Love, politics, and loyalty threaten to tear apart three soldiers in this lavish historical epic from Hong Kong. In 1870, the power of the corrupt Qing Dynasty has been threatened by the rise of a revolutionary army, led by religious fanatics, and civil war is tearing the nation apart. Pang Qingyun (Jet Li), a good man who finds himself fighting for the Qing leadership, is one of the only survivors of a bloody battle in between revolutionaries and Qing troops, and is looking for someplace to go
when he's offered shelter by a beautiful peasant woman, Lian (Xu Jinglei). Pang and Lian spend the night in each others arms, and he finds himself falling in love with her. Pang sets out to make his way home when he's befriended by Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau) and Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a pair of bandits. When Jiang is attacked in an ambush, Pang helps save his life, and the three men become blood brothers in a gory ritual. Pang convinces Jiang and Zhao to join him in the fight against the revolutionaries, and with their help Pang is able to achieve some impressive victories. However, when Pang allows his own ego and dreams of glory to override his common sense and loyalty, Zhao and Jiang come to distrust their ally, and matters become worse when it is revealed that Lian is Zhao's wife. Tou Ming Zhuang (aka The Warlords) was a major box-office success in China and Eastern Asia before making its way to theaters in Europe and the United States. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The film has the dirty-fingernails realism of a Peckinpah western, and the same remorseless pessimism about the ultimate fate of men who live near death.
A tale of noble brotherhood compromised by self-interest and a messy love triangle, The Warlords, ultimately, tries to speak to the futility of war - but it does so by staging one gargantuan dustup after another.
... a muscular character piece set against a massive war and the power relationships behind the battles (as well as more severed limbs than I've seen in a single film).
Warlords is so intent on expertly choreographed, but repetitive, enormo-battles that there isn't much time to develop characters (and the less said about a tacked-on romance, the better).
It isn't clear if "Warlords" is supposed to be a comedy or an adventure thriller but it will only appeal to those who appreciate the screaming cast of thousands.
The resulting spectacle directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan, a prolific Hong Kong filmmaker whose previous credits include the English title "Tom, Dick and Hairy," is a historically factual war movie about the Taiping Rebellion, a love story and a luscious depi
The action scenes are good (Chan began his career as an assistant director to John Woo), but they fall between many scenes of Li shedding rivers of not-so-manly, and very uncharacteristic, tears.
Chan's old-fashioned, highly watchable megaproduction comes complete with God's-eye surveys of mass carnage, the moist sounds of sword-skewering, and little or no discernible CGI.
A triumphant epic adventure in scope and in incredible battle sequences. A spectacular and exhilarating action-packed adventure. A fierce, brutal, tremendous and breathtaking movie. A wickedly well-crafted and designed piece of spic movie-making. It's thrilling, deeply moving and very powerful. Jet Li gives a strong
and excellent performance, one of his best ever. Andy Lau is magnificent. Takeshi Kaneshiro is dazzling. These three stars give triumphant performances and work great with one another. An explosive and fearless action movie that delivers and it's totally unforgettable. A brilliant and extraordinary movie.
I've heard that Jet Li will no longer do historical-period movies. I've also heard a rumor that he may be retiring from the movie business altogether. This to me is very sad news and/or rumor all the way around. After all these years, it has become so apparent that he is finally growing into a first-class actor.
Sure, he came in for the martial arts flash -- and after all these years, he can still deliver some pretty amazing physical work. But in addition to slogging through the kung fu grinder, he has also, wonderfully, grown into such a good actor along the way. Even should he limit his work to less demanding physical material from now on, I truly hope he keeps up his acting career until he really can't manage it at all anymore.
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