China Salesman

Name: China Salesman
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: June 15, 2018
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 14
Cast: Anthony Gavard, Bryan Byrne, Dong-xue Li, Eriq Ebouaney, Janicke Askevold

2018

METASCORE

Overwhelming dislike based on 6 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 9 Ratings

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3.4

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3.4	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 9 Ratings

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China Salesman

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Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: June 15, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Anthony Gavard, Bryan Byrne, Dong-xue Li, Eriq Ebouaney, Janicke Askevold, Li Ai, Marc Goodman, Mike Tyson, Sheri Cheng, Steven Seagal, Zijian Wang

Summary: Yan Jian, a young Chinese engineer, comes face-to-face with a corrupt competitor over the contract for the first African mobile telecom technology. Local tribesman Kabbah (Mike Tyson) and mercenary Lauder (Steven Seagal) get drawn into the conflict in a classic, brutal hand-to-hand fight while the entire country faces civil war battles.

Director: Tan Bing

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Crime, War

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

Joshua Speiser

Jun 16, 2018

A mess on every narrative and technical level. Read full review

Noel Murray

Jun 16, 2018

The woodenness of China Salesman, coupled with the general oddness of a two-fisted adventure yarn about hyper-aggressive telecom companies, gives this movie some “weird cinema” appeal. But if you can’t tolerate stinky cheese, leave this one on the shelf. Read full review

Dennis Harvey

Jun 16, 2018

It’s the rare kind of sprawling, costly hot mess that achieves instant camp gratification other fiascos must wait decades to ripen toward. Read full review

Maitland McDonagh

Jun 17, 2018

If it were half an hour shorter, China Salesman (released overseas as Deadly Contract, the epitome of generic titling) might be a candidate for “so bad it’s good (or at least kind of fun)” status. But it’s not. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Simon Abrams

Jun 16, 2018

The film's nature as a work of propaganda would be more deplorable—or at least eyeroll-inducing—if it weren't so poorly blocked, scripted, performed, and choreographed. There is no joy in Seagal-ville, dear rubber-neckers, because pretty much everybody here has struck out. Read full review

Craig D. Lindsey

Jun 16, 2018

China Salesman has got to be one of the most baffling, expensive pats on the back China has ever given itself. Read full review

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User Reviews

AGX1

Feb 23, 2020

Well worth watching. Good plot( based on true facts), great fight sequence (Tyson vs Seagal) and well directed and acted. This is about how and why 3G became public domain and changed the future of the mobile phone world. I suspect DH are playing Huawei, I wonder who MTM are playing.. AnyWell worth watching. Good plot( based on true facts), great fight sequence (Tyson vs Seagal) and well directed and acted. This is about how and why 3G became public domain and changed the future of the mobile phone world. I suspect DH are playing Huawei, I wonder who MTM are playing.. Any guesses who’s trying to discourage viewers by giving it a low score?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TheQuietGamer

Aug 25, 2018

Two warring telecom companies compete to win a bid that will give them control over the communication between the north and the south of Africa. A totally boring premise, but thanks to the treacherous motives of a French spy the country erupts into a civil war. This where the cheesinessTwo warring telecom companies compete to win a bid that will give them control over the communication between the north and the south of Africa. A totally boring premise, but thanks to the treacherous motives of a French spy the country erupts into a civil war. This where the cheesiness really starts to shine through, turning this poorly directed, acted, and written Chinese B-movie into an unintentional trash cinema treasure.

Those interested in seeing Mike Tyson and Steven Seagal duke it out might be happy to know that their fight takes place in the first ten minutes of the movie. It's one of the most over-the-top and accidentally silly bits of martial arts I've ever witnessed. Plus, given the pains taken to ensure that we never see the other's face when one of them is displaying their moves, it's obvious they weren't even on set at the same time. And I kid you not that the whole things starts because Seagal tries to make Tyson drink pee. We get treated to some hilarious dialog as a result. You can't make this stuff up!

Seagal himself really isn't in the movie much. Kind of making his appearance here feel more like an extended cameo than anything. Not really a bad thing though as his constant mumbling makes much of his dialog unintelligible. Tyson is given more to do, although his acting is just as suspect. The former heavyweight champion regularly slips out of his faux accent at several points in the film for some reason. Just straight up stops using it. The way he yells "FIRE" while driving the tank might be the greatest thing ever.

Once it gets past explaining the rather uninteresting details of the telecom industry, China Salesman becomes a lot of dumb fun. We basically just watch the unassuming protagonist get repeatedly screwed over by people who want to discredit him, but still manage to stay in the game thanks to his quick thinking. There's also a weirdly cute unspoken romance with Janicke Askevold (the only person onscreen who can act) blooming in the background. The third act lost me a bit as there's less cheesy action and more inane, confusing plotting. The badly acted melodramatic moments still provide some "what am I watching?" style laughs though.

China Salesman is definitely a propaganda piece. As an American I have seen my own country do this exact same thing time and time again. So I'm not about to insult it for that. I will however point out how goofy it's displays of Chinese nationalism often are. At one point the main character states that China "never enslaved anybody." On top of being factually innacurate it's also delivered at the weirdest possible moment. Kind of hard to not let out at least a chuckle.

This might be "The Room" of foreign action films.

- It's a work of complete narcissism

- Ineptly made

- Poorly acted

- Unintentionally hilarious

- And even ends with a suicide

It's just got better production values.

The best bad movies are the ones that think they're actually masterpieces. This describes China Salesman to a T.
It's campy, cheesy, weird, and pretty freaking dumb. Basically a rollicking good time for any trash cinema enthusiast.

Did I mention the whole thing is supposedly based on a true story?… Expand

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MattBrady99

Jul 3, 2021

I see Steven Seagal has taken Bruce Willis level of commitment to film, which is not being on set for longer than 30 minutes.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

kissmart

Jun 21, 2018

Horrible plot with horrible acting.The second worst movie of the year, the first one is the I feel pretty.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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