New poster and release dates for ‘The Warlords’

By Mark Pollard | Published December 8, 2009

Magnolia Pictures will finally be bringing Peter Chan’s gritty war epic THE WARLORDS, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro to the U.S. through their Magnet Releasing label. The film will premiere on VOD, Xbox Live and Amazon on March 3, 2010 and will follow with a theatrical run beginning April 2.

THE WARLORDS is based on a historical account of three sworn brothers torn apart by war and an unsolved assassination in 1870. The story was previously told with more of a kung fu genre slant in Chang Cheh’s classic BLOOD BROTHERS (1973).

THE WARLORDS (2007)

Chan’s updated version, which features action choreography by Ching Siu-tung, is more of a BRAVEHEART-style historical war drama than typical Chinese martial arts actioner. It’s been out for two years now and I doubt there are many diehard Jet Li or Asian cinema fans who haven’t seen the film already, either on import DVD, at festival screenings or through less reputable means. But at least this puts the film on track to receive a respectable home video release next year. Also, lucky folks in select cities will have a chance to see it on the big screen which is where I’m sure it looks best.

The film swept the 2008 Hong Kong Film Awards, earning Best Picture, Art Direction, Costume Design, Sound Design, Visual Effects, Director, and Best Actor for Jet Li who played one of the most complex and dark characters of his career to date.

Source: Empire Movies

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  • soddi
    I wanted to see this so much I bought a Chinese copy. THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE THE FILM YOU EXPECT. It's better. Jet Li ACTS and he does it well. He plays a disgraced soldier, full of regrets, but still subject to his own overwhelming ambition and, in the end, his downfall is because of his hubris. He is not the hero - Andy Lau is the heroic figure - but he's not the villain either. Sure, there is a lot of very well-filmed, bone-crunching action, bu, for me at least, it is secondary to the plot and characterization. Remember Clint Eastwood's portrayal of Will Munny in "Unforgiven"? Jet Li has got a lot of THAT in his role in this film.
  • LoBo
    One of the best Jet Li films i have seen. I find it very much better than the dull Red Cliff.
  • I haven't seen it and just "Saved" it on Netflix. Looks like my type of flick and looking forward to seeing it!
  • In my opinion, this is the best of the three 3 Kingdom movies (Red Cliff, Three Kingdoms). It's the most coherent and emotionally gripping. Not much martial arts, but a very good movie with solid acting.
  • xoddi
    It is not 3 Kingdoms - it is set during the Taiping Rebellion (1850s).
  • I'll update the article as soon as I can find out which cut Magnolia is using.
  • Rhythm-X
    Which version is this?

    I wish the MPAA would put precise to-the-second running times for films on their website the way the BBFC does. That way we'd be able to tell if a movie had been cut by its distributor well before it got released. Until I hear from a reliable source that WARLORDS is uncut, I'll assume it's a bullshit "international version"... because American fans almost always get screwed over one way or another.
  • kfffan
    is this cut or uncut because some reviews said that the magnolia version is edited down 15 mins at least when it was screened ???
  • I saw it two weeks ago. To me, both Blood Brothers, and Warlords are very good films. I liked a lot the plot and the characters in this new version. Its really worth to watch and I recommend it everyone.
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