;

The Last Emperor

1987

Action / Biography / Drama / History

72
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 86% · 126 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 88% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.7/10 10 116183 116.2K

Top cast

Joan Chen as Wan Jung
Peter O'Toole as Reginald 'R. J.' Johnston
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 2160p.BLU.x265
1.84 GB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 43 min
Seeds 20
3.52 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 43 min
Seeds 70
7.4 GB
3840*1632
English 5.1
NR
23.976 fps
2 hr 42 min
Seeds 19

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by emm 8 / 10

An Oriental paradise that is wonderfully mastered to the screen.

I guess I'm the only one who watched this from a worn out-of-print VHS copy. No matter what the quality, THE LAST EMPEROR is arguably among the best of the foreign pictures. The sights and sounds of The Forbidden City are sharp and beautifully screened right on with the provocative events that unfold the coming-of-age life of Pu Yi. It has plentiful moments including his romantic affairs with concubines and how he learns the way of the world as a child. His chronicle of a young emperor boy paints a colorful picture for the first half, only leading to more conflicting matters later, which is the most exciting part. Don't expect to see heads getting chopped off, like I thought would happen (unless you have the longer DVD version), but the intensity of the talk surrounding it sounds horrifying and true. Nevertheless, the dialogue is clearly mystical. Every minute is a feel-good breeze through crafty cinematic art, but it ends too fast, and the narration from Pu Yi in his prison term could use a lot more detailing. Maybe I'll stick around longer and wait to see the Director's Cut which has more. Definitely a winning treat not to be missed for foreign movie lovers and collectors of premium filmfare.
Reviewed by

Reviewed by FilmOtaku 8 / 10

A sweeping epic

Every time I mention to someone that I hadn't seen The Last Emperor, the first reaction is disbelief, and the second is `It is such a good movie'. And indeed it was. I'm not sure what the non-director's cut was, because the version I saw was the director's cut, but it was absolutely fantastic. Not once did I think that the nearly four hour run time was too long because the story was so compelling, the direction brilliant and the acting engaging. I find it hard to believe that it took me this long to see this film, and I also find it hard to believe it is not in the IMDB Top 250. Its Best Picture and Director honors were well-deserved, and the Oscar-winning score is amazing. I'll admit that I was left hanging a bit in regard to the Emperor's wife, but that is the only thing that I can remotely find slightly lacking in this film. An outstanding film, The Last Emperor is entertaining, informative and important.

--Shelly

Read more IMDb reviews

8 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment