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奇幻武侠大片《长城》预告片发布，在过去几周引起了不小的反响。不少美国人觉得疑惑，为什么一部以中国千年长城为背景的电影会是英语片?而且主演竟是美国影星马特·达蒙(Matt Damon)?无论如何，这部电影的支持者(有来自中国的，也有来自美国的)认为中美两国合作的影片可以让中国在全球舞台上为更多观众所了解。
中美观众在同一部电影上产生分歧可不是第一次了。有时候，在美国本土不受待见的美国影片反而会受到中国观众的欢迎;反之，在中国本土饱受差评的中国影片反而会赢得美国观众的喜爱。下面，我们就来看看让太平洋两岸观众意见不一的三部影片吧!
The trailer for the upcoming fantasy-action film The Great Wall has been causing quite a stir over the past several weeks. A number of Americans are questioning why a film set on the eponymous wall approximately 1,000 years ago has been shot in English and apparently features Matt Damon as its lead actor; however, supporters of the film, both in China and the US, have argued that the Chinese-American coproduction will increase China's visibility on the global stage.
This is far from the first time that American and Chinese audiences have disagreed on a film, though. In fact, sometimes Chinese audiences will prefer an American film disliked in its own home country, and vice-versa. Let's take a look at three recent films that divided audiences on both sides of the Pacific.
1) 《魔兽》(2016)
影片简介：
根据经典游戏《魔兽世界》改编，是观众期待已久的一部影片。影片让观众置身于艾泽拉斯国度的奇幻世界中，感受兽人与人类之间史诗般的冲突与斗争。
中国观众怎么看：
从预售情况来看，《魔兽》是中国票房史上观众最期待的影片之一。这部电影刚在中国上映就引起来巨大反响，创造了周末最高票房纪录。
虽然电影取得巨大成功的很大一部分原因是《魔兽世界》游戏在中国的影响力，但我们不能忽视电影的宣传效果。上映前就在中国各大网站上发布了几十部针对中国观众的预告片。有针对性的宣传再加上游戏原有的粉丝基础，这使得《魔兽》电影在中国市场获得史无前例的成功。(值得一提的是制作商传奇影业今年被万达收购。)
美国观众怎么看：
简单来说，《魔兽》引得美国观众炸开了一锅粥，票房十分不尽如人意，差评如潮。在线影评平台烂番茄网(Rotten Tomatoes)用这么一句话来总结这部电影：“粗劣地改编畅销游戏，作为电影，没有太大艺术价值。”多数批评家抨击电影过度依赖《指环王》之类的传统魔幻风格;有一位拿它与彼得·杰克逊(Peter Jackson)导演的《霍比特人》三部曲作为比较，《霍比特人》也因其过度奢华的视觉效果而饱受指责。What it's about:
Warcraft is the long-awaited cinematic adaptation of the insanely popular Warcraft video game franchise. Set in the fantastical world of Azeroth, the film thrusts viewers into the center of an epic clash between the orcs and humans that populate the land.
What Chinese audiences thought:
Based on pre-sales, Warcraft was one of the most highly-anticipated films in Chinese cinematic history. Upon release, the film proved a massive hit in China, where it set a record for the highest-grossing opening weekend of all time.
While a good portion of the film's success is undoubtedly due to the massive popularity of the World of Warcraft video game franchise in China, credit must be given to the film's promoters, who released dozens of trailers—tailor-made for Chinese audiences—onto the Chinese web. This combination of targeted promotion and a preexisting fanbase made Warcraft an unprecedented smash hit in China. (It's also worth noting that Warcraft's production company, Legendary Pictures, became a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group this year.)
What American audiences thought:
Warcraft bombed in the US. Its box-office performance was wretched, and most critical reviews were unforgiving at best. The online review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes summarized the film's merits (or perceived lack thereof) as “...a sluggish and derivative adaptation of a bestselling game with little evident cinematic value.” Most critics focused on the film's formulaic fantasy trappings, with one comparing Warcraft's extravagant visual effects to Peter Jackson's recent Hobbit trilogy, which was often criticized for its excessive CGI.
2) 《英雄》(2002)
影片简介：
《英雄》是当时中国最大手笔的一部影评，以公元前227年荆轲刺秦王的真实历史故事为原型，既富传奇色彩又不乏精彩特效，将中国传统武侠故事演绎得栩栩如生。大投资、明显阵容、古代背景，这些特点与《长城》有几分相似。
中国观众怎么看：
影片导演张艺谋之前创作了包括《红高粱》、《菊豆》、《大红灯笼高高挂》、《一个都不能少》等一系列佳作，可以说创造了中国电影的一个时代。这些电影以深入分析中国社会、独特视觉语言等方面见长。而当其改编自荆轲刺秦王故事的武侠题材电影上映时，让观众为之一振。
演员阵容有李连杰、张曼玉、梁朝辉、章子怡、甄子丹等来自中国大陆及香港的著名演员，再加上大手笔投资，《英雄》一上映便在中国打破了票房纪录。不过，大众对这部电影的看法不一，后来，人们对于这部轰动一时的武侠电影的评价差异变得越来越大。
除了电影本身的众多吸引人的方面(比如精心设计的场景、精美的视觉效果、明星阵容、精彩武打等)，很多人还认为这是中国第一部成功的商业电影。也有人发出不一样的声音，批评电影情节不合理、张艺谋突然改变画风很奇怪。还说电影似乎在暗示自由精神的侠士要屈服于秦王所代表的秩序，这是向人们传递不正确的信息。还有人谴责张艺谋在中国电影界开了个不好的头，导致后来的电影都以《英雄》为范本，以追求高投资和商业价值为成功标准。
美国观众怎么看：
直到2004年，《英雄》才得以在北美上映(多亏了迪士尼高管和著名导演昆汀·塔伦蒂诺[Quentin Tarantino]的极力推荐)，一上映便好评如潮。《时代》杂志称其为“大作”，著名影评人杰·埃伯特(Roger Ebert)认为这是“一部极具美感的视觉诗歌”。电影在北美大获好评，美国国家影评人协会(National Society of Film Critics)授予张艺谋“最佳导演奖”，纽约影评人协会(New York Film Critics Circle)及芝加哥影评人协会(Chicago Film Critics Association)分别授予《英雄》“最佳摄影奖”。
全球电影界公认的观点是美国观众看电影时不喜欢看字幕。而《英雄》这部中文电影却在美国大获成功，在北美斩获5371万美元票房，成为北美历史上票房最高的外语片和武打片之一。影片中震撼的武打场景不需翻译观众就能领会，而对于美国观众来说，具有异域风情题材与《英雄》的成功也有不少关系。
不过，一些美国观众也像部分中国观众一样，认为电影暗示的主题不够合理(《乡村之声》杂志认为其体现的意识形态更接近卡通片)。
What it's about:
The most expensive film project in China's history at the time, Hero is an epic tale based on the real-life story of Jing Ke's attempted assassination of the Emperor Qin in 227 B.C. The movie combines larger-than-life visuals and meticulously choreographed stuntwork to create a striking cinematic representation of China's classic martial arts stories (a genre commonly known as wuxia). With its massive budget, star-filled cast, and ancient setting, the film features more than a few passing similarities to Great Wall.
What Chinese audiences thought:
After defining an era of Chinese filmmaking with a string of critically acclaimed works like Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, and Not One Less, which were praised for their incisive analyses of Chinese society and distinctive visual language, Zhang Yimou shocked audiences when he presented his newest work: a sweeping wuxia tale based on the story of the man who almost assassinated the first emperor to unify China.
Boasting a lineup of some of the most popular actors from mainland China and Hong Kong—including Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi, and Donnie Yen—as well as massive financial backing, Hero broke box office records in China upon its release. However, public reception to the film was divided, and as time went on, the dichotomy among people's opinions on this wuxia smash hit grew all the more pronounced.
In addition to the film's obvious charms (among them elaborate sets and visuals, a star-studded cast, and stunning action sequences) many praised Zhang for making what might be considered China's first blockbuster commercial film. Yet others derided the film for a multitude of reasons, including its unconventional narrative structure, Zhang's abrupt change in style, and the overall message of the film, which seemed to imply that the free-spirited lifestyle of the wuxia warrior should give way to order and discipline (represented by the King of Qin). As subsequent Chinese films began copying the model of Hero—a picture with a high budget and commercial appeal—to varying degrees of success, some even began to blame Zhang for beginning a vicious cycle in China's film industry.
What American audiences thought:
When Hero finally hit North American theaters in 2004 (it took the intervention of Disney executives and Quentin Tarantino to finally secure a release), it opened to near-universal acclaim. A Time review called it a “masterpiece,” while famed film critic Roger Ebert described it as “a visual poem of extraordinary beauty.” Among the many accolades showered upon the film, the National Society of Film Critics awarded Zhang the Best Director award, and both the New York Film Critics Circle and the Chicago Film Critics Association presented Hero with their respective Best Cinematography awards.
A common rule of thumb in the global film industry holds that American audiences are unwilling to read subtitles in films. Yet Hero, a film shot entirely in Mandarin, was both a critical and a commercial success in the US. In fact, its North American box-office gross ($53,710,019) makes it one of the highest-grossing foreign-language and martial-arts films in North American history. Without a doubt, the film's gorgeously-shot action scenes, which require no translation, and its exotic (for American audiences) subject matter had a great deal to do with its success.
However, some American viewers did take issue with some of the film's underlying themes (the Village Voice referred to it as having a “cartoon ideology”), similar to their Chinese counterparts.
3) 《环太平洋》(2013)
巨型怪兽(Kaiju)通过太平洋底部穿越维度的通道侵入地球，人类研制了高大的机器人战士“机甲猎人”(Jaeger)来应对这一威胁。可以说，这是一部向《哥斯拉》等日本怪兽题材致敬的电影。
中国观众怎么看：
《环太平洋》在中国票房收入竟高达1.134亿美元——占了全球票房总收入的四分之一还多，成为中国市场票房排名第六的美国电影。这惊人的成功背后有一系列原因，其中一个主要原因是其中体现的“极客文化”。
可以说，这部电影是对极客文化的高度体现和赞扬。中国网民称其为宅男们的《小时代》。人形机器人机甲猎人在这部影片中扮演重要角色，与中国年轻人喜爱的《高达》系列及《新世纪福音战士》等日本动漫机械战士类似。
《环太平洋》中还有一位叫暴风赤红(Crimson Typhoon)的机甲猎人来自中国，中国元素极浓，不容忽视。
美国观众怎么看：
尽管《环太平洋》在美国开势良好，但一周后票房迅速下跌。最后，美国票房仅为1.018亿美元(比在中国少了1000万美元)。《福布斯》形容其为“历史上少有的全球票房超过4亿美元而美国本土票房仅为1亿的电影”。
影评认为该影片呈现了很棒的视觉效果，不负其名声和影响力。《Time Out》杂志认为它“将单纯、轻松的漫画情节”与”伟大的人性”完美结合，是那年好多动作大片所缺少的特点。但也有很多人批评电影情节设置过于单薄。
张艺谋的大作《长城》不久将在中国及美国上映(中国定于2016年12月，美国定于2017年2月17日)，两国的观众又会有怎样不同的反应呢?会像《魔兽》那样出现两极分化的情形?还是会像张艺谋早期电影《英雄》那样呢?
无论如何，我已经有了自己的观影策略：以开放包容的心态欣赏电影，喜欢与否自己做主。
What it's about:
Massive alien monsters called “Kaiju” are invading Earth via an interdimensional portal at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. To fight this terrible threat, humanity has invented gigantic humanoid robots called “Jaegers.” At its heart, it's a modern, big-budget homage to old Japanese monster films like Godzilla.
What Chinese audiences thought:
Pacific Rim earned an astonishing $113.4 million in Chinese box-office sales—more than a quarter of its worldwide gross. It eventually became the sixth-highest-grossing American film in Chinese history. Its stellar performance in the country can be attributed to a number of factors, key among them its “geek appeal.”
Pacific Rim is essentially a love letter to geek culture. In fact, a number of Chinese netizens compared Pacific Rim to the domestic romantic comedy Tiny Times calling it a “Tiny Times for male geeks.” The humanoid robots (commonly referred to as “mecha” in science fiction) known as “Jaegers”, which play a central role in this film, are similar to mecha seen in a great deal of Japanese anime series which are popular among Chinese youth, such as the Gundam franchise and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The fact that the film featured a Chinese “Jaeger” called Crimson Typhoon, which boasts a China-inspired design scheme, couldn't have hurt either.
What American audiences thought:
While Pacific Rim started with a strong opening in the US, ticket sales quickly plummeted with each successive week. It ended up grossing $101.8 million in the country (ten million less than its earnings in China). In fact, Forbes called it the “rare English-language film in history to cross $400 million while barely crossing $100 million domestic.”
Critical reviews of the film typically praised the painstaking care put into Pacific Rim's visuals, and the movie was largely seen as a heartfelt tribute to its influences. According to Time Out magazine, Pacific Rim combined “pure, pleasurable comic-book absurdity” with a “plausible humanity” that many of the year's other action-heavy blockbusters lacked. However, a great deal of criticism was directed toward the film's plot, which many called unsubstantial.
When Zhang Yimou's vision of the true nature of the Great Wall finally hits theaters in China and the United States (in December 2016 and February 17, 2017 respectively), how will cinema-goers in each country react? Will their reactions be as polarized as they were to Warcraft, or will the film be viewed more similarly to Zhang's earlier period piece, Hero?
Whatever the case, I've already decided on my strategy: to watch the film with an open mind and decide for myself whether I like it or not.
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