The Warlords

(2007)

★ 6.8 IMDb · 381 votes

Genres: Action, Drama, History

Year: 2007

Runtime: 126 мин

Country: China, Hong Kong

Director: 陳可辛

Cast: Джет Ли, Энди Лау, 金城武, 徐静蕾, 魏宗萬, 顧寶明, Wang Kuirong, 周波, Го Сяо Дун, Ши Чжао Ци

Plot

The civil war in China has ruined many lives including General Pang's. A wounded General Pang is saved by a beautiful young woman along with two other men. Together they vow to eradicate the rebels.

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.