Tau ming chong (2007)

Directors:

Peter Chan
Wai Man Yip (co-director)

Writers:

Tin Nam Chun (screenplay)
Junli Guo (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 December 2007 (China)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Plot:

It's a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval...

Plot Keywords:

Blood Brother | General | Dynasty | Assassination | Revenge

Awards:

15 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Jet Li	...	General Pang Qingyun (as Lianjie Li)
Andy Lau	...	Zhao Er-Hu (as Dehua Liu)
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Zhang Wen-Xiang (as Wu Jincheng)
Jinglei Xu	...	Lian
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bao-ming Gu
Xiaodong Guo
Zhaoqi Shi	...	He Kui
Dong Dong Wang	...	Zhang Shan
Kuirong Wang	...	Jiang Da Ren
Yachao Wang	...	Young soldier
Zongwan Wei	...	Cheng Da Ren
Bo Zhou

Also Known As:

Ci ma (Hong Kong: Cantonese title) (working title)
The Warlords (International: English title)
Tou ming zhuang (China: Mandarin title)
Warlords (USA) (new title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sequences of strong violence.

Runtime:

126 min | 110 min (international version)

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | UK:15 (cut) | Ireland:15A | Germany:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA (2009) | Netherlands:16 | USA:R (certificate #45669)

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Applause Pictures

Trivia:

The main battle sequence had a detailed script treatment of over 20 pages and a maximum of 8 cameras rolling simultaneously.

Movie Connections:

References Paths of Glory (1957)

The epic movie worth all the awards it has won

Perhaps the quality of this film becomes most apparent when compared to other productions of similar genre. My experience of watching Three Kingdoms has become a fading memory on a dusty shelf after I watched Warlords. It's the kind of movie that reminds you that there are websites where one can review movies, and doesn't let you rest until you tell others about it.

Essentially, Tau Ming Chong is a tragedy, making a steep turn into the dark closer towards the end. It may be a bit on the heavy side, but by the time you realize that, the movie has already sucked you in completely.

An excellent acting team led by Jet Li makes sure that everything else is just frosting around the cake of well developed characters. That's not to say that the frosting is inferior. This movie has everything going for it: choreography, special effects, sound and story. It has a something for everyone, although Warlords is definitely a boys' movie, full of hardcore violence, brotherhood issues and politics. The story is raw and keeps the mind occupied with some of its steeper turns.

If you liked movies like Troy, chances are you'll enjoy it's much darker Eastern family member Tau Ming Chong, possibly one of the best movies ever created.