Mo gong

Big budget and hundreds of extras. Huge sets and even bigger philosophical issues.

Summary: A lone philosopher warrior arrives to help defend a small kingdom of 4000 from an invading army of 100,000. His surprisingly effective help is accepted until the king and his court become jealous of his popularity and turn on him.

Well directed and photographed Chinese/Japanese co-production is full of unanswered philosophical questions about war and honor and when does self-defense turn into savagery. There are a number of rough edges, a few scenes are hard to understand, the historical setting might be unfamiliar to non-Asian viewers, sometimes you can't tell which side of the fight you are watching (although that might be intentional), the CGI effects are sometimes no better then what you would see in a Playstation 2 cut scene and occasionally the movie resorts to old- school theatrics.

Despite these shortcomings this movie should see a wider release, in some ways it's better than "Hero" or "House of Flying Daggers". Very recommended.