As a child, Gada witnessed a revolutionary being executed. While he grew up to be a normal, though ambitious, herdsman, that event left an impression on him. As a young man, his life seems to be going well, his childhood love Mudan returns and the two court each other, but, most importantly, the lands bigwig, the Authority, makes him a meilin, a sort of employed tribal chieftain.

But, the Authority is addicted to opium, an addiction that causes him to take an offer from the Japanese who want to buy up the land. The result is a massive loss of territories which must be cultivated in order to be fertile. The people are quickly being forced off the ground they have lived on and taken care of for centuries. Gada pleads for rational compassion but his voice isn't heard. He soon finds himself uniting the various tribes and wayward bandits in order to form an army that will defend the herdsman's land from being taken over by outsiders.

Gada Meilin is what I call a limited epic. The story has a scope and grandeur that the meager production just cannot deliver. It wants, no it pleads, to have Lean or Kurosawa-sized ambitions and struggles to fill the screen. It struggles and fails, which is admirable but just not up to task. It wants to be Braveheart but only has the budget for Braveheart's hair extensions. There are times when the frame is full of soldiers on horseback, nearly spreading from every corner and off into the horizon. Subsequent shots reduce the army to just a few men, maybe ten horses, and in the thick of battle we see even fewer, the army reduced to a handfull. Yes, they did their best but still couldn't cover up the fact that on most days they weren't working with much.

Director Feng Xiaoning is an alumni of 5th generation directors like Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige but he doesn't live up to their artistic pedigree. The story is very workmanlike, though in a cloying way. It really plays for the melodrama moments and doesn't aim for any gray areas. Romance is set admist montages of sunsets and grand music. The villains are very villainous, to the point that the Japanese are a hair away from being cliched moustache twirling slimeballs. And, of course, when the army intervenes, they shoot old people without provocation and underestimate their bumpkin opponents. The cocky army, with all of their cannons and armaments, prove to be no match for a herdsman with a single flaming arrow. But, you know, that is how big guy Vs. the little guy stories go, and the film is just playing to that ideal.

Now, don't get me wrong, it is a decent movie. I'm not trying to complain as much as point out the faults and make sure people know what they are getting into. Understandable and forgivable considering its production roots, as an epic, Gada Meilin wants to be fat but comes across as starving.

The DVD: Razor Digital

Picture: The box states Full Screen, but actually what you get is a Non-Anamorphic Widescreen, which brings to mind another disappointing aspect of the film, it's limited scope. The story cries out for a big 2.35:1 frame but they apparently opted for a smaller 1.78:1 which really hurts the span of the Mongolian vistas. Pretty much what you get is a heavily compressed and washed-out, vhs looking image. It is just overall muddy in its details, be it sharpness, contrast, and colors.

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo or 5.1 Surround, Chinese language with optional English or Chinese (Simplified or Traditional) subtitles. The 5.1 channel is the more robust choice. The fx is fairly limited with much of the action cues sounding a little stock. Forgive me as I get technical, the 5.1 at least adds a little more "ooommmphhh!" to the foley and scoring. The subtitles are not without a few flaws, like the ever irksome and unneeded translation of laughter as "Ha-ha-ha."

Extras: Nothin'

Conclusion: It is not the most exemplary epic I've ever seen but that is pardonable when you consider the film's z grade budget. Certainly worth a watch if you are mildly curious, but the quality of both the film and this transfer make it worth a rental at best.