On October 7, 2024, in Hangzhou, viewers walk past a movie poster for the National Day film festival at a cinema. Visual China Photo

A satisfaction survey of Chinese film audiences conducted during the 2024 National Day holiday revealed a score of 83.3, an improvement of 0.5 points compared to the same period last year. Among the eight films surveyed, "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" topped the charts with a high satisfaction rating of 86.0, while "The Panda Plan," "Road of Flames," and "Just This Green" all had satisfaction rates exceeding 83 points. The film lineup featured directors and actors from older, middle-aged, and younger generations, with numerous new films of diverse themes, offering audiences a rich cinematic experience during the holiday.

Three Major Indices for the National Day Festival Show Year-on-Year Improvement

Ideological Depth Ranks Second This Year

Regarding the three major satisfaction indices for the holiday season, the 2024 National Day festival achieved a score of 83.2 for enjoyment, 83.9 for ideological depth, and 82.8 for dissemination, representing increases of 0.3, 0.5, and 1.0 points, respectively, compared to the same time in 2023. Notably, the ideological depth score ranked second among the five periods surveyed in 2024.

From the films' perspective, Chen Kaige's "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" ranked first in all three major indices during the festival. This war-themed film, focusing on the battle of Iron Original during the Korean War, beautifully showcases deep patriotism, touching familial bonds, and camaraderie, achieving an ideological depth score of 87.1, the highest in the 2024 survey.

The comedy "The Panda Plan" and the drama "Road of Flames" also placed in the top three in terms of enjoyment and ideological depth. "The Panda Plan," a blockbuster that combines adorable pets with elements of comedy, action, and adventure, scored second in enjoyment, while "Road of Flames," which addresses the critical social issue of child trafficking, ranked second in ideological depth. Additionally, the exploratory dance drama "Just This Green" and the Hong Kong-style action film "Crisis Line" ranked in the top three for dissemination.

Five Films Exceed Satisfaction Score of 82

"Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" Leads with High Scores

In the 2024 National Day satisfaction survey, seven out of eight key films received a "satisfaction" rating (≥80 points) from audiences, with five films exceeding a score of 82, and four exceeding 83, which is the combined total of over 82-point films in the 2022 and 2023 National Day festivals. In contrast to the balanced performance of the top three films in the 2023 National Day festival, where the maximum score difference was only 0.4 points, the satisfaction ratings in 2024 showed a clear “tiered” structure, with the film in first place scoring 2.7 points higher than the second place and 7.4 points more than the film at the bottom, both being the highest in three years for the same period.

Looking at the individual film satisfaction rankings, "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" ranked first with a score of 86.0, surpassing the second place film "Road of Flames" by 2.7 points, while it stands as the third-highest satisfaction rating among the 2024 survey films (only lower than "Fast and Furious Life 2" at 86.2 and "The Twentieth Article" at 86.1). Compared to the first film in the series released during the same period last year, "Volunteers: Brave Soldiers," "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" improved by 2.2 points across all three major indices, with the most significant increase being in enjoyment by 2.3 points; it is a common belief in the industry that sequels are rarely able to surpass their predecessors, but "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" has defied this norm, affirming the film's high-quality production received strong recognition from audiences. In historical surveys of films, sequels that achieved higher satisfaction scores than their predecessors are "The Wandering Earth 2" and "Wolf Warrior 2," exceeding their predecessors by 2.4 points and 8.1 points, respectively.

Four other films exceeding a satisfaction score of 82 created a differentiated competitive matrix through their diverse genres and themes, with minimal variation in individual film ratings, the largest gap between adjacent rankings being only 0.2 points. "Road of Flames" creatively addresses the themes of seeking family and child trafficking, presenting a mix of suspenseful twists and a rugged Western aesthetic that blends moments of warmth and harsh reality. Its score exceeded the director’s previous film "Crackdown: Never Give Up" (released June 8, 2024) by 0.6 points. "The Panda Plan" showcases Jackie Chan's trademark "dragon-style" action-comedy, which is lighthearted and humorous, receiving positive audience reviews, with satisfaction scores remaining comparable to the director’s earlier works, "Hello, Brother" with a satisfaction score of 82.9 and "Good Teacher" at 83.3. "Just This Green," which brings the popular dance drama to the big screen, displays remarkable Chinese classical colors and cultural charm, while the Hong Kong-style action film "Crisis Line" delivers exhilarating viewing satisfaction, both receiving relatively favorable audience evaluations.

"New Big Head Son and Small Head Dad 6: Mini Adventure" targets families as a series of animated IP, maintaining a style similar to its predecessors, though its satisfaction score fell by 0.4 points compared to the fifth entry released during the 2022 National Day festival. "Popular Heroes" focuses on the real-life struggles of ordinary people, incorporating social observations from the internet era into its comedic elements, though its satisfaction rating slightly lagged behind the director Ning Hao’s previous work, "Mr. Red Carpet," and Ge You’s last film, "Hedgehog." Lu Chuan's "749 Bureau" attracted interest in its genre; however, despite not affecting audience recognition in its final execution, its satisfaction score was on par with "The Nine-Story Demon Tower," which was released during the 2013 National Day festival, as both failed to surpass the 80-point 'satisfaction' benchmark. Nonetheless, the efforts of creators exploring innovation within the domestic sci-fi film genre remain commendable and deserving of encouragement.

Additionally, the satisfaction survey group conducted an individual survey for "Entering and Leaving Safety," a film that withdrew from the National Day lineup mid-way, and an observational survey for the imported animated film "Transformers: Origin," which had satisfaction scores of 81.2 and 81.7, respectively.

Adequate Variety in Film Selection Receives Positive Feedback

Diverse Content Brings Rich Viewing Experiences

The films featured in the 2024 National Day festival encompass a variety of genres including comedy, action, drama, and animation, as well as innovative explorative types like dance dramas and adventure fantasies. The content spans historical wars, societal hot topics, everyday life, cute pets, and even aspects of poetic art and the supernatural, leading to favorable evaluations of the viewing choices offered during the festival. Satisfaction survey data shows that 28.4% of general viewers and 27.4% of professional viewers rated the selection of film choices during the festival as "very good and rich," marking increases of 7.1% and 0.3% year-on-year respectively.

The diversified content offerings have provided audiences with rich viewing experiences, enabling individuals of different ages and varying viewing preferences to find appealing options. Satisfaction survey data indicates that the historical war film "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" and the socially relevant "Road of Flames" resonated most with audiences, evoking feelings of "deep emotional impact" and sparking "inspiration or reflection"; while the comedy "The Panda Plan" and the animated film "New Big Head Son and Small Head Dad 6: Mini Adventure" brought audiences considerable "joy," the Chinese aesthetic of "Just This Green" and the vibrant microcosmic scenes of "New Big Head Son and Small Head Dad 6: Mini Adventure" provided substantial "aesthetic enjoyment."

"Volunteers" Receives Universal Praise from Diverse Audience Categories

Marked Evaluation Differences for "The Panda Plan" and "Just This Green"

The audience satisfaction ratings for the films in the National Day festival showed a consensus among general viewers and professional audiences regarding the top two and bottom two films. However, variations did exist for the four films in the mid-tier satisfaction ratings.

In terms of uniformity of evaluation, the films "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" and "Road of Flames," ranked first and third respectively among different audience categories, while films "Popular Heroes" and "749 Bureau" ranked seventh and eighth, respectively. "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" has achieved unanimous recognition, with satisfaction from general audiences surpassing "Doll Catcher," making it the highest-rated film surveyed in 2024 after the Spring Festival, and for professional audiences, it ranks fourth among surveyed films after the Spring Festival.

Regarding evaluation differences, the commercially stylish "The Panda Plan" and "Crisis Line" generally appealed more to general audiences, while the artistically refined "Just This Green" and the animated IP sequel "New Big Head Son and Small Head Dad 6: Mini Adventure" garnered relatively more favor from professional viewers. Notably, the satisfaction score of "Just This Green" was only 0.01 points lower than that of "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death," the top film during the festival, reflecting professional viewers' acclaim for the film's thorough exploration of traditional Chinese culture and its innovative portrayal of dance drama art on screen.

From a detailed indicator evaluation perspective, in the general audience evaluation system, "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" secured first place in 9 of the 10 measured indicators, leading in story likability, visual effects, positive energy, and ideological depth among the surveyed films in 2024; "Crisis Line" ranked first in communication methods. Furthermore, "The Panda Plan" ranked second in story likability and several other indicators, along with "Road of Flames" in ideological depth, "Crisis Line" for positive energy, and "New Big Head Son and Small Head Dad 6: Mini Adventure" for its engaging dialogue, all placing in the second tier for the festival.

In the professional audience evaluation system, "Volunteers: Battle of Life and Death" ranked first in seven indicators including plot rationality, emotional impact, dialogue quality, engagement level, depth of emotional content, and healthy positive values; "Just This Green" led in five indicators, such as genre creativity, novelty of ideas, main actors’ performances, visual effects, and music quality. Notably, the film received the highest score for visual effects among the 2024 surveyed films, with music effects