Tau ming chong (2007)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Directors:

Peter Chan
Wai Man Yip (co-director)

Writers:

Tin Nam Chun (screenplay)
Junli Guo (screenplay)
(more)

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
Kuirong Wang	...	Jiang Da Ren
Yachao Wang	...	Young soldier
Bo Zhou

Directed by
Peter Chan
Wai Man Yip		(co-director)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Tin Nam Chun		screenplay
Junli Guo		screenplay
Jiping He		screenplay
Jianxin Huang		screenplay
Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui		screenplay
Oi Wah Lam		screenplay
Lan Xu		screenplay
James Yuen		screenplay

Produced by
Peter Chan	....	producer
Rita Fung	....	line producer
Sanping Han	....	executive producer
Lorraine Ho	....	line producer
Jo Jo Yuet-chun Hui	....	co-producer
Peter Lam	....	executive producer
Andre Morgan	....	executive producer
Andre Morgan	....	producer
D. Daniel Vujic	....	associate producer
Wai Man Yip	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Kwong Wing Chan
Peter Kam
Leon Ko

Cinematography by
Arthur Wong		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Chris Blunden		(re-edited international version)
Wenders Li

Production Design by
Chung Man Yee

Art Direction by
Pater Wong
Zhenzhou Yi

Makeup Department
Crist Ballas	....	special makeup effects artist
Patrick Baxter	....	special makeup effects lab technician
Mark Garbarino	....	special makeup effects designer
Mark Garbarino	....	special makeup effects supervisor
James Kagel	....	special makeup effects sculptor
Eddie Liu	....	makeup artist
Eddie Liu	....	special makeup effects artist
Mark Shostrom	....	special makeup effects sculptor

Production Management
Kim Hung Fan	....	production manager
Felicia Tang	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kim Wah Lo	....	first assistant director
Gary Mak	....	assistant director
Kwok Wai Yeung	....	first assistant director
Wai Man Yip	....	collaborating director

Art Department
Chung Kim Wai	....	special props

Sound Department
Sunij Asavinikul	....	sound mixer
Nakorn Kositpaisain	....	sound designer

Visual Effects by
Yuen Fai Ng	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Siu-Tung Ching	....	action coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jimmy Wong	....	second director of photography

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jessie Dai	....	co-costume designer
Pik Kwan Lee	....	co-costume designer

Other crew
Jason C. Lin	....	assistant: Jet Li

Production Companies

• Applause Pictures
• Beijing Jinyinma Movie & TV Culture Co.
• Beijing Poly-bona Film Publishing Company
• Chengtian Entertainment
• China Film Group
• Media Asia Films
• Morgan & Chan Films
• Stellar Mega Film
• Warner China Film HG Corporation

Distributors

• ARM Distribution (2007) (Taiwan) (theatrical)
• ARP Sélection (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• B.O.M. Film Productions Co. (2008) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Broadmedia Studios (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Grand Brilliance (2008) (Malaysia) (theatrical)
• Innoform Media (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Krause & Schneider Multimedia (KSM) (2009) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Magnet Releasing (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Films (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Mediacorp Raintree Pictures (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Metrodome Distribution (2008) (UK) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Sponge (2008) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Viva Films (2008) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• ARM Distribution (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• MG Film (2008) (Croatia) (all media)
• Media Asia Distribution (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Special Effects

• FatFace Productions

Other Companies

• Kantana Animation Co. Ltd.  prints
• Kantana Animation Co. Ltd.  subtitles
• Konken Studios  sound post-production (German version)
• Oriental Post Co. Ltd.  digital intermediate
• Post Bangkok, The  digital intermediate
• Post Bangkok, The  telecine
• Salon Films  camera equipment provided by
• Salon Films  grip and lighting equipment

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)

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

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Applause Pictures

Trivia:

Up to 500 stunt horses were used.

Movie Connections:

References Paths of Glory (1957)

Great ensemble piece

Since I've watched MUSA (The Warrior) a few years ago, I'm kinda spoiled. It's really difficult for any other movie, that sets out to outdo MUSA. I haven't watched any movie who could outdo it. Warlords didn't achieve that either, but it's still a very good movie. Which is thanks to the stellar cast (performances), which include Andy Lau, Jet Lee and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Unfortunately the first time I watched the movie, I did see the dubbed (english) version of it (with Greek subtitles). I couldn't really enjoy it, because quite frankly the dubbing was really bad (you can't re-create a certain mood), but I had the chance to see it again recently and as expected I did like it a lot. I even saw a few new things, character bits in it. It has also great (battle) fight scenes in it, it has a political side to it and small love story. If you're not afraid of watching an Eastern or even better, you like watching them, than you should give this a try!