War film marks cinema's return to frontline

With its advanced screenings, the film has drawn around 3 million theatergoers and garnered 8.0 points out of ten on the popular review site Douban.

But a large amount of the reviews, which have recently flooded major Chinese social platforms including WeChat and Sina Weibo, were polarized.

While some users say they are deeply moved by the sacrifices of Chinese soldiers and civilians, some history buffs are not satisfied as they believe the film has some exaggerated depictions of the Sihang Warehouse battle.

Nevertheless, the film has been highly anticipated by most domestic insiders to boost the recovery of Chinese movie market.

Earlier this year, a report from Beacon estimated that Chinese cinemas might have lost around 50-billion-yuan in box office takings caused by the six-month closure and postponing of many major releases.

"After Chinese cinemas being shuttered for such a long time due to the pandemic, The Eight Hundred is like a path-explorer. We expect it will revive the market and lift the morale of all Chinese filmmakers," says director Feng Xiaogang.