Bardlerx Strictly average movie

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

MartinHafer I can certainly respect this Chinese production. After all, the battle sequences are huge, the action very real and the look of the film is top-notch. Yet, despite all this I have a few reservations that keep this from being a truly great film.The first problem is that most non-Chinese will have no idea what's happening much of the time unless they research into the Taiping Rebellion FIRST. While there is a prologue that gives a bit of information, it is very scant--and leaves many, many unanswered questions that you can only understand if you have read up on this era in Chinese history. Some good examples are the significance of the crucifix necklace---the viewer will have no idea where it came from or why it's there. And, who were the rebels and why were they rebelling against the Qing empire? Most importantly, who were the good guys and who weren't? Interestingly enough, who is the hero and villain overall in this rebellion seems to vary over time. During Mao's reign, he felt that the Taiping rebels were the good guys as they represented the forces of socialism (with their redistribution of the land and equality). Today, the prevailing attitude in the country seems to be that the rebels were bad because they brought disunity. ALL of this might have been interesting to learn about in the film, but alas I learned none of this in "Warlords".Second, while the battle sequences were amazing and I was glad that they didn't make war seem bloodless (oooh, it's VERY bloody in this film!!), the film occasionally suffered from over-kill, per se. In other words, with so many battles and so much killing, the senses are overloaded and the film manages in spite of all the brutality and severed limbs to actually bore--at least it did do with me.But, despite these serious complaints, I DO recommend you see the film--provided you read up on the facts first. It's a particularly great film to see on the big screen or on a huge plasma TV. And, the plot involving the three blood brothers is pretty interesting and the acting very good. One final important reason to see the film for weirdo purists like me is that you CAN turn off the English-dubbed version and just watch it in Chinese with English subtitles--and I appreciate that option.

badajoz-1 Anti-War? Naturalistic violence? Chinese superstars known in the West? Eternal triangle plus girl? Yes, all these, and set in the modern times of the Taiping Revolt (19th century)where millions died at the fag end of Imperial China. But they do not add up to anything magical or even very good. The scenes and storyline all seem repetitive - blood brothers swearing allegiance to one another before betraying each other - but with no comeback till the end! The politics of the times is of the old men betraying young men and backing whoever will give them least trouble - universal but is far less interesting than the real issues of the war, especially as the West was busy interfering with supplying arms and not backing the Christian-like rebels (crucifixes are carried by the Taiping) as much as the Imperial side (General Gordon of Khartoum organised the Imperials!). The characters are too one-dimensional, the mud too obvious, the direction too glowering, the acting veering between heroic and small-time crooks, and the action desperately trying to get Jet Li and the others to fight with swords rather than guns! All in all, an interesting failure, where perhaps too many writers spoilt the broth!

johnnyboyz Joint Chinese-Hong Kong venture The Warlords is a somewhat troubled but additionally somewhat interesting account of the relationship between three men, told amidst the backdrop of something far grander, that is the true event of an allusive and mysterious murder that happened in China, in 1870. Rather than have an opinion of or make a statement on these events; it is more a study of power play and control, and how with so much at stake and so many at one's disposal, things can quite feasibly fall drastically apart if trust and loyalty between those within the higher-ups isn't prominent. Alas, the film sounds more interesting than it is; providing us with a collection of interesting ideas and themes but placing them in scenes that feel mechanical and obligatory as everything plays out to the conclusion.For all the sense of scope and the sheer grandness behind it, what with the hundreds of extras and the vast, open settings; the fact of the matter that The Warlords essentially boils down to the link between these three male individuals, and one additional female, is quite extraordinary. There might even be an argument that the film makes for a better romance picture, and by the end is more interested in the destructive nature of love than lust for power and control over territories. The three men predominantly involved are Zhang Wen-Xiang (Kaneshiro); Zhao Er-Hu (Lau) and Pang Qingyun, who is played by Jet Li. The film thrusts us into the the forefront of Qing Dynasty China, with a nasty; sweaty; bloody battle coming to an end in which Jet Li's character General stumbles away as the sole survivor of his forces following the dishonourable act of pretending to have been killed so as to avoid further fighting. From here, a certain female by name of Lian (Xu) is introduced, as are the other two mentioned warriors; both of whom are happy to join Pang's military connections when it appears all is lost for the clan-come-townspeople they live with following a raid which leaves them starving and in bad shape. As one observes: "Better dead than this life". Over the course of The Warlords, these four characters' will have their lives transformed as they venture, interact and conquer with one another.But it's frustrating how the film doesn't seem to seal the deal with aplomb. The new recruits are pretty content with their new roles as sword wielding, uniform-clad soldiers whose job it is to seriously injure the opposing force; and there's that sense amongst them that they want to fight and want to push on into battle in order to get that chance. It's here that, indeed maybe for some, the characters' attitudes will echo those of the watching audience who are brought in under the pretense they're initially in for an action film. It's here that The Warlords touches on another dominant aspect, or theme, of the war genre. To pluck a random example out of the air, cast your mind back to 1986's Platoon and how that film's first person retelling of what war was really like got across a sense of not wanting to be there; not wanting the uniform and the weapon and really getting across a sense of terror. The Warlords sees its characters invite the warfare, indeed violence is got across as the only way in which to solve problems in the film.There is also that sense of repetition; that sporadic and unnatural flow of battle scenes inter-cut with visits to the Quing lords for reinforcements as well as a few instances in which the trouble amidst the three lead males is becoming more and more apparent. Sprinkle in a couple of silly proverbs-come-one-liners such as "Dying is easy, living is tough." and the reassurance that "Loyalty is everything." and you have pretty wavy, uneasy passage of scenes. Trouble is, most of the conflict within the higher-ups is moderately interesting at best, with conflict arising over how rapists ought to be punished and whether, in one particularly cold blooded scene, dozens of prisoners of war should be executed. While there isn't much in the way of suspense nor peril during most of the battle scenes; in the sense you don't have the immediate feeling that anyone is in danger; or might get hurt or injured.The film creaks and thuds into its final third, with the character of Lian taking the reins and driving the actions of these men as their antagonism changes from push to shove. The film has been released in various countries with various different levels of distribution over the last couple of calendar years, hitting Asia in late 2007 before gradually crawling across Europe, in certain forms, between the winter of 2008 and into the spring of 2009. In 2010, it'll get its American release and I think it'll do well; what with its overall arc of nobodies or 'underdogs' rising out of their respective shells and attempting to become big fish by taking them on at their own game. I think the casting of Jet Li and the promise of some big battle scenes all blended together with a romance sub-plot which'll form the basis for a love triangle spells good things, financially. It's probably worth seeing, overall, but I did not feel as involved as much as I would have liked.

Ismaninb Warlords is a fascinating and great, sometimes shocking but not perfect story of the rise and fall of General Peng. The central theme consists of his political ambitions and how they conflict with the required loyalty to his blood brothers. General Peng has to make some nasty choices and they don't turn out well. As far as I know, but I am not an expert, this is Jet Li's finest role: enigmatic, brave, ambiguous, with questionable values. My main objection against Chinese movies of this kind is that they lack character development, but that does not apply to Warlords. Jet Li manages to stir up mixed feelings until the very last scene. If you thought you had seen it all regarding battle scenes Warlords will give you a surprise. Both the ambush and the great battle scene will pop your eyes out. There is no trace of romanticism, the cruelty of warfare is pictured in every detail without becoming gory. There are also a few great special effects, like when General Peng saves the life of one of his blood brothers. The key scene takes place after the Siege of Suzhou. The question arises: what to do with the 4000 prisoners? The dilemma is unsettling and here it becomes clear that things will definitely go wrong, for all three of the blood brothers. Warlords paints a grim picture of the Chinese civil wars in the 19th Century and the dirty politics involved. The result is of epic dimensions and can compete with any American and European movie of the same kind. My only complaint is that the movie is too short. I would have liked some more background information about the four main characters. The character of Lian remains unnecessarily shallow. Some intriguing scenes are not entirely developed. Finally I would like to know what happened afterwards with Zhang, the narrator of the story. But these are minor quibbles. If you like movies of the grandioso kind, don't miss Warlords.