RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Devils On The Doorstep
Devils On The Doorstep

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Devils On The Doorstep (2000)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
90 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:10

Fresh:9

Rotten:1

Average Rating:6.8/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:Dec 18, 2002 Limited

Synopsis: To the average Chinese peasant, foreigners were always 'devils' -- potentially dangerous outsiders who arrived on Chinese soil with dubious motives and nefarious intent. That was especially true of... To the average Chinese peasant, foreigners were always 'devils' -- potentially dangerous outsiders who arrived on Chinese soil with dubious motives and nefarious intent. That was especially true of the Japanese soldiers who invaded China in the 1930s, first annexing Manchuria and then occupying large tracts of the mainland.Ma Dasan and his neighbours in Rack-Armour Terrace resented giving a percentage of their grain harvest to the Japanese 'devils', but otherwise co-existed with them quite peacefully.Things began to change the night when two prisoners of the anti-Japanese resistance were dumped on Ma Dasan's doorstep. One was the a Japanese soldier, the other a Chinese translator/collaborator. Ma was told to keep them hidden for a few days. But the days stretched into weeks, and the weeks stretched into months. Unwilling to keep the prisoners any longer and unable to execute them, Ma Dasan came up with the idea of retruning them to the Japanese army in exchange for two carts of grain.The outcome of his scheme taught him the hard way that 'devils' are not necessarily foreign … and that war can turn the best of men into the worst. -- © Fortissimo film [More]

Starring: Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding

Starring: Jiang Wen, Jiang Hongbo, Kagawa Teruyuki, Yuan Ding, Cong Zhijun

Director: Jiang Wen

Director: Jiang Wen
Screenwriter: Jiang Wen, You Fengwei, Shi Jianquan, Shu Ping
Studio: Cowboy Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 3 of 3

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Apr 19, 2005

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Devils On The Doorstep

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 12 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety

There's a gem of an idea lurking inside this movie, but the film is burdened with an overwrought and static first hour and wild tonal fluctuation.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
08/08/02
Hollywood Reporter

Shot in rich, shadowy black-and-white, Devils chronicles, with increasingly amused irony, the relationship between reluctant captors and befuddled captives.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
12/17/02
Dennis Lim
Dennis Lim
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The farcical elements seemed too pat and familiar to hold my interest, yet its diverting grim message is a good one.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/02/03
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

No review available.

comment Comment
08/21/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Rich in shadowy metaphor and as sharp as a samurai sword, Jiang Wen's Devils on the Doorstep is a wartime farce in the alternately comic and gut-wrenching style of Joseph Heller or Kurt Vonnegut.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
12/20/02
Joe McGovern
Joe McGovern
Premiere Magazine

This boisterous comedy serves up a cruel reminder of the fate of hundreds of thousands of Chinese, one which can only qualify as a terrible tragedy.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/18/02
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Undeniably impressive.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
01/04/03
Par Parekh
Par Parekh
Film Journal International

The tonal shifts are jolting, and though Wen’s messages are profound and thoughtfully delivered, more thorough transitions would have made the film more cohesive.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
02/07/03
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

In its dry and forceful way, it delivers the same message as Jiri Menzel's Closely Watched Trains and Danis Tanovic's No Man's Land.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
12/18/02
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A wild ride that effortlessly combines devilish dark humor, slapstick comedy, extreme violence and bitter satire.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/18/02
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
 
 
1 - 12 (sorted by rotten rating)
Text View
See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
36% 36% Angels & Demons
95% 95% Star Trek
25% 25% Four Christmases

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
78% 78% The Hangover
49% 49% Taking Woodstock
26% 26% The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
47% 47% The Girl From Monaco

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Sam Worthington

Sam Worthington

A video interview with the Avatar star!

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland

Check out the brand new trailer now!

Golden Globes

Golden Globes

Up in the Air leads with 6 noms!

Nominee Gallery

Nominee Gallery

See who got nominated for Golden Globes!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
3
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
16
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
10
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
6
  • Prince of Persia Featurette Posted Source: Yahoo! Movies
2
  • Trailer Bulletin: Robin Hood Source: ComingSoon.net
52
  • Mel Gibson Plans a Mexican Vacation Source: Variety
8
  • New Iron Man 2 Clue Posted Source: Screen Rant
24
  • Gibson and DiCaprio are Going Norse Source: HitFix
66
  • Lord of the Rings Coming to Blu-ray April 6 Source: Hollywood Reporter
8
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Avatar Live Up To The Hype?
236
  • Awards Tour 2009: Golden Globe Noms Here!
115
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Girlpower Rules Again with Princess at #1
70
  • Awards Tour 2009: Inglourious Basterds Lead Critics Choice Noms
42
  • Awards Tour 2009: Avatar Best Picture at NYFCO!
38
  • The Gimmicks That Changed Cinema: Part 1
37
  • Weekly Ketchup: James Cameron Plans a Fantastic Voyage
33
  • The Effects of Where the Wild Things Are
30
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Critics Consensus: Princess, Invictus Are Certified Fresh
21
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
23
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Devils On The Doorstep at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Devils On The Doorstep at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Sci-Fi This Decade
Best Sci-Fi This Decade External Link

Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.

40 Worst Films of the 2000s
40 Worst Films of the 2000s External Link

Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.

10 Questions For Zac Efron
10 Questions For Zac Efron External Link

The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.

Best Decade Ever!
Best Decade Ever! External Link

Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure External Link

In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.