The First Emperor

Reviews on The First Emperor Chin on US papers First emperor was aired on Discovery USA on Jan 29th at 9pm.

N Y Times

Review: 'The First Emperor' A Soap Opera With a Little Archaeology By ANITA GATES Published: January 28, 2006

He was called Qin Shi Huangdi. In the third century B.C., he ruled what is now China, and he is credited with unifying that country and building its Great Wall.

The dramatizations in "The First Emperor" are more detailed than in many examples of the genre, 21st-century conversational ("Or am I missing something?" the emperor asks sardonically at one point) and, for the most part, better acted. Wang Ji, who plays the emperor's mother, stands out, possibly because her character has so much to emote about. By the time her son came of age, she had two younger sons by a new lover, Lao Ai (Tom Wu). Recognizing the threat to his power, Qin Shi Huangdi had Lao Ai executed (in the film, he is pulled apart by horses) and the boys strangled.

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/28/arts/television/28gate.html

Hollywood reporter Hollywood reporter Jan 24th.

Writer and director Nic Young employs a colloquial approach to their ancient dialogue in colorful scenes that are at first disconcerting but come to be entirely believable. He is helped by some spirited acting, especially by James Pax as the emperor who soars to despotic heights and then descends into deadly madness.