# Little Big Soldier (大兵小将)
**Little Big Soldier** (大兵小将) is a 2010 Chinese action comedy directed by Ding Sheng, starring [Jackie Chan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-chan) as an aging conscript soldier of the Liang state and [Wang Leehom](https://www.edgepedia.org/wang-leehom) as a wounded general of the rival Wei state, set during China's Warring States period.[1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier) • [2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier) Chan also wrote the story and produced the film, which he had first conceived about 20 years before its release.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) • [4](https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff10/films/little-big-soldier)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 大兵小将 (Dà Bīng Xiǎo Jiàng)[1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier) |
| Director / writer | Ding Sheng; story by Jackie Chan, who also produced[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) |
| Leads | Jackie Chan (the Soldier), Wang Leehom (the General), Steve Yoo Seung-jun (Prince Wen), Peng Lin (Songster)[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) |
| Setting | Warring States period, third century BC; a battle wipes out both the Liang and Wei armies[2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier) • [5](https://www.clccl.lu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Film-information4.pdf) |
| Release | February 11, 2010 (APAC); US home-video release August 23, 2011[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) • [1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier) |
| Running time | 96 minutes per Box Office Mojo; the US distributor lists 92 minutes[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) • [1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier) |
| Worldwide box office | $5,186,427[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) |
| Rating / language | MPAA PG-13; Mandarin[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) • [1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is largely a tale of two warriors. A battle between the Liang and Wei armies leaves both sides all but annihilated, with only two survivors: the "big soldier" (Chan), a peasant conscript from Liang, and the "little general" (Wang), a royal officer of Wei.[2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier) The soldier has lived through countless battles with one technique: when the fighting starts, he falls down and plays dead.[4](https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff10/films/little-big-soldier)
Finding the wounded general, the soldier kidnaps him and sets out across hostile terrain toward his home state, hoping to collect a reward for the capture: five acres of land and, most importantly, an honorable discharge from the army.[2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier) • [6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/little-big-soldier) The two men hold opposing views on the war and the world, and their trek becomes a bickering road journey with bears, bandits, and other dangers, in which they must eventually join forces to survive.[1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier) • [7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/little-big-soldier) The film ends with a tragicomic final twist.[2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier)
## Development
Chan said at his hometown premiere in Hong Kong in February 2010 that he had first wanted to make an inspirational war film two decades earlier but suffered writer's block: he wrote half an hour of material and could not continue, so he went on to make films such as *Police Story* and *Project A* in the 1980s.[8](https://6abc.com/archive/7286997/) The project stayed on hold until he met Ding Sheng, a little-known filmmaker who had spent most of his career shooting television commercials; Ding placed the story in the [Warring States period](https://www.edgepedia.org/warring-states-period) and expanded the characters and details.[8](https://6abc.com/archive/7286997/) • [9](https://ent.sina.cn/star/tv/2010-01-29/detail-icczmvun2869340.d.html)
Chan had originally planned to play the young general himself, but decided his age no longer suited the part and took the soldier role instead.[9](https://ent.sina.cn/star/tv/2010-01-29/detail-icczmvun2869340.d.html) His wife, Lin Feng-jiao, who had long followed Wang Leehom's music and films, strongly recommended Wang for the young general.[10](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2009-04-03/02112453874.shtml) Filming began in early February 2009 in Yunnan, with Chan starring, producing, and participating in the screenplay.[10](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2009-04-03/02112453874.shtml) At promotion in Chengdu in January 2010, Chan presented the film as his 99th movie.[9](https://ent.sina.cn/star/tv/2010-01-29/detail-icczmvun2869340.d.html)
## Release and reception
The film was released in Asia in February 2010, with the earliest release date recorded as February 11, 2010 in the APAC region.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) • [11](https://www.alternateending.com/2010/10/chicago-international-film-festival-10-little-big-soldier-ding-sheng-china-hong-kong.html/amp) It was Chan's first widely released Chinese-language movie since his 2006 action comedy *[Rob-B-Hood](https://www.edgepedia.org/rob-b-hood)*.[8](https://6abc.com/archive/7286997/) Its New York premiere took place at the 9th New York Asian Film Festival, held June 25 to July 8, 2010.[4](https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff10/films/little-big-soldier) [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records worldwide grosses of $5,186,427, all international.[3](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/) A US home-video release followed on August 23, 2011.[1](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier)
Reviewers responded strongly to Chan's dramatic turn. The *South China Morning Post* called the role his best in years, while noting that the film's uneven tone and mixture of insight and banality lessened the impact of its final twist.[2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier) The New York Asian Film Festival program described it as his best film since 1994's *[Drunken Master II](https://www.edgepedia.org/drunken-master-ii)*, a sly satire on the wave of period epics then being produced in China, and Film at [Lincoln Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincoln-center) echoed that judgment, saying that at 56 Chan traded super-sized spectacle for small-scale combat and his best script.[4](https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff10/films/little-big-soldier) • [12](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/little-big-soldier/) The *Independent* characterized it as an odd-couple road comedy set during China's internecine struggles in the third century BC.[5](https://www.clccl.lu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Film-information4.pdf)
## Themes
The film contrasts the little soldier's dream of a peaceful life with the general's ambition of conquering other states, using that opposition to examine the trauma of war.[13](https://researchers-admin.westernsydney.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/94913700/uws_40413.pdf) The *South China Morning Post* described the pair's exchanges as at times an almost existential discourse, with heavy doses of action and humor.[2](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier) Chan framed the part as a change of direction for an aging action star, and the festival program read the film as Chan coming to terms with his aging body, his legacy, and China's place in the world.[4](https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff10/films/little-big-soldier)
## References
1. [Little Big Soldier, Well Go USA official film page](https://wellgousa.com/films/little-big-soldier)
2. [Paul Fonoroff (25 Feb 2010). Little Big Soldier review, South China Morning Post](https://www.scmp.com/article/706867/little-big-soldier)
3. [Little Big Soldier (2010), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1319718/credits/)
4. [Little Big Soldier, 9th New York Asian Film Festival (2010)](https://www.nyaff.org/nyaff10/films/little-big-soldier)
5. [Little Big Soldier film information, Cinémathèque Luxembourg](https://www.clccl.lu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Film-information4.pdf)
6. [Little Big Soldier streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/little-big-soldier)
7. [Little Big Soldier film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/little-big-soldier)
8. [Chan says new war film 20 years in making, AP via 6abc (19 Feb 2010)](https://6abc.com/archive/7286997/)
9. [成龙为《大兵小将》叫卖 称这部电影是迎合自己_手机新浪网](https://ent.sina.cn/star/tv/2010-01-29/detail-icczmvun2869340.d.html)
10. [成龙拍新片《大兵小将》 妻子力荐王力宏, 京华时报 via Sina (3 Apr 2009); 成龙为《大兵小将》叫卖, Sina (29 Jan 2010)](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2009-04-03/02112453874.shtml)
11. [Tim Brayton. Little Big Soldier review, Alternate Ending (Oct 2010)](https://www.alternateending.com/2010/10/chicago-international-film-festival-10-little-big-soldier-ding-sheng-china-hong-kong.html/amp)
12. [Little Big Soldier, Film at Lincoln Center](https://www.filmlinc.org/films/little-big-soldier/)
13. [Academic discussion of Little Big Soldier and war trauma, Western Sydney University](https://researchers-admin.westernsydney.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/94913700/uws_40413.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action comedies › Action comedies, 2000 to 2019*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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