The Great Wall

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The Great Wall

PG-13

Released Feb 17, 2017

1h 44m

Adventure

Action

Fantasy

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Popcornmeter

35%

Tomatometer

237 Reviews

42%

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10,000+ Ratings

When a mercenary warrior (Matt Damon) is imprisoned within the Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.

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Critics Consensus

For a Yimou Zhang film featuring Matt Damon and Willem Dafoe battling ancient monsters, The Great Wall is neither as exciting nor as entertainingly bonkers as one might hope.

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Kambole Campbell

One Room With A View

A sometimes entertaining, but otherwise forgettable two hours, The Great Wall sounds cool on paper, but feels more like a business deal than a complete film.

Rated: 2/5

Aug 25, 2018

Full Review

Scott Tobias

Uproxx

The Great Wall gives one of the world's great visual filmmakers $150 million and an army of extras at his disposal, and he turns a monument into a playground.

Oct 10, 2017

Full Review

Christopher Orr

The Atlantic

Zhang's moments of visual splendor-a battalion of hot-air balloonists, the queen-monster and her royal guard of fan-frilled monstrosities-are weighed down by a script and performances almost dutiful in their dullness.

Mar 27, 2017

Full Review

Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Visually splendid from top to bottom, this epic adventure squeaks by on its looks and spares no expense to make sure of that.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 14, 2024

Full Review

Victoria Luxford

City AM

With a ponytail and dodgy accent, Damon fits awkwardly into the mix, putting in one of the most uneven performances of his career. The fact a Western actor is leading an Asian film should be uncomfortable, but in a film this bad, its hard to care.

Rated: 2/5

Feb 21, 2022

Full Review

Drew Dietsch

FANDOM

The Great Wall is the equivalent of a well-made toy movie. It's a feast for the imagination, but your heart and brain will check out after a while.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 29, 2021

Full Review

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Mike P

The Action was Awesome but the story and the dialogues were really Corny. Watched it yesterday with my wife we enjoyed the action.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/25

Full Review

Webb V

This is a movie I could sit nd watch with my parents, in-laws, children, co-workers, and neighbors. The great Wall takes me back to a time before the viewing public became jaded by personal idiosyncrasy and quibble. A time when a story could be presented for the purpose of telling an entertaining story. Its story is one of the struggle to balance good from bad, right from wrong, good vanquishing bad. The only thing The Great Wall is missing is maybe another 30 minutes in runtime. Certain sections could have taken a little longer to unfold. Will keep a look out for a directors cut version. There is nothing wrong with this movie. The visual imagery presented was outstanding.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/29/24

Full Review

Daniel N

No idea why these types of movies get such bad reviews. I thought this was brilliant. Somthing completely different to what we're used to. A nice mix of action and dramas with good casting and writing with a fantasy feel. This was great fun.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/23/24

Full Review

THATFEELINGWHENKNEESURGEYISTOMMORROW H

Whoever hates this movie I hate you; it was a masterpiece of a film one of the best movies of the year should have won that award but nah of course people had to hate it. You all have no taste in movies or seeing the masterpiece it truly is. Go fuck yourselves.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/20/24

Full Review

Oliver L

I honestly couldn’t get through the first 25 minutes of it because of how band and outright confusing the movie was.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

11/12/24

Full Review

Anastasia B

The not so Great Wall, more like. This movie has the likes of Jing Tian, Matt Damon, Pedro Pascal and William DaFoe and still managed to be bad. It was action filled, sure. But way too fast-paced and even though this movie was obviously fictional it was still so, so terribly unrealistic. I was so excited getting into it, but my excitement immediately disintegrated.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

11/07/24

Full Review

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Yimou Zhang

Director

Matt Damon

William Garin

Jing Tian

Commander Lin Mae

Pedro Pascal

Pero Tovar

Willem Dafoe

Ballard

Andy Lau

Strategist Wang

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Death Blades and Harpoons

3:00

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Close Combat

2:55

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Archery Test

2:01

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Nighttime Trap

2:55

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Fighting Blind

3:00

The Great Wall: Official Clip - The Cadet's Sacrifice

2:03

The Great Wall: Official Clip - The First Attack

3:00

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Killing the Queen

2:42

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Balloon Attack

2:19

The Great Wall: Official Clip - Learning to Trust

2:42

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The Great Wall: Trailer 2

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The Great Wall: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

When a mercenary warrior (Matt Damon) is imprisoned within the Great Wall, he discovers the mystery behind one of the greatest wonders of the world. As wave after wave of marauding beasts besiege the massive structure, his quest for fortune turns into a journey toward heroism as he joins a huge army of elite warriors to confront the unimaginable and seemingly unstoppable force.

Director: Yimou Zhang
Producer: Thomas Tull, Charles Roven, Jon Jashni, Peter Loehr
Screenwriter: Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro, Tony Gilroy
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Atlas Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Fantasy Action Violence)
Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 17, 2017, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 9, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $45.1M
Runtime: 1h 44m
Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos

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