The Warlords 投名狀

Release Date 日期: 13 December 2007;
Languages 語言: Mandarin;
Classification: U;
Running Time: 2 hours 6 minutes;
Director 導演: Peter Chan 陳可辛;
Cast 主演: Jet Li 李連杰, Andy Lau 劉德華, Takeshi Kaneshiro 金城武;
Genre 片種: Action, Drama, History, Adaptation;
Official Website 電影網站: :::發行拳:::投名狀:::
Watched it at: Golden Screen Cinema;

Synopsis: - taken from Golden Screen Cinema
The film is set in the 1860s, during the Taiping Rebellion 太平天国 in the late Qing Dynasty in China. The story, based on an unresolved crime, tells of three sworn brothers (played by Andy Lau, Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro) who turn on one another over a beautiful woman (Xu Jinglei).

(Source: Grand Brilliance Sdn. Bhd.)


Trailer #1

Trailer #2





WARNING! SPOILER AHEAD!!!
My thoughts 我的感言:
• Very nice cinematography;
• excellent mood - cool colour scheme, black vs white, dark vs bright;
• The War scenes are magnificent (i.e. hollywood standard);
• the setup and props are nicely done;
• I didn't really like the editing of the story, the flow isn't smooth. I noticed most of the Chinese Films' have editing flaws;
• Story wise not bad. This is actually a remake of a 1973 movie - 《刺馬》, based on a historical event Taiping Rebellion (see below, find out more), that illustrated the corrupted government during the late Qing Dynasty, and the differences of soldiesr & politicians, leaders & followers, heroes & crooks;
• Acting wise, nothing great for Andy Lau (just like his performance in his other movie), however Jet Li & Takeshi have great improvement in their acting skills.

Because it managed to take me to a tour to "how Taiping Rebellion" were like. I've studied that in history class back in school before. If Taiping Rebellion won, it'll certainly change the history event of China, as well as the world.

I rate this 4/5.


External Link:
• Official Website;
• Golden Screen Cinema;
• Wikipedia;
• Zh.Wikipedia;
• 太平天国 - Wikipedia;
• Taiping Rebellion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia