This sequel to The Empress Dowager equals, and, in some ways, surpasses its predecessor. The attention to historic detail in the sets and costumes is everything one expects from director Li Han-hsiang, the master of the costume drama. Variety hailed the production as "lavish, the script tightly packed," and concluded that the "filmmakers' efforts to try to make things perfect, to put his audience back in the days of the Empress Dowager and her son, have come off once again." (SB-IVL) |