The Man from Island West attracted interest for its cinematographic celebration of the lushly wooded scenery of eastern Taiwan. But the fact that the film was written, directed and shot by Huang Ming-chuan on a budget of NT $ 3.5 million was what really raised eyebrows, and this triggered debate within the industry about the possibilities for "independent production."
《西部來的人》除了凸顯出綠色天堂的山林原貌，視覺風格就像一幅幅攝影作品而引起注意外，更重要的是，黃明川自編自導、自己擔任攝影，並且以三百五十萬台幣低成本完成，開啟了電影界對「獨立製片」的討論和興趣。