The Warlords

2007 Chinese-Hong Kong film by Peter Chan

This article is about the 2007 film. For the similarly-titled episode of Doctor Who, see The Crusade. For other uses, see Warlord (disambiguation).

The Warlords

Theatrical release poster

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese| 投名狀
Simplified Chinese| 投名状
Literal meaning| discard account
| Transcriptions

Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin| tóu míngzhuàng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping| Tau4 Ming4 Zong6
Directed by| Peter Chan
Written by| Xu Lan
Chun Tin-nam
Aubery Lam
Huang Jianxin
Jojo Hui
He Jiping
Guo Junli
James Yuen
Produced by| Peter Chan
Andre Morgan
Starring| Jet Li
Andy Lau
Takeshi Kaneshiro
Xu Jinglei
Cinematography| Arthur Wong
Edited by| Wenders Li
Music by| Chan Kwong-wing
Peter Kam
Chatchai Pongprapaphan
Leon Ko

Production
companies

Media Asia Films
China Film Group
Morgan & Chan Films

Distributed by| Media Asia Distribution

Release dates

* 12 December 2007 (2007-12-12) (China)
* 13 December 2007 (2007-12-13) (Hong Kong)

Running time

| 127 minutes
Countries| Hong Kong
China
Language| Mandarin
Budget| $40 million[1]
Box office| $42.9 million[2][3]

The Warlords (投名狀), previously known as The Blood Brothers, is a 2007 epic historical action film directed and co-produced by Peter Chan, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. A Hong Kong-Chinese co-production set in China in the 1860s during the Taiping Rebellion, the film revolves around the sworn brotherhood of three men.

The film was released on 13 December 2007 simultaneously in most of Asia, except Japan.[4] It won a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film and a Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film. Li also won the Hong Kong Film Award and the Shanghai Film Critics Award for Best Actor, and became the highest paid actor in a Chinese-language movie, previously holding the record for his part in Hero (2002).[5][6]

## Plot

[edit]

The film is set in China in the 1860s during the Taiping Rebellion against the ruling Qing Empire. Pang Qingyun, the commander of an imperial battalion, is the sole survivor after a battle between imperial and rebel forces. He meets and befriends Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang, the leaders of a bandit gang based in a nearby village, and joins them in raiding a rebel convoy for food supplies. That night, some imperial troops show up in the village and seize the supplies. Around this time, Pang starts a secret affair with Liansheng, Zhao's wife.

Since the villagers are poor and starving, Pang convinces them to form a militia and join imperial forces to suppress the rebellion. With Pang as their leader, the three men swear a blood oath and pledge loyalty to each other as brothers on the pain of death. Later, with minimal support from regular imperial forces, the militia scores a series of victories against the rebels. Over time, Pang becomes increasingly ambitious and prepares to attack the rebel-controlled city of Suzhou. However, Pang's imperial superiors have grown jealous of his success, so they start denying him reinforcements and supplies. As a result, the battle of Suzhou turns into a year-long siege in which the militia gradually runs out of food and supplies.

Zhao disguises himself and infiltrates Suzhou to assassinate the rebel commander, but learns that the commander is already planning to surrender. The commander allows Zhao to kill him on the condition that the imperials spare the lives of the rebels and civilians in the city. Meanwhile, Pang has managed to procure ten days' worth of supplies from a rival imperial commander. When he learns of the deal Zhao has made with the rebels, he refuses to honour it because the supplies are insufficient to support both the militia and the surrendered rebels. A dispute between Pang and Zhao ensues, after which Pang temporarily puts Zhao in chains to prevent him from interfering. Pang then orders Jiang to oversee the massacre of the surrendered rebels, and Jiang regretfully carries it out.

Embittered by Pang's decision, Zhao intends to desert the militia but Pang begs him to stay and points out that the massacre was necessary and they have to conserve their supplies for their next battle in Nanjing, the rebel capital city. If they win, they can stop the rebellion and prevent further bloodshed. Convinced that Pang's choices are for the greater good, Zhao reluctantly agrees. After the Battle of Nanjing which marks the end of the war, Pang is rewarded with the position of a viceroy by the imperial government. During this time, Pang and Zhao have grown apart due to mistrust, especially after Zhao oversteps his authority by distributing funds to their men without Pang's approval. Yet, Zhao refuses to turn against Pang when Pang's political rivals hint that he should.

Realising that he was losing control over Zhao and his men, Pang considers disbanding the militia and reluctantly plots Zhao's assassination as he fears that Zhao might cause trouble. When Jiang learns of Pang's plan, he tries to dissuade Pang and inadvertently discovers Pang's ongoing secret affair with Liansheng. Jiang blames Liansheng for breaking their brotherhood and kills her. Meanwhile, Zhao is tricked into thinking that Pang is in danger and goes to save him, only to fall into a trap and end up being killed without realising that it was Pang who wanted him dead.

After Jiang learns that Pang is responsible for Zhao's death, he attempts to kill Pang. Although Pang manages to fend off and defeat Jiang, he is fatally wounded by a sniper sent by his political rivals. As he collapses, he allows Jiang to deliver the coup de grâce and fulfil their oath. Offscreen, it is mentioned that Jiang is eventually arrested, made the scapegoat for Pang's assassination, and executed by lingchi.

## Cast

[edit]

* Jet Li as Pang Qingyun
* Andy Lau as Zhao Erhu
* Takeshi Kaneshiro as Jiang Wuyang
* Xu Jinglei as Liansheng

## Production

[edit]

From left: director Peter Chan and stars Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, and Jet Li at the premiere of The Warlords at SF World Cinema, CentralWorld, Bangkok.

The film was originally titled The Blood Brothers (刺馬). Director Peter Chan said it was influenced by Chang Cheh's 1973 film The Blood Brothers, which was based on a high-profile assassination of a local governor in 1870, but denied that it is a remake. He also decided to change the title to The Warlords in order to avoid confusion.[4] (Note that there is another Chinese film with the English title Blood Brothers released in mid-2007.)

When asked why he chose to move away from his familiar turf of romance films, Chan said that The Warlords is actually not a martial arts film at its heart, though it contains elements of martial arts. He added that he had made a wish to make a film depicting men's affections after watching John Woo's 1986 film A Better Tomorrow over 20 years ago, and has now finally gotten the chance.[7] His goal is thus to "lead [his] audience to reclaim [the same kind of passion]" as in A Better Tomorrow, which he said was lacking in recent films.[8]

Shooting began in early December 2006 in Beijing. Many outdoor scenes were shot in Beijing, Shanghai and Hengdian World Studios.[9]

The film ran into copyright troubles on 19 March 2007 when Chinese artist Wang Kewei filed a lawsuit against the film company for using his work in the promotional artworks without his consent. Wang claimed that in a short promotional video shown during a press conference held on 11 December 2006 in Beijing, the film company used ten pieces of his work with minor alterations. The film company has not given an official response.[10]

Production of The Warlords officially wrapped up on 28 March 2007.[11] Post-production work was done in Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Bangkok.[4]

Jet Li received US$15 million, while Andy Lau received US$6 million and Takeshi Kaneshiro received US$2 million for the film. The film had a budget of US$40 million. The producers explained the huge salary for Li (over a third of the film's budget) by saying Li's participation ensured an international distribution for the film.

## Reception

[edit]

The film won many prizes in many Hong Kong, Chinese, Asian and international film festivals in 2008 and 2009.[12][13]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregated score of 65% based on 51 reviews.[14]

Perry Lam of Muse has also given the film a generally positive review, praising it for taking "a clear-eyed but sympathetic look at its flawed heroes".[15]

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Awards and nominations

Ceremony  | Category  | Recipient  | Outcome
27th Hong Kong Film Awards | Best Film | The Warlords | Won
Best Director | Peter Chan | Won
Best Actor | Jet Li | Won
Andy Lau | Nominated
Best Cinematography | Arthur Wong | Won
Best Film Editing  | Wenders Li  | Nominated
Best Action Choreography | Ching Siu-tung | Nominated
Best Art Direction  | Yee Chung-Man, Yi Zheng-zhou, Pater Wong  | Won
Best Costume and Makeup Design  | Yee Chung-Man, Jessie Dai, Lee Pik-kwan  | Won
Best Sound Design  | Sunit Asvinikul, Nakorn Kositpaisal  | Won
Best Visual Effects  | Ng Yuen-fai  | Won
Best Original Film Score  | Chan Kwong-wing, Peter Kam, Chatchai Pongprapaphan, Leon Ko | Nominated
45th Golden Horse Awards | Best Feature Film | The Warlords | Won
Best Director | Peter Chan  | Won
Best Original Screenplay  | Xu Lan, Chun Tin-nam, Aubrey Lam, Huang Jianxin,
Jojo Hui, He Jiping, Guo Junli, James Yuen  | Nominated
Best Actor  | Jet Li  | Nominated
Best Cinematography  | Arthur Wong  | Nominated
Best Film Editing  | Wenders Li  | Nominated
Best Art Direction  | Yee Chung-Man, Yi Zheng-zhou, Pater Wong  | Nominated
Best Makeup & Costume Design  | Yee Chung-Man, Jessie Dai, Lee Pik-kwan  | Nominated
Best Action Choreography  | Ching Siu-tung  | Nominated
Best Visual Effects  | Eddy Wong, Victor Wong, Ken Law  | Won
Best Sound Effects  | Sunit Asvinikul, Nakorn Kositpaisal  | Nominated
Best Original Film Score'  | Chan Kwong-wing, Peter Kam, Chatchai Pongprapaphan, Leon Ko  | Nominated
Best 800 Bandits  | Bandit 1, Bandit 2, etc.  | Won
2nd Asian Film Awards | Best Film | The Warlords | Nominated
Best Director | Peter Chan  | Nominated
Best Actor | Jet Li  | Nominated
Best Cinematographer  | Arthur Wong  | Nominated
Best Editor  | Wenders Li  | Nominated
Best Visual Effects  | Ng Yuen-fai  | Won

## See also

[edit]

* List of historical drama films of Asia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Warlords (2010) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
2. ^ "Warlords (2010)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
3. ^ "Tau ming chong (The Warlords) (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
4. ^ a b c Coonan, C. "Chan's 'Warlords' wraps", Variety, 2007-03-30. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
5. ^ https://chinesemov.com/actors2/Jet-Li-Awards
6. ^ "Jet Li breaks Chinese film salary record". Digital Spy. 26 November 2007.
7. ^ Unknown. "Peter Chan steps away from romance" Archived 14 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CCTV, 2006-12-25. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
8. ^ (in Chinese) Unknown. "A visit to the shooting of Warlords" Archived 6 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Sina Entertainment, 2007-03-16. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
9. ^ (in Chinese) Unknown. "Blood Brothers begins shooting in Beijing" Archived 26 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Nanfang Daily, 2006-12-05. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
10. ^ (in Chinese) Unknown. "Warlords in copyright troubles", Beijing Morning Post, 2007-03-20. Retrieved on 2007-04-02.
11. ^ (in Chinese) Unknown. "Warlords wraps up, to be released simultaneously across Asia before New Year", Beijing Morning Post, 2007-04-02. Retrieved on 2004-04-02.
12. ^ "'Warlords' wins best film at Chinese Oscars". The Hindu. 7 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 July 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
13. ^ "Awards for The Warlords". Media Asia. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
14. ^ "The Warlords (2010)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
15. ^ Lam, Perry (January 2008). "'Reinventing heroism'". Muse Magazine (12): 104.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Warlords.

* Official website
* The Warlords at IMDb

Awards and achievements

Preceded by

After This Our Exile

|  Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Film
2008  | Succeeded by

Ip Man

Preceded by

Lust, Caution

|  Golden Horse Awards for Best Film
2008  | Succeeded by

No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Peter Chan

* Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye (1991)
* He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father (1993)
* Tom, Dick and Hairy (1993)
* He's a Woman, She's a Man (1994)
* The Age of Miracles (1996)
* Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996)
* Who's the Woman, Who's the Man? (1996)
* The Love Letter (1999)
* Three (2002)
* Project 1:99 (2003)
* Perhaps Love (2005)
* The Warlords (2007)
* Dragon (2011)
* American Dreams in China (2013)
* Dearest (2014)
* Leap (2020)
* She's Got No Name (2024)
* Li Na: My Life (TBA)

* v
* t
* e

Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film

* Father and Son (1982)
* Boat People (1983)
* Ah Ying (1984)
* Homecoming (1985)
* Police Story (1986)
* A Better Tomorrow (1987)
* An Autumn's Tale (1988)
* Rouge (1989)
* Beyond the Sunset (1990)
* Days of Being Wild (1991)
* To Be Number One (1992)
* Cageman (1993)
* C'est la vie, mon chéri (1994)
* Chungking Express (1995)
* Summer Snow (1996)
* Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1997)
* Made in Hong Kong (1998)
* Beast Cops (1999)
* Ordinary Heroes (2000)
* Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001)
* Shaolin Soccer (2002)
* Infernal Affairs (2003)
* Running on Karma (2004)
* Kung Fu Hustle (2005)
* Election (2006)
* After This Our Exile (2007)
* The Warlords (2008)
* Ip Man (2009)
* Bodyguards and Assassins (2010)
* Gallants (2011)
* A Simple Life (2012)
* Cold War (2013)
* The Grandmaster (2014)
* The Golden Era (2015)
* Ten Years (2016)
* Trivisa (2017)
* Our Time Will Come (2018)
* Project Gutenberg (2019)
* Better Days (2020)
* Raging Fire (2021/2022)
* To My Nineteen-Year-Old Self (2023)
* A Guilty Conscience (2024)
* Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Horse Award for Best Narrative Feature

* Sun, Moon and Star (1962)
* The Love Eterne (1963)
* not held (1964)
* Beautiful Duckling (1965)
* Hsi-shih, Beauty of Beauties (1966)
* Orchids and My Love (1967)
* The Road (1968)
* Spring in a Small Town (1969)
* Home Sweet Home (1970)
* The Story of Ti-Ying (1971)
* Execution in Autumn (1972)
* The Escape (1973)
* not held (1974)
* Land of the Undaunted (1975)
* Victory (1976)
* Heroes of the Eastern Skies (1977)
* He Never Gives Up (1978)
* The Story of a Small Town (1979)
* Good Morning, Taipei (1980)
* If I Were for Real (1981)
* The Battle for the Republic of China (1982)
* Growing Up (1983)
* Old Mao's Second Spring (1984)
* Kuei-Mei, a Woman (1985)
* Terrorizers (1986)
* Straw Man (1987)
* Painted Faces (1988)
* Full Moon in New York (1989)
* Red Dust (1990)
* A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
* Hill of No Return (1992)
* The Wedding Banquet (1993)
* Vive l'amour (1994)
* Summer Snow (1995)
* In the Heat of the Sun (1996)
* Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1997)
* Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998)
* Ordinary Heroes (1999)
* Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
* Durian Durian (2001)
* The Best of Times (2002)
* Infernal Affairs (2003)
* Mountain Patrol: Kekexili (2004)
* Kung Fu Hustle (2005)
* After This Our Exile (2006)
* Lust, Caution (2007)
* The Warlords (2008)
* Cannot Live Without You (2009)
* When Love Comes (2010)
* Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (2011)
* Beijing Blues (2012)
* Ilo Ilo (2013)
* Blind Massage (2014)
* The Assassin (2015)
* The Summer Is Gone (2016)
* The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (2017)
* An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
* A Sun (2019)
* My Missing Valentine (2020)
* The Falls (2021)
* Coo-Coo 043 (2022)
* Stonewalling (2023)
* An Unfinished Film (2024)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template