GomBurZa

This movie reminds us Filipinos why are we free. Why we are here. The blood of our ancestors spilled in our soil and the term "mamatay ng dahil sayo" in our National Anthem.

If you think of it, the revolution for our independence was not long ago. But almsot everyone have already forgotten the sacrifices of our great grandfathers to free the country.

I applaud this movie to attack the viewers directly throug their hearts, how Spain raped the Philippines of its natural resources, its people, and its mind.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas, Mabuhan ang ating Bayan, Mabuhay ang Pilipino.

This is a battle cry.

Another failed attempt by a Filipino who thinks he could really direct a motion picture. Filmmaking is not merely about camera angles, anamorphic lenses and popular actors, it should be more on how you tell stories that are both dramatically striking and future proof. The whole film is too clean for a historical narrative when it should be edgy and bold visually. Acting is also underwhelming (except Enchong) and predictable--no intensity! I really wish we had more filmmakers who can compete with or be on par with international directors. Sadly, the local film students I meet and production companies I know still have no unique and new ideas that I haven't seen in the past twenty or even thirty years. The score and Spanish are also horrendous!

This movie is a masterpiece! Thankful this was created as real Philippine history was shown. All the characters were amazing. Cinematography, sound, every little detail was well executed. Storyline will keep you glued from start to end. It stays with you. Inspiring, keeps the heart burning for justice and hope and love for our heroes who fought bravely for freedom. It moved me to learn more about our Philippine history and read again books of Jose Rizal. Jose Rizal himself remembers the GOMBURZA martyrdom. Lastly, the theme song "Duyan ng Bayan" is a favorite now and a battle cry to continue the flame of love for country burning. This movie is now in my well-loved films.

I liked the sets and production pieces, they did not look sloppy. However, since half the show's dialogue was in Spanish, they should have invested time and money in an accent coach. It was rather disappointing to hear Caucasian-looking Spaniard officials speaking with Taglish prosody, syntax, and grammar. Sure, most of them did pull off a modicum of the European Spanish "lisp", but the forced ceceo was all the more phony- and slapdash-sounding amidst all the Taglish glottal stops, the nasal tones, the r/rr merging, the stress on the wrong syllables (Burgós), the hard b, d, p, the butchered d (misericordjha)...

I would not say that I am a history buff. But, As far as my memory of Nick Joaquin's book A Question of Heroes goes, this movie is accurate. Andoon pa nga si Pelaez e, tunay na bayani. Akala ko hindi ako maaawa kay Zamora, andoon din. I didn't feel anything for Zamora when I read that he was just a gambler who was just mixed up because his last name started with Z. But, the movie made me pity him.

Just don't mind the Spanish accents of some actors (buti pa si Jaime Fabregas). Plus some of the costumes had a bit of difference, I didn't notice this but the people who were watching with me did.

Still, it is a great movie especially for students. It has historical value. That's why I rated it high.