Alright, the original novel by James Clavell about the self-appointed king of British merchants in the early Hong Kong days was jingoistic and dated enough, but this one is a real Bad Movie.
Instead of going for a more logical approach (a mini-series, like "Shogun"), "Tai-pan" the movie aims for a period epic like "55 days at Peking" or "Gone with the Wind" and ends up playing the whole thing for high camp, something that could be blamed on the stale, TV-like filmmaking, abrupt editing and, specially, the cast. Bryan Brown, of "Cocktail" and "F/X" fame, plays the titular character in such a cockey and über-macho pose that you almost expect to stop, look at you and recognise the whole thing is played for laughs, Joan Chen, who back then couldn't act her way of a paper bag, is a walking joke as her Chinese lover, and the villains are so ugly, stupid and their machinations so lame that they seem to have stolen from "Dune".
Avoid it all costs if you expect anything serious, buy INMEDIATELY if you enjoy campy (are there any other kind?) soap operas.
I remember seeing TAI-PAN (1986) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0092042/) years ago. It wasn't very good or exciting, but I don't remember it being terrible. : ) Since I don't remember much of it, perhaps it borders on boring which is a big no no in my book. Colorful film with an early Hong Kong backdrop is all I remember. If you want to see an interesting Joan Chen (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001040/) film check out TEMPTATION OF A MONK (1983) (http://imdb.com/title/tt0108630/).
(http://www.unzeit.de/poster/Tai_Pan/Tai_Pan_72.jpg)
I saw this during its original theatrical release and I thought it was a piece of crap. The book was great - - I read it in about 5 days. The movie didn't seem to successfully capture a single element of Clavell's absorbing novel. A shame.
Off topic, I was amazed to learn that Clavell scripted the original The Fly (1958) from a story by George Langelaan.
He wrote some stuff apart from his Asian-set soup operas. I remember reading a novel called "King of the rats", about a group of Allied POWs being held in a Japanese camp. Not a bad book, but a quite a depressing read. Closer in spirit to "Andersonville" than to "The Great Escape", if you know what I mean.
Didn't know about him writing that script. Sort of funny.
and the movie King Rat is on DVD, stared George Seagle and Tom Courtney and its as grim as the book.
Since Herodotus has already mentioned Clavell's "King Rat," I'll just mention that Clavell was P.O.W. for three years in a Japanese P.O.W. camp.
As for "Tai[pan," I--too--saw it on its initial release. While I don't remember it being that good, I don't remember it being that bad neither. Mediocre is the word I would use. And while I have not read the book, upon which it is based, The Burgomaster is no doubt correct, that the book is better than the film.
Uses to happen. The movie itself is mediocre, as you say, despite the obvious high budget its filmmaking stinks of made-for-TV-soap. It has two redeeming factors, though: Bryan Brown and the villains are absolutely hilarious.
One review I read compared Brown's performance to the Zack Brannigan on "Futurama", and man, that was dead on. Brown is so full of air, his macho bravado so obviously affected that I was waiting the whole time for a sliver in his armour that showed once and for all he was playing tongue in cheek, but alas, that wouldn't happen. As for the villains, they are so over-the-top as well and their machinations so ridiculously twisted they seemed lifted from any "Dune" book, really.