Leofwine_draca THE WARLORDS is a typically overblown historical epic, full of pomposity and grandeur, a film of heroism, murder and larger than life characters. Such films have been very popular in Asia in recent years, with notable highlights including wushu flick HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS and the quite wonderful CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER. THE WARLORDS never equals the heights of those two films, but it is a good effort, a fine display of historical spectacle mixed with a three-hander character drama.My main complaint with the film is that it doesn't really know what it wants to be. It starts off as an action flick, but there's only really one notable fight scene in the whole movie. This involves a ferocious battle between two armies, with Jet Li taking to the field and cutting down swathes of the enemy. Extremely tight editing and a refreshing emphasis on the nastiness of warfare makes this scene one of the highlights of the year, but the rest of the film doesn't match it. Soon we move into a more thoughtful, character-led drama that somehow doesn't ring quite true to me. The acting is very good, and the scenes are all well shot with great proficiency in the technical details, but there's a hollowness here that just left me detached from what was going on. It may be that the story is overly familiar, or that some elements – the character of Lian and her relationships with the leads – are glossed over and feel false.I'd say that this is a film that could have been so much more. It marks an admirable move away from the outrageous 'flying' and gravity-defying situations found in the wushu genre, moving towards gritty realism and grimy authenticity. There are a handful of truly great moments, involving some wonderful acting, like the situation with the four thousand prisoners. But the way the film gradually moves away from greatness down to the climax between two individuals is disappointing and feels rushed. Jet Li shines with some of his best acting ever in a couple of places, and Takeshi Kaneshiro is the kind of amiable guy the crowd loves: good looking, fair and just. Andy Lau is also great, but used too little. Overall, it's a case of 'what could have been' rather than 'what is'; nice film, but no classic.

MrAwesome1022 This was one of the best movies I have ever seen, by far the best performance I have seen from Jet Li. He and this film were well worthy of their Hong Kong Film Award victories and nominations. The acting and emotion were strong throughout the movie and you could feel the pain and anguish of the characters in those moments.The script at times (or perhaps the direction) didn't seem to fit with jumping ahead in some situations, but that didn't hurt the grand feel of the film too much. Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro also were incredible, each had their opportunity to show their talent and definitely delivered.Jinglei Xu had a very powerful scene at the beginning of the movie and a few other portions where she masterfully used her face to tell a story without dialogue. All the acting was top notch and the story was definitely gripping. If you want to see Jet Li at his best you should definitely give this film a watch.

frAnkzOnE This is just such a great movie on so many levels. The acting is superb, the cast is wonderful, the screenplay is impeccable. But what's really striking about the movie is that it never takes the easy path, to tell an easy-cheesy hero melodrama story that seems almost guaranteed in such an "epic" setting nowadays: ancient China, blood oath of brotherhood, Kongfu and swordplay, etc. (sounds familiar?)Instead, the movie keeps hitting you with one moral dilemma after another at every turn of the plot. It not only shows you the process of General Pang losing his last shred of humanity and becoming a monster, but at the same time presents the audience with the difficult choices that drive him through it, which makes the audience can't help but somehow empathize with him and question whether he is really that wrong? That is what makes this movie so emotionally powerful and intellectually tasteful.To me personally, this is a movie of demagogues, an epitome of the Chinese politics of the last century. General Pang always reminds me of Chairman Mao. Both are great military leaders, yet greater demagogues who use war and trickery to satisfy their personal cravings for powers, and masterfully manipulate people's longing for morality and prosperity and turn them into barbarians and monsters. Maybe it's just me, but as a fellow Chinese, I can't help but suspect that Director Chen might have the same thing in mind.

Paul Celano (chelano) This is a very powerful movie full of emotion, but there is one problem that held it back. It was the story. The movie was almost 2 hours and it still was rushed. Scenes would go by too fast or it would skip to another scene and you didn't feel like the one before it was complete. A rushed story can really ruin a movie. Some things did save the film though. The cast for one thing. Jet Li was great and had somewhat of an evil side to him. Now this is not an action packed movie, so don't expect to see Jet Li go wild. But there is one scene in the beginning where he fights and it is pretty intense. He makes a blood brother pack with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. Andy Lau is probably the actor who showed the most emotion. One scene he was so full of emotion, you couldn't cut it with a knife. Takeshi Kaneshiro was more of the young hot shot and near the end finally grows up. Xu Jinglei plays the love interest of Jet Li and Andy Lau. She was also a pleasure to watch. So again, the film was full of emotion and some of the camera angles plus the visuals were really intense. I just really wish the story was more solid and they really could of had something here.