Mo gong (2006)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung

Writers:

Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung (writer)
Ken'ichi Sakemi (comic)

Release Date:

23 November 2006 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Plot:

Story centers on a battle during China's Warring States Period, a series of civil wars, which spanned from the 5th to the 3rd century B.C. Based on a popular Japanese manga, which was in turn based a Japanese novel inspired by Warring States history in China.

Plot Keywords:

Strategy | Based On Comic

Awards:

3 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Andy Lau	...	Ge Li - the Mohist
Sung-kee Ahn	...	Zhao Commander Xiang Yan-zhong (as Sungki Ahn)
Zhiwen Wang	...	King of Liang
Bingbing Fan	...	Liang Cavalry Chief Yi Yue
Si Won Choi	...	Prince Liang Shi (as Siwon Choi)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Siu-hou Chin	...	Liang General Niu Zi Zhang (as Siu Ho Chin)
Tin Chiu Hung	...	Zhao General Gao He-yong
Shaan Price	...	Yuan Yu
Ma Wu	...	Royal Tutor of Liang
Nicky Wu	...	Liang Archer Zi Tuan (as Qi-long Wu)
Lixiao Yang	...	Girl spy

Directed by
Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung		writer
Ken'ichi Sakemi		comic

Produced by
Chi Leung 'Jacob' Cheung	....	producer
Bong-Chui Hong	....	executive producer
Jianxin Huang	....	producer
Satoru Iseki	....	producer
Lee Joo-Ick	....	producer
Fumiko Osaka	....	associate producer
Siu Ming Tsui	....	executive producer
Zhongjun Wang	....	producer
Zhonglei Wang	....	executive producer
Kit Ching Margaret Yau	....	line producer
Yoshimitsu Yoshitsuru	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Kenji Kawai

Cinematography by
Yoshitaka Sakamoto

Film Editing by
Chi-Leung Kwong

Production Design by
Zhenzhou Yi

Costume Design by
Huamiao Tong

Sound Department
Steve Burgess	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jiajia Mok	....	sound effects editor
Paul Pirola	....	sound editor
Terry Tu	....	foley artist
Terry Tu	....	foley mixer
Sam Wang	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Yan Chan	....	lead compositor
Jesse Ho	....	animator
Keith Leung	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Wei Tung	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Takeshi Okubo	....	lighting technician

Production Companies

• Boram Entertainment
• Comstock
• Fortissimo Films
• Hark & Company
• Huayi Brothers
• Small Potato Productions
• Sundream Motion Pictures
• World Top

Distributors

• EDKO Film (2006) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Amuse Soft Entertainment (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• Comstock (2006) (Japan) (all media)
• Deltamac Entertainment (2007) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Fortissimo Films (2006) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Group Power (2006) (Taiwan) (all media)

Special Effects

• Menfond Electronic Art & Computer Design Company (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Cine Art Laboratory  film processing and developing
• Cinerent  camera and lighting equipment provided by
• Fine Art Film Production Company  subtitles (uncredited)
• Kodak (Hong Kong) Ltd.  film stock supplied by
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Kodak  film stock supplied by
• Scarecrow Studios  Avid editing facilities
• Shogakukan  comic strip copyright owner
• Soundfirm Beijing Co. Ltd.  sound post-production
• Soundfirm  sound post-production
• Toei Labo Tech  digital intermediate (as Toei Labo Tech Digital Effect Group)
• Toei Labo Tech  film processing

Also Known As:

A Battle of Wits (Hong Kong: English title)
Battle of Wits (International: English title)
Bokkou (Japan)
Muk gong (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:133 min

Country:

China | Japan | South Korea | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Boram Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: In the scene where the two scouts escape from the enemy camp after the soldiers spot them, the surrounding light changes from pitch black to broad daylight. (Obviously someone forgot to put the filter on the camera lens.)

Get smart

Andy Lau is the main actor in this one, although not listed first on the IMDb cast list here. His role is really great and his character arc even better (that is, if you get the message behind all the fighting and so forth). It might not be apparent to everyone, but this movie has something to say. And that's what I loved about it. The fight scenes were well executed as well, but it's more about the characters than the action.

Of course this is not everyone's cup of tea, as you can see by the voting and comments here. But if you like Asian cinema (Easterns so to speak), than you should give this a shot!