Promoting culture via the big screen

The fantasy epic, The Great Wall, with Oscar-winner Matt Damon and other stars, will hit Chinese theaters on Friday.

The international crew, comprising more than 1,000 people from 37 countries, produced more than 5,000 "weapons" and 20,000 props.

Also, up to 300,000 Tao Tie monsters, created using digital technology, laid siege to the Great Wall.

Meanwhile, in an interesting twist, many domestic moviegoers are skeptical about the movie's plot despite the filmmaker's efforts to promote a new China-Hollywood model with his story.

A widely-echoed view on movie forums is that story is too Western, especially since it revolves around two Western mercenaries, one played by Damon and the other by Pascal.