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On Wings of Eagles

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5.6/10 • 47

2016-06-171h 36m

DramaHistoryWar

Eric Liddell - China's first gold medalist and one of Scotland's greatest athletes - returns to war-torn China.

Directors
Stephen Shin Kei-Yin
Writters
Michael Parker, Christopher C. Chan, Rubby Xu, Stephen Shin Kei-Yin
Editors
Michael Parker, Christopher C. Chan, Rubby Xu, Stephen Shin Kei-Yin, Peter Svab

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Joseph Fiennes

    Joseph Fiennes

    Eric Liddell

  2. Shawn Dou

    Shawn Dou

    Xu Niu

  3. Elizabeth Arends

    Elizabeth Arends

    Florence Liddell

  4. Richard Sanderson

    Richard Sanderson

    Dr. Hubbard

  5. Darren Grosvenor

    Darren Grosvenor

    Gentleman

  6. Simon Twu

    Simon Twu

    Chen Quan

  7. Augusta Xu-Holland

    Augusta Xu-Holland

    Catherine Standish

  8. Patrice Poujol

    Patrice Poujol

    Louis Klein

  9. Shigeo Kobayashi

    Shigeo Kobayashi

    Yoshinori Yumoto

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Sep 3, 2022

5/10

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.

Media

  • On Wings of Eagles poster
  • On Wings of Eagles poster
  • On Wings of Eagles poster
  • On Wings of Eagles poster
  • On Wings of Eagles poster
  • On Wings of Eagles poster
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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$12,000,000.00
Revenue
$155,111.00
Keywords
sportsprisoner of warbased on true storyjapanese occupation of china