This film is the biggest blockbusters of 2007 in Hong Kong, China and almost in the other Asian countries too, it began with breaking the box office records on its debut in mainland and continuously run for the money through the theatrical release that always draw a large crowd of audiences. The budget for the movie that cost around US $40 million did proofing was gone to good use. Director Peter Chan successfully used the funds to illustrate the horrendous wartime in China with all of its realistic grit, even nearly half of the big budget went to the stellar cast that included the biggest paid Asian actor Jet Li who received 100 million yuan or $13 million for his appearance in “The Warlords”, Hong Kong famous heartthrob Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, but they were the rightful actors for the characters and also have a big role in the success of the film. "Without Jet Li, we would not dare to invest $40 million in a Chinese-language film," Xinhua news agency quoted director Peter Chan as saying. Li was a "guarantee" for global sales, Chan said. Based on the actual event in the Qing Dynasty era of China (1644-1911) about the assassination of General Ma Xinyi which also inspired Chang Cheh’s “Blood Brothers” (1973), “The Warlords” offers very impressive, large-scale war scenes befitting of the big screen mixed with a decent dramatic story that fortunately was handed by Peter Chan, a very good storyteller who’s not fail us this time. Now, “The Warlord” is about to fitting your home cinema experience with its hugely pleasurable watch and the DVD version will be release in 2 Discs Special Edition that included 32-page photo booklet and over one hour of special features (behind the scenes, “The Warlords” blog and TV spot) on February 5, 2008.
The Warlords story set in the mid-19th Century when China was ruled by deeply corrupted Qing Empire that was affect on its people suffering. The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) offered the people a hope of finishing their enduring, but The Taiping regime was equally corrupted and the clash between Qing Empire and the Taiping was only made the people suffered ever more. At one of their war, Pang Qingyun (Jet Li), an imperial general who led the soldiers of Qing suffered a big lose when his army was overpowered by their enemy. Qing army was all slaughtered and left nobody survive but Pang who feigned death. After the enemies left the battlefield, the general slowly climbs out of myriad corpses of soldiers and wanders without direction where all he can see are only starving villagers along the way. When he collapses on the road, a young woman (Xu Jinglei) saved him and taken him to an abandoned house where they spent their night together. By morning, the woman has gone and left alone Pang who has regained his strength and his will to live.
In the village, Pang met with Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who was amongst those distributing food to the poor, by any circumstances the two men soon get into a fight. Actually Jiang is testing on Pang’s skill which made him impressed with Pang and then brings him to see his “big brother” Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau). Zhao who is a bandit leader recruited Pang to join his gang and his first mission with the gang is attacking a food of the Taiping. The mission is a success even Jiang was almost killed but fortunately Pang was there and saved him, upon returning to the bandits’ village, Pang meets up with a woman who had saved him before and this time he knows that her name is Lian and she is in fact the wife of Zhao. When hundreds of imperial soldiers suddenly appears and confiscate the food they have, Zhao and Jiang have no other way but took Pang’s suggestion of joining the imperial force in order to make their men and family survive. These three men ended swear to be blood brothers for the rest of their lives and formed their own battalion to fight the Taiping. Later, soon the trio engages in many perilous battles and tasted every victory together. But as his regiment growing strong, Ma is getting obsessed with power and making him ruthless, other than that Pang is still not willing to give up on Lian. And when the chemistry is getting irresistible and the seed of betrayal started to plant, Ma begins to arrange another plan to remove one obstacle standing between him and his desire to the woman. Circumstances evolve as the time passes by, and the true brotherhood vow eventually will culminate into the terrible tragedies.
Product Details:
Product Title: The Warlords (DVD) (2-Disc Special Edition) (Hong Kong Version)
Actors: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei.
Directors: Peter Ho-Shun Chan
Format: Widescreen (Anamorphic), Color, NTSC
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitle: English, Chinese(Traditional/Simplified)
Audio Specs: Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of discs: 2
Country Made: Hong Kong
Genre: Action War Drama
Feature Film Running Time: 127 Minutes
Distributor: Kam & Ronson Enterprises Co Ltd
Release Date: February 5, 2008 (Order your copy now!)
Story-Meter: 7/10
Ending-Meter: 7/10
Actors-Meter: 8/10
Video & Audio-Meter: 8/10
Overall-Meter: 8/10
Review from the War Zone:
(By John Li – Moviexclusive)
Having helmed “Comrades: Almost a Love Story” (1996) and “Perhaps Love” (2005), which incidentally are what we think the two greatest Asian films of all time, director-producer is back with his latest work, and it is a war drama? Where is the romantic love story? Where are the long-suffering male and female protagonists? Where are the melancholically-colored shots of lovers pinning for their dreams to come true? Fans of the visionary filmmaker need not fear, because this movie successfully delivers the heart and soul of brotherhood amidst the adrenaline-driven storyline. During the war-plagued 19th century in the late Qing dynasty China, three men will become blood brothers and swear to be true to each other, despite all the political upheavals and unrest around them. Circumstances evolve as years pass, and the brotherhood eventually culminates in tragedy. Known for his well-produced films which are box office and critical successes, Chan’s signature is clear in the high production values of this 125-minute movie. The saga boasts of several big-scale war sequences which are exquisitely-choreographed and grittily-shot without losing pace. The thousands of soldiers, horses, bows and arrows will leave you in awe, thinking that the movie is executed as well as, if not better, than the many Hollywood productions you have seen before. Couple that with some breathtaking cinematography, tight editing and dramatic music score by a Pan-Asian production team: You’d be leaving the theatre with nothing but praise for the movie. The leading men’s charisma is also something that you won’t miss. Playing the eldest brother is action star Jet Li (War
, Fearless, Hero) who portrays the fallen hero with the right amount of angst and anguish. Complemented by action coordinator Ching Siu-Tung’s (Curse of the Golden Flower, House of Flying Daggers) choreography, Li scores in this role. Heavenly king Andy Lau (Protégé, Battle of Wits) plays a tragic hero torn between different factions. The many emotional scenes definitely make this one of the best performances in Lau’s career. The charming Takeshi Kaneshiro (“Perhaps Love”, Turn Left Turn Right) may look somewhat too contemporary as the youngest brother, but his increasingly affective acting more than makes up for that. Rounding up the well-represented Asian cast is the talented Xu Jinglei (Confession of Pain), who plays the supporting role conflicted wife without being too overlooked. The very emotionally-charged plot will mean that it will take a capable director to make the movie work. And Chan has competently told the story to move the most cold-hearted audience. There will be at least two scenes where you may reach out for your hankie and reflect on the relevance on human nature some 150 years later in present day. Such is the skill of a good storyteller like Chan: It doesn’t matter when the tale is set in; a fine filmmaker will have the power to affect you emotionally amidst all the wham-bham action of things.
Empire of the Battleship: Curse of the Golden Flowers, Battle of Wits, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, The Warrior, Once Upon A Time in China
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The Warlords story set in the mid-19th Century when China was ruled by deeply corrupted Qing Empire that was affect on its people suffering. The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) offered the people a hope of finishing their enduring, but The Taiping regime was equally corrupted and the clash between Qing Empire and the Taiping was only made the people suffered ever more. At one of their war, Pang Qingyun (Jet Li), an imperial general who led the soldiers of Qing suffered a big lose when his army was overpowered by their enemy. Qing army was all slaughtered and left nobody survive but Pang who feigned death. After the enemies left the battlefield, the general slowly climbs out of myriad corpses of soldiers and wanders without direction where all he can see are only starving villagers along the way. When he collapses on the road, a young woman (Xu Jinglei) saved him and taken him to an abandoned house where they spent their night together. By morning, the woman has gone and left alone Pang who has regained his strength and his will to live.
In the village, Pang met with Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who was amongst those distributing food to the poor, by any circumstances the two men soon get into a fight. Actually Jiang is testing on Pang’s skill which made him impressed with Pang and then brings him to see his “big brother” Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau). Zhao who is a bandit leader recruited Pang to join his gang and his first mission with the gang is attacking a food of the Taiping. The mission is a success even Jiang was almost killed but fortunately Pang was there and saved him, upon returning to the bandits’ village, Pang meets up with a woman who had saved him before and this time he knows that her name is Lian and she is in fact the wife of Zhao. When hundreds of imperial soldiers suddenly appears and confiscate the food they have, Zhao and Jiang have no other way but took Pang’s suggestion of joining the imperial force in order to make their men and family survive. These three men ended swear to be blood brothers for the rest of their lives and formed their own battalion to fight the Taiping. Later, soon the trio engages in many perilous battles and tasted every victory together. But as his regiment growing strong, Ma is getting obsessed with power and making him ruthless, other than that Pang is still not willing to give up on Lian. And when the chemistry is getting irresistible and the seed of betrayal started to plant, Ma begins to arrange another plan to remove one obstacle standing between him and his desire to the woman. Circumstances evolve as the time passes by, and the true brotherhood vow eventually will culminate into the terrible tragedies.
Product Details:Product Title: The Warlords (DVD) (2-Disc Special Edition) (Hong Kong Version)
Actors: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei.
Directors: Peter Ho-Shun Chan
Format: Widescreen (Anamorphic), Color, NTSC
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitle: English, Chinese(Traditional/Simplified)
Audio Specs: Digital Surround 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0
Region: Region 3 South East Asia (including Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan)
Number of discs: 2
Country Made: Hong Kong
Genre: Action War Drama
Feature Film Running Time: 127 Minutes
Distributor: Kam & Ronson Enterprises Co Ltd
Release Date: February 5, 2008 (Order your copy now!)
Story-Meter: 7/10Ending-Meter: 7/10
Actors-Meter: 8/10
Video & Audio-Meter: 8/10
Overall-Meter: 8/10
Review from the War Zone:(By John Li – Moviexclusive)
Having helmed “Comrades: Almost a Love Story” (1996) and “Perhaps Love” (2005), which incidentally are what we think the two greatest Asian films of all time, director-producer is back with his latest work, and it is a war drama? Where is the romantic love story? Where are the long-suffering male and female protagonists? Where are the melancholically-colored shots of lovers pinning for their dreams to come true? Fans of the visionary filmmaker need not fear, because this movie successfully delivers the heart and soul of brotherhood amidst the adrenaline-driven storyline. During the war-plagued 19th century in the late Qing dynasty China, three men will become blood brothers and swear to be true to each other, despite all the political upheavals and unrest around them. Circumstances evolve as years pass, and the brotherhood eventually culminates in tragedy. Known for his well-produced films which are box office and critical successes, Chan’s signature is clear in the high production values of this 125-minute movie. The saga boasts of several big-scale war sequences which are exquisitely-choreographed and grittily-shot without losing pace. The thousands of soldiers, horses, bows and arrows will leave you in awe, thinking that the movie is executed as well as, if not better, than the many Hollywood productions you have seen before. Couple that with some breathtaking cinematography, tight editing and dramatic music score by a Pan-Asian production team: You’d be leaving the theatre with nothing but praise for the movie. The leading men’s charisma is also something that you won’t miss. Playing the eldest brother is action star Jet Li (War
, Fearless, Hero) who portrays the fallen hero with the right amount of angst and anguish. Complemented by action coordinator Ching Siu-Tung’s (Curse of the Golden Flower, House of Flying Daggers) choreography, Li scores in this role. Heavenly king Andy Lau (Protégé, Battle of Wits) plays a tragic hero torn between different factions. The many emotional scenes definitely make this one of the best performances in Lau’s career. The charming Takeshi Kaneshiro (“Perhaps Love”, Turn Left Turn Right) may look somewhat too contemporary as the youngest brother, but his increasingly affective acting more than makes up for that. Rounding up the well-represented Asian cast is the talented Xu Jinglei (Confession of Pain), who plays the supporting role conflicted wife without being too overlooked. The very emotionally-charged plot will mean that it will take a capable director to make the movie work. And Chan has competently told the story to move the most cold-hearted audience. There will be at least two scenes where you may reach out for your hankie and reflect on the relevance on human nature some 150 years later in present day. Such is the skill of a good storyteller like Chan: It doesn’t matter when the tale is set in; a fine filmmaker will have the power to affect you emotionally amidst all the wham-bham action of things.
Empire of the Battleship: Curse of the Golden Flowers, Battle of Wits, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, The Warrior, Once Upon A Time in China
