The Warlords (2007)

Set in China in the 1860's during the Taiping Rebellion, the story is based on the assassination of Ma Xinyi in 1870. Loyalist General Qingyun is the only survivor of a battle with ... See full summary »

Directors:

Peter Ho-Sun Chan (as Peter Chan), Wai Man Yip (co-director)

Writers:

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

Stars:

Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro

18 wins & 28 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jet Li	...	General Pang Qingyun (as Lianjie Li)
Andy Lau	...	Zhao Erhu (as Dehua Liu)
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Jiang Wuyang (as Wu Jincheng)
Jinglei Xu	...	Liansheng
Xiaodong Guo	...	Huang Wenjin
Jacky Heung	...	Shi Jinbiao
Zongwan Wei	...	Lord Chen
Pao-Ming Ku	...	Lord Jiang
Kuirong Wang	...	Lord Di
Bo Zhou	...	Lu Dashan
Zhaoqi Shi	...	He Kui
Yachao Wang	...	Gouzi
Xiao Yun Wang	...	Fu
Peng Guo	...	Shun
Ailei Yu	...	Wang Xiaoshou

Storyline

Set in China in the 1860's during the Taiping Rebellion, the story is based on the assassination of Ma Xinyi in 1870. Loyalist General Qingyun is the only survivor of a battle with anti-Qing rebels. He encounters a starving village, whose inhabitants engage in banditry to survive, where he is nursed back to health by the attractive Liansheng. With his strength regained, Qingyun impresses one of the village bandit leaders, Jiang Wuyang, with his fighting skills. Wuyang introduces him to his "big brother", who also happens to be Liansheng's husband, Zhao Erhu and Qingyun begins to assist them with their raids. Qingyun convinces his two new comrades to form a loyalist army unit to fight the rebels and feed their own people. The three men swear a blood oath. Their stunning military successes impress the governing powers, but as Qingyun's influence begins to grow, they soon fear him. The political and emotional stakes will be tested, leading to differences between the blood brothers.

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Plot Keywords:

blood brothers | betrayal | 19th century | qing dynasty | historical event | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | History | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sequences of strong violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [China] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Hong Kong China British Virgin Islands

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

12 December 2007 (China)

Also Known As:

The Warlords

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,073, 4 April 2010

Gross USA:

$128,978

Company Credits

Production Co:

Media Asia Films, Morgan & Chan Films, China Film Group Corporation (CFGC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min 113 min (international)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The main character's name was supposed to be that of an actual historical figure called Ma Xinyi, but was changed to Pang Qingyun in order not to reflect badly on the estate of Ma's descendants, who believe that their ancestor was a good man.

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Goofs

25 minutes into the movie, the curse word "gou ri de" (literally: dog, Japanese, of) was used. The expression means "Japanese dog" which originates from the Japanese invasion during World War II. The movie takes places in the 19th century, so the expression had not come about yet.

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Quotes

General Pang Qingyun: Remember my face, so you can seek vengeance in the next life.

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Alternate Versions

The UK version is cut by 16 secs to remove shots of cruel horsefalls.

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Connections

Featured in Films of Fury: The Kung Fu Movie Movie (2011)

User Reviews

Well done

First of all, I think it's the first movie I've enjoyed in about half a year, so decided to comment. I read the good reviews on this one, and agree with most of them. Everything in this movie is superbly done.

There's little story in this movie and it's more of a background for the characters' portrayal and the battles, both of which amazingly done. The characters' portrayal is very successful due to the great acting. The battles and the fight choreography deserves a solid 9. Both artistic, like the martial arts beauty, and brutal, like real war is.

This movie doesn't have unnecessary emotion, or unnecessary gestures from main characters. That's where this movie succeeds. That's where 'Azumi' or 'Braveheart' succeeded. And that's where 'Troy' and 'Gladiator' failed to deliver. They all have great cinematography, brilliant fight choreography and superb acting staff - but that's only the technical side. 'Warlords' succeeded to deliver in all the aspects. Simple and little story with no over-dramatizing and no inconsistencies.

If one's wondering why I gave only 7, it's because, beside of Er-hu, I didn't find one likable character.