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The Warlords

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The Warlords

R

Released Apr 2, 2010

2h 6m

Action

History

Drama

War

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

62%

Tomatometer

53 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

China is torn apart by civil war, and in the chaos three men emerge who might bring the country back from the brink: Gen. Pang (Jet Li) and a pair of bandits (Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau). Pang is the only survivor from a violent clash with rebels and -- after being taken in by a beautiful woman (Jinglei Xu) -- saves the life of one of the bandits. Soon the three men are blood brothers, and they embark on a quest to rid their land of rebels once and for all.

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Critics Consensus

Slightly stodgy historical Chinese epic with impressive battles.

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Ed Koch

The Atlantic

I think it is worth seeing but not one that must be seen.

Jan 13, 2018

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Tom Long

Detroit News

Doesn't break ground; in fact, it carries on a tradition. But it does so with both flair and passion.

Rated: B

Jul 1, 2010

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Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

A tale of noble brotherhood compromised by self-interest and a messy love triangle, The Warlords, ultimately, tries to speak to the futility of war - but it does so by staging one gargantuan dustup after another.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 15, 2010

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David Harris

Spectrum Culture

Yet another Jet Li-driven, Chinese historical drama is full of sweeping montages, dramatic battle scenes and rhetorical blood oaths, but...its dramatic gravitas is lost among a convoluted plot and a weak love triangle.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 24, 2019

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Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

This film has real scope, showing fantastic battle sequences that rival Hollywood films like Braveheart.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 31, 2012

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Sean Axmaker

Seanax.com

... a muscular character piece set against a massive war and the power relationships behind the battles (as well as more severed limbs than I've seen in a single film).

Jul 1, 2010

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Oliver M

Band of blood brothers which goes horribly wrong. Great tone and pacing. Third act has the Shakespeare tragedy about it and the brutality to go with it. A well grounded epic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/28/23

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Justin T

It looked messy for me, maybe a bad DVD. Even though I thought it had a really drab colour pallet and uninspiring images. It didn't look bad but it didn't look good either. It was just a bit dull. I hated the dubbing. It was distractingly bad. I wish that it was a subtitled movie. The sound design was fine otherwise. Again could be an issue with the DVD. I understood the story but also I didn't. Hard to explain. It was really boring though with unexciting action and dull story like in Braveheart (1995). So the technical issues with my DVD are a bit irrelevant if the film isn't worth watching in the first place. Far too boring to be enjoyable.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

03/25/23

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Audience Member

The warlords is an OK Chinese film that starts off OK but the film got a little more confusing as it went on. The action scenes are OK but they seem toned down even with R rating. It’s an OK Chinese martial arts film I’ve seen better but I’ve seen worse. It’s just wish the plot was easier to follow.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/21

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cinema s

Bloody and full of philosophical brilliance, Li adds another stirring performance to his epical repertoire.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

Watched it thinking it's a Historical War Epic, felt like it's a mixture of drama with little silent type romance thrown in with no consideration given on storytelling, flow and pace of the movie. It was like watching random scenes with little sense to them, might be the dubbing was lacking. There is very little action, the only sequence there is, is badly choreographed. Got no complains on the acting side, it seemed solid just the direction & editing was a let-down.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

Epic for the way it depicts the 19th century China and the world's deadliest rebellion ever that few outside China know much out. The story has appeal although for those unfamiliar with the cultural values and norms, a lot may appear trivially sentimental. Spectacular production and great costumes.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

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Peter Ho-Sun Chan

Director

Wai Man Yip

Director

Jet Li

General Ma Xinyi

Andy Lau

Cao Er-Hu

Takeshi Kaneshiro

Zhang Wen-Xiang

Jinglei Xu

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Synopsis

China is torn apart by civil war, and in the chaos three men emerge who might bring the country back from the brink: Gen. Pang (Jet Li) and a pair of bandits (Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau). Pang is the only survivor from a violent clash with rebels and -- after being taken in by a beautiful woman (Jinglei Xu) -- saves the life of one of the bandits. Soon the three men are blood brothers, and they embark on a quest to rid their land of rebels once and for all.

Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Wai Man Yip
Producer: Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Screenwriter: Tin Nam Chun, Junli Guo, Jiping He, Jianxin Huang, Oi Wah Lam
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Beijing Poly-bona Film Publishing Company, Media Asia Films Ltd. [hk], Applause Pictures, China Film Group Corp.
Rating: R (Sequences of Strong Violence)
Genre: Action, History, Drama, War
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 2, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $129.0K
Runtime: 2h 6m

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