I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Good concept, poorly executed.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

I love the story (since it's fiction, it doesn't relate to any particular history plot), but it still relevant to general idea of Indonesian colonized era. The characters are also interesting, strengthening by great actors to name Lukman Sardi, Donny Alamsyah, Darius, and even model/scandalous governor (Zumi Zola). This is the first time I enjoy Indonesian drama-action. It must included some foreigners as directors or at least for special effects. I don't see a lot of good Indonesian movies, but as I can remember, Indonesian movie are all about panorama motion pictures (other than ghost or tacky-comedy related). So, this movie is pretty standout. It is disappointing that the last two sequels didn't show at foreign countries. CMIIW, but I think the estimated budget for this movie was over USD6 millions.

I have just seen this movie in Australia (with English sub-titles) and thought it was great. My Bahasa Indonesia was not adequate to judge the quality of the Indonesian script, but I saw it with fluent Indonesian speakers, and they thought the movie was very good also. The acting was excellent, and the story was interesting as it showed the revolution from a more human perspective than we usually see. When it finished, everyone in the theatre was saying that they could not wait for the second film in the trilogy. I don't know what "blabberbrat" was talking about when he/she said there were no war scenes!!! Two armies running around shooting each other, people being killed all over the place, locals' houses being burnt, trucks being blown up and so on.....what was that if not war? That's what war in the jungle is like, apparently, not the glamourised rubbish that comes out of Hollywood. Bring on the second movie, I'm dying to see what happens to Amir and his wife (she still hasn't told him about the baby!), Tomas & Senja (hmm.....do I see a romance coming?)& will Marius turn out to be a good human being in the end? And will we learn what Dayan is all about? Oh, and yes, Indonesia will become a republic (I know the ending there!).

Merah Putih was set in 1947, the producer's homage to especially his relatives, a 21-year old lieutenant and a 16-year old cadet, who died defending the republic during the time. This film boasts of a crew that also comprises of experts who have been involved in blockbusters like The Dark Knight and Blackhawk Down.Amir (played by perhaps the greatest Indonesian actor of the new generation, Lukman Sardi) was a teacher who at first refused to join the battles. But after one of his student died in the hands of the Japanese, now he decided to be up in arms against the returning Dutch forces. He joined Sekolah Perwira – a school for officers – and met an array of characters there.There was also Surono (Zumi Zola) who had to leave his older sister, the only family he got left in this world, behind. He joined the school with his best friend during his university years, blueblooded, stuck-up Marius (Darius Sinathrya, who surprisingly pulled a convincing performance, although some say his Persian looks aren't too in line with his character as a Javanese nobleman, or priyayi). They both came late to their first day at school, having spent the night bingeing.The school didn't only take in highly educated people – it also received a farmhand ("We keep chicken, not pigs, Marius") named Tomas (Donny Alamsyah). Being a Christian and a Manadonese ("Dutch dogs!" claimed Marius in disgust), Tomas became the target of bullying by the Javanese proud priyayi boy. Somehow Marius found Tomas a better object to ridicule than the Hindu Balinese, Dayan, a very polite and calm knife-wielder. (I heard the audience whispered, "How polite!" every time Dayan gave a greeting with his palms closed in one another, fingers extended touching.) The frictions of the characters – and how they try to settle them down – are one of the most interesting points of the film, especially when they found themselves beaten black and blue, surrounded by the Dutch forces, with the hesitant, newly-made Lieutenant Amir as their sole leader! I must give credits to all the actors and actresses here for showing us a top-class performance. Some viewers who watched the film with me even handclapped because they felt so excited! (And somebody shouted 'Amen' when Marius wondered on screen whether they could escape the Dutch – it was just one of the moments why watching films on theatres is so interesting!) For Indonesians, the film would feel so… cool. To see our heroes smashing the Dutch soldiers to pieces with so few men and arms really drew the outloud comments of 'Cooooool' from the audience. But this film lacked the humanity shown even by revolution-era writers like Nugroho Notosusanto or Idrus – the capability of showing that the enemies were human too.But well, the story's still long – MP is the first part of a trilogy – and perhaps there will be more details about the Dutch characters later. In MP, they're shown as nothing but evil pigs trying to snatch the land from the Indonesians again. But then again perhaps that's what nationalist films should be… Remember Braveheart and The Patriot? And, oh, please, I don't believe anyone's clothes can be that squeaky clean when they've spent a day and a night in the woods. At least the butt of their trousers will show some signs, no?

Timing was so perfect...only a few days away from the independence celebration..The theme and genre was longed by the market...The marketing effort has managed to create such an awareness and expectation to get people flocking in with such level of curiosity and anticipation...The idealism and all that jazz are there..But...this motion picture failed in delivering its promises...Yes...we are all waiting for some quality local pictures to come to our cinemas..Casts were those of high quality...But, could I believe the way the plot was carried out...after one hour I haven't even seen any war scene; and this was suppose to be a war movie..cinematography was awful...they're keep overusing close-ups even for scenes that needs something like a bird-eye's view or something with a broader angle..Storyline was way too cliché and the dialogs are all jumbled...I think what they really wanted to show was how that different colors of the archipelago managed to gone through all their differences, joined together by a noble cause and coming out as a band-o'-brothers..I can't believe this how this movie had ruined such a perfect occasion and wasted so many talents (on and off screen as well).For goodness sake...work on the storyline, people!!