80
For those with a taste for epics that integrate the historical and the intimate.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
A bit hard on the posterior, it is definitely easy on the eyes.
88
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Has a mixture of strengths and limitations often found in historical epics: lots of eye-filling action and spectacle, little in the way of psychology or human interest.
60
Solid middlebrow entertainment, a vast period epic with an almost DeMillean taste for excess.
88
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
Based on the true story of the first emperor of unified China, could be downsized and told as an American Western.
63
New York Post by Jonathan Foreman
Meanders along in a confused, confusing way for what feels like hours.
58
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
A historical drama as static as it is stately.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Paula Nechak
Quite long and violent enough to have made several critics squirm in their seats during a recent press screening.
70
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
Crammed with enough melodrama to fill several soap operas.
90
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
A stunner -- as big and messy as a war, as small and perfect as a diamond.