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Rebels of the Neon God

Play trailer Poster for Rebels of the Neon God 2015 1h 46m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A cabdriver's son (Kang-sheng Lee) quits his college studies to get revenge on two petty thieves (Chou-jun Chen, Chang-bin Jen) that vandalized his father's car.
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Rebels of the Neon God

Rebels of the Neon God

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Critics Consensus

Rebels of the Neon God announces writer-director Ming-liang Tsai as a fully formed talent -- and remains one of the more accomplished debuts of the decade.

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Critics Reviews

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Tom Long Detroit News We've seen these kids before, but we've never seen them quite like this. Rated: B Oct 30, 2015 Full Review Mark Jenkins Washington Post Like Godard's "Breathless" and Wong's "As Tears Go By," "Rebels" cunningly synthesizes both B-movie and art film. Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 9, 2015 Full Review Tirdad Derakhshani Philadelphia Inquirer A breathtaking, disturbing look at urban angst and the emptiness of youth culture ... Rated: 3.5/4 Jul 2, 2015 Full Review Dayne Linford Battleship Pretension Rebels of the Neon God is a very strong, textured, multilayered debut from a gifted filmmaker. Jan 20, 2021 Full Review Nathanael Hood Unseen Films Coolly detached, Rebels of the Neon God offers no salvation for its disaffected youth-nor does it suggest they deserve any. Rated: 7/10 May 5, 2020 Full Review Daniel Barnes Dare Daniel With its handheld camerawork, restrained electronic score, vivid colors, persistent rainstorms and vibrant street scenes, Rebels of the Neon God creates a tangible sense of time and place, even as it delves deeper into incoherence and dissolution. Rated: 4/5 Apr 12, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jose Gabriel A Useless waste of time, movie just meanders around uninteresting characters who's passions, intentions, and motives you get no real sense of. Was this movie supposed to be about anything? No interesting insights or memorable moments, just plain boring. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 05/18/24 Full Review Audience Member Tsai Ming-liang's directorial outing is a forlorn meditation of youth angst in 90s Taipei as his camera watches ruefully three dispirited delinquents cruising in arcades, skating rinks, dilapidated apartments and the bustle of neon-lit streets. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member irelvent more irlevent then the floss Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member The best film about the ironic alienation and loneliness in mega-cities ever made. There is no comparison to Rebels of a Neon God. It is unlike anything you've ever seen or will ever see. Upon careful analysis, it is almost impossible to discern even the basic foundations of a three/five act structure, like the classic act 1, plot point1, act 2 pt1, mid-point, act 2 pt2, plot point 2, act 3... all nowhere to be found. Tsai Ming-Liang has created A NEW LANGUAGE of film making here. An essential study for anyone willing to explore a radically different approach to film making. Bravo! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Gorgeous movie. May be a little too bare for some peoples tastes, but it was right up my alley. I really love this one. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Acclaimed director Tsai Ming-liang's directorial debut is a fascinating and intriguing story about the rebellious nature of youth, and the emptiness and meaninglessness felt by them. It's also the first of many collaborations between the director and actor Lee Kang-sheng. Water, water everywhere. Just with regular places like malls, arcades, hotel rooms and houses, Tsai creates a recognizable urban environment, where the rebellious actions of few individuals form a complete cycle. From the James Dean poster to the mention of reincarnation of a rebellious God, and even the Mandarin and English titles of the film, the movie doesn't shy away from telling what it's about. And in its subtle way, it also tries to explore the reasons behind it. Like the cram school one of the protagonists (Hsiao Kang) is sent to, cities are crammed with people in the same way, but despite that, people feel more disconnected than ever. From the phone dating thing service in the story to our present-day social networking sites, the story tries to emphasize that with urbanization, humans have lost touch with direct interactions and brotherhood. The bleak tone may put some people off, but it actually adds to the tone of the story. Tsai here gives us a slice of these young lives, and asks us to contemplate on 'Why do we do the things we do?' All the actors are cast well, and they do a commendable job. NOTE: It's preferable if one watches Tsai Ming-liang's films in order because the character Hsiao-kang (Lee Kang-sheng) appears in most of his films, this being the first. The order might help in exploring and understanding the character much better. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Rebels of the Neon God

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Movie Info

Synopsis A cabdriver's son (Kang-sheng Lee) quits his college studies to get revenge on two petty thieves (Chou-jun Chen, Chang-bin Jen) that vandalized his father's car.
Director
Ming-liang Tsai
Producer
Feng-chyi Jian
Screenwriter
Ming-liang Tsai
Distributor
Big World Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Chinese
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 10, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 17, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$28.4K
Runtime
1h 46m
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