Let the Bullets Fly

"A comic western legend."

2010 2h 12m ZH

🙌

7.8

BANGER

★7.8TMDB · 365

ActionComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When circumstances force an outlaw to impersonate a county governor and clean up a corrupt town, the Robin Hood figure finds himself in a showdown with the local godfather.

“A comic western legend.”

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Cast

Jiang Wen
Pocky Zhang
Chow Yun-Fat
Huang Silang
Ge You
Old Tang
Carina Lau
Magistrate's wife
Shao Bing
The Second
Liao Fan
The Third
Du Yiheng
The Four
Li Jing
The Five

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jiang Wen
Writers: Shu Ping, Jiang Wen, Zhu Sujin
Languages: Mandarin
Countries: China, Hong Kong

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 16 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: China, Hong Kong.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Part of the "Beiyang Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jiang Wen, shot by Zhao Fei. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Nan Shu. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jiang Wen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jiang Wen and Chow Yun-Fat and Ge You carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A comic western legend.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jiang Wen directs. Zhao Fei behind the camera. Nan Shu scores. Jiang Wen cuts. Produced in China, Hong Kong. Dialogue in Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 16 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: China, Hong Kong.
3Part of the "Beiyang Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Jiang Wen, shot by Zhao Fei. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Nan Shu. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Jiang Wen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jiang Wen and Chow Yun-Fat and Ge You carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A comic western legend.".
9IMDB entry: tt1533117 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Zhao Fei
Original score: Nan Shu
Editing: Jiang Wen
Production design: Eddie Wong
Costume design: William Chang Suk-Ping
Sound: Wang Gang
Runtime: 132 min · 2h 12m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $104,731,450
Original language: ZH
IMDB: Let the Bullets Fly (2010)

Part of

Beiyang Trilogy

Also by

Jiang Wen

Stills · wallpapers

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2023-06-10
★ 10/10
This movie might actually be my first Chinese spaghetti western. It's very funny and highly satirical, typical of Jiang Wen. At first, I thought it was going to be a lot like Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles", and in some respects it is. But really, it's a good deal more sophisticated than that. The plot is almost like a chess game between two brilliant strategists. I understand, from one Chinese reviewer, that the film has a lot of double entendres and puns in Chinese that we are missing without it being our first language. This is an incredible movie, even with half of it lost in translation. I can only imagine that it's absolutely brilliant in Chinese. Warning: The pacing is super fast and the plot is extremely complicated. Be prepared to pause the film and back up.

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