KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

LeonLouisRicci So Much History in such a Little Movie is the Problem with this Well Intentioned "Mind Opener". It Wants so Badly to Inform that it Overloads its Message with Everything and Anything Concerning the Recent and Not So Recent History of Taiwan, Formerly Known as Formosa.The Filmmakers are Noticeably Nervous here as it Tries with its Low Budget and B-Movie Actors to Concoct a Watchable, Intriguing, Fact-Based Story in the Form of a Political Thriller. It Somewhat Succeeds but the End Result is a lot Less Successful and Fitting for the Very Serious Subject Matter.A Documentary would have been a Better way to get the History Lesson across to the Apathetic and Uninformed because this is just so much Low-Budget Muddle the Lesson is Buried Among the Rubble of a Condensed and Complicated Story Fit. The Taiwanese Situation During the Cold War was an Important History Concerning Communism, Police States, and China's Mainland Bullying of the Little Island and are all Historically Important Deserving a Much Clearer Exposition and Explanation. Something Like this is just too Easily Dismissed and Therefore an Almost Wasted Effort.

kristin_carter After watched your film, "Formosa Betrayed," I have another great idea for you. It is for you to make your next daring one. It is titled, "American Food Stamp." It is story about there are shameless people who have no attention to find a job but rather to lose the benefit, they stay home. These men have nothing to do but beat up their wife and kids, and their women are just having kids after kids. And these kids are running around on the street and becoming a gang member, and eventually, they are in jail. The Republican Party recognizes the problem and cut the food stamp benefit off in the year of 2011. And, then, for making the story more interesting, let's make the entire Republican Party are white men and all of the food stamp benefiters are black men, and the real main reason to cut off the food stamp benefit is because of these white men hate these black men. Make sure to use some of the black and white films that are showing how KKK beat up the black men and burn down their houses. Yes, in the year of 2011. Since we all know "Food Stamp," "Racism," "Republican Party," do exist, I do not think you would care how to manipulate the story regardless of historical time line and other facts, as you had great dare, and how did you make your "Formosa Betrayed" film in an insulting way to all of Taiwanese.INSULT ANY ENTIRE RACE IS A VERY SERIOUS CRIME!! About the ending, put this on: "as so many violent incidents like this had happened, The United State became a democratic country…. As today, no black men are walking on the street with fear. The fear of be killed." It is the same misleading style you had for your ending in your "Formosa Betrayed" film. I know you will be filming your new movie, "American food stamp," outside of The United States, as you did not film your "Formosa Betrayed" in Taiwan. And, I am also sure that you will not release your new movie in The United States. So, you don't need to worry about how American people are going to say about your new movie, "American food stamp." But you will be so surprised about how many educated people are outside of The United States, and they will recognize that your new movie is another mistake one, and it is the copy cat of your "Formosa Betrayed." And, good luck to your career.As a media worker, I would think you should give yourself a great responsibility to provide correct information to public, as a media worker is a great educator, so, we can have educated generations. And, that is a great thing to do for our offspring.

Michael Turton Spoilers ahead! In Formosa Betrayed producer and writer Will Tiao, a second-generation Taiwanese-American, offers us an unsettling yet emotionally gripping account of an American FBI agent (James van der Beek) accidentally thrust into a 1980s Taiwan in the grip of a police state nightmare, in hot pursuit of gangster hit men. Drawing in elements of police state conspiracy/political thrillers such as Hidden Agenda and Missing, Formosa Betrayed will also call to mind The Killing Fields.Formosa Betrayed opens with its bloody, shocking ending and is told in a series of flashbacks, returning again and again to the ending, then bouncing back to some point in the past to further elaborate. Like Agent Jake Kelly, the viewer has to immerse herself in the tale for a while before she finds a foothold in it. And like Agent Kelly, the viewer will find that much has been learned before the exit is reached.Back in 1983 when the idea that the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan was Free China still lingered like sewer stink on a Taipei street, Agent Kelly finds himself going to Taiwan due to a murder at a university in the US. A Taiwanese economic professor there has been killed in an unsubtle professional hit by gangsters. Sent to Taiwan to "assist" in the investigation though knowing nothing about the island, Kelly is met by Susan Kane (Wendy Crewson), who describes the ROC in glowing 1950s stereotypes of pro- and anti-Communism. While van der Beek does great work, it is Crewson's uncompromising ability to filter out the slightest rationality or sympathy from her character that in my opinion is the best acting job in this movie; she is the foil who enables van der Beek to credibly -- and understatedly -- portray the FBI agent with a conscience. The final shot of her in the movie is brilliant.The remainder of the supporting cast consists of experienced actors who turn in excellent performances. James Heard is especially enjoyable as Tom Braxton, Jake Kelly's shallow mentor. Director Adam Kane does outstanding work despite a modest $8 million budget.Aside from Susan Kane, Kelly moves through the mystery of 1980s Taiwan entirely without a foreign guide. Instead, he meets a series of Taiwanese who draw him ever more deeply into the authoritarian reality that lies behind the facade of ROC sophistication and Free China "democracy". The beauty of this approach is that it leaves Kelly, like the movie-goer, alone to fish for his own truths in this sea of competing representations of Taiwan. Though Formosa Betrayed is conventionally described as a thriller that also introduces some of the issues of Taiwan democracy and independence, and may certainly be enjoyed and understood that way, it is much more than that. What Tiao has done in this film is offered a homage to the history of Taiwan's democratization and the people who died to make it possible. Thus, the film presents not "real" history, but allegorized, sacred history. In the shooting of Professor Henry Wen, Tiao makes a double reference to the killer of writer Henry Liu in the US in 1984 by Taiwan gangsters, and to the killing of Professor Chen Wen-chen in 1980 under interrogation in Taipei. Viewers will also see a reference to the murder of activist Lin Yi-hsiung's mother and daughters in 1980. The film depicts a trip to the southern port city of Kaohsiung, where Kelly falls in with a peaceful democracy protest that is brutally assaulted by ROC troops, a clear reference to the watershed Kaohsiung Incident of 1979, in which a massive pro-democracy protest was attacked by the police. The brief reference to the Presbyterian Church recalls that it was a famous supporter of the democracy movement in Taiwan. Even the title, which refers to George Kerr's famous book of the same name, draws the reader into the beginnings of that world, to the 1947 massacre of thousands of Taiwanese who had risen up in revolt against the government, including the systematic killings of educated locals. Knowledgeable viewers will have many issues with its overwrought portrait of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) police state, though that is probably necessary for American audiences. The pro-KMT types are recognizable types, no doubt another necessity. Yet it should also be recalled, when the ROC officials smear Professor Wen (ridiculously) as a Moriarity-style gangster mastermind, that such claims were SOP for KMT disinformation campaigns. Recall too that during propaganda drive during the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, claiming that 180 police but no protesters were injured. If what happens in the movie sounds stilted to certain US critics, it is probably because they lack experience with just how absurdly transparent such propaganda can be.But remember: if the politics get in the way, you can still sit down with that gargantuan tub of popcorn and an oversize coke that could water a small farm, kick back in front of the big screen, and spend a couple of hours savoring a solid, enjoyable thriller with some great moments of humor and pathos, enough blood to give it an "R" rating, and -- like Taiwan itself -- a shrouded, unsettled finish.Michael Turton

de_cafe He discovers that this case is tangled up in a completely different and darker world of a nation's politics way beyond his control. Formosa Betrayed raises awareness of world issues through a look on historical tragedy.Formosa Betrayed is engaging and suspenseful. The narrative structure worked perfectly for the context, from the short, one-shot flashbacks to the overall cross-cutting between past and present. A little disorienting at first, the non-linear arrangement helped escalate the confusion and ignorance of the protagonist.Wendy Crewson delivers a great act as she juggles with her authority on the border of ignorance and indifference. James Van Der Beek illustrates vividly his character's crucial shift in perspective. The devastation of the character Ming is so heartfelt as performed by Will Tiao.Formosa Betrayed probes open lots of critical questions about the world we live in, and it left me thinking for a long time after I watched it. I enjoyed the adventure and dilemmas that each character was facing, and the intricate plot. The conspiracy depicted in Formosa Betrayed definitely made a lasting impression. This is a fast-paced, must-see political thriller!