frequent alcoholic in the drama too but in the movie almost every scene has her holding a peach wine bottle. Even one of the promotional posters has her holding a wine bottle. ROFL.

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For limited amount of time, this did not go so well. They tried to cover all the scenes that it went so fast. It looked like a 10secs or more montage for every scene.

I don't like how they portray the main leads here. Ye Hua is too playful than strict and they made Bai Chen weak here rather than having a strong character. All I hear is her screams and she's supposed to be more active rather than standing there screaming. Im not sure if it's the directors's fault or the acting. (Looks doesn't make them suitable for the role, in my opinion.)

For those who want to watch this movie, you better read the novel or watch the drama first or just don't watch this. Be prepared for confusions if you watch this.

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After reading a lot of reviews about the movie and how disappointing it was for some people I decided to watch it myself, and at first the movie seems to drag on but once you get to the end it all comes together really nicely.
The story line was really good but I do wish some scenes where explained more.
The acting was really nice, the music could of been a bit more dramatic at times but other than that the music was fine.
Overall I would  recommend watching thistle someone who is willing to watch a movie that goes for 110 minutes.
 I cried (I don't cry often)

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First of all let me say I love Yang Yang..The very first time I saw him was in Love O2O. I have been looking for more of his dramas to watch. I was wondering how this movie was going to be, would it sink or swim. I wish they would have waited and did more with this movie. It is hard to out do a drama that had so much depth, heart and soul. The movie was not bad just bad timing. For those of us who as seen the drama the movie seem rushed and so many holes. But in all it wasn't that bad.

I loved the cast. Yang Yang and his beautiful eyes and smile loved him. I truly believe there would have been more chemistry between him and Liu Crystal if it wasn't so rushed.

The graphics and the scenery was awesome. Love the music.

Would I watch it again. Yes

overall I give it a 9.0 because I love the cast and the story line even if it was rushed.

I found it on this site for anyone that wants to see it.

http://kissasian.ch/Drama/Once-Upon-a-Time/Movie?id=34736

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Wow! So this is quite different from the book and drama series. I thought it might be a shortened version of Bai Quian and Ye Hua’s story, but it’s got a few major changes.

Rating it on its own, it’s very pretty and there are some moving moments. Clearly the visual effects department got a chunk of the budget so there are some lovely settings and a huge epic battle. There’s also a ton of characters and a rather complex plot so some of this is hard to follow.

Comparing it to the other versions of the story, Ye Hua’s character is unexpectedly lively and the ending is open-ended and quite a change. Pretty surprising so it definitely breaks with expectations.

Overall, I enjoyed some parts and watching where they made changes from other versions. I didn’t like most of the changes, but they were mainly interesting. It’s watchable, but don’t expect it to line up with other versions of this story which are much better at getting the emotions right.

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Watch it because i'm falling in love with the drama version & because it staring yang yang as ye hua (YH). But never i've regret to watch more than this movie.

Thank GOD i watch the drama version first if not i will completely confuse with the story and everything in the movie. Yeah of course 60 ep drama compress to just 2 hour movie make sense for the story flaws... But still at least make it a little bit understandable or something....

Too much fantasy in my opinion when they describe the heaven and the place where bai qian (BQ) live.

Story: just skip this movie and watch the drama instead

Acting/cast: nothing too special, but yeah liu yi fei as BQ is more beautiful than yang mi in drama version. But for YH, I think mark chao still more suitable than yang yang

Song: not too love it.

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