By | Published August 17, 2009

Coming to DVD in the U.S. on September 8 is Jacob Cheung’s war epic BATTLE OF WITS (2006), re-titled BATTLE OF THE WARRIORS. Dragon Dynasty’s cover art prominently displays bloodied leading man Andy Lau backed by lots of people with pointy objects and flags.

BATTLE OF WITS (DVD - Dragon Dynasty)

According to a fact sheet provided by the distributor, this “Special Collector’s Edition” is shipping with English and Mandarin audio tracks, a 133-minute running time, and audio commentary by Bey Logan.

BATTLE OF WITS is one of many recent costume epics from China that seems all the rage over there but so far has had trouble catching on internationally. The Weinstein Company appears committed to getting some of these films released here regardless. They have previously released THE BANQUET (as LEGEND OF THE BLACK SCORPION) and AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS. Magnolia has rights to other recent war epics including THE WARLORDS and RED CLIFF.

It is interesting to see what some of Hong Kong’s top action directors come up with when handling large-scale battles previously impossible to pull off without mainland Chinese backing. Stephen Tung Wei, who recently choreographed action for the Donnie Yen kung fu actioner BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS, was action director for BATTLE OF WITS. He had past experience orchestrating large-scale fight sequences in He Ping’s WARRIORS OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Related Topics:
 •   •   •   • 
  • stdthagreat

    Another current wuxia film from dragon dynasty. I'm getting sick of these(I know you wuxia fans can't get enough of it).Why can't they get Ip Man or Legendary Assassin or Somtam.

  • morgoth

    I don't think this is a wuxia stdthagreat. But I wish it was.

  • Captain Boosh

    This is not a wuxia film (unless it was literature stuff). What I mean is it is not people flying through the air sword fighting.

    It a story of a guy who helps a smaller nation defend against a huge army using strategy and tactics rather than blunt force and a sheer amount of soldiers.

    It's a warlord film. And it's really good.

  • morgoth

    From the reviews and coments I've read about this movie, people seem to be 50/50 on it. I thought it sucked.

  • stdthagreat

    Oh it's a warlords movie. Still though, I wish that Dragon Dynasty would pick a better selection with their current releases.

  • oh the humanity

    They're broke. They're working their way through their enormous catalog of unreleased stuff, and frankly they're leaving the most compelling titles on the shelf – probably to boost the value of their catalog of unreleased films when they're forced to sell off their assets as they go out of business. Hence, no BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR, GOD OF COOKERY, KING OF COMEDY, or CHINESE ODYSSEY 1 and 2 DVDs – even though all those titles are sitting on the shelf at the Weinstein Company. They're not going to release them, ever. Hopefully they'll collapse and sell their titles to someone who will.

  • http://goldenpigsy.blogspot.com/ GoldenPigsy

    I quite liked Battle of Wits. It's actually a very interesting take on certain elements of Chinese history that tend to get short shrift in popular media (Mohism, slavery, etc.) albeit very flawed as commercial cinema, which the makers were obviously aiming for. I don't think it's fair to write it off with “it sucks” though.

    Anyways, what's the deal with the re-title? Does anybody actually think that “Battle of the Warriors” sounds more evocative than “A Battle of Wits?” It isn't as bad as what they did with “The Banquet,” but still… I find it very hard to believe that making these movies seem more b-rate actually makes them more enticing to customers not already familiar with Asian genre films.

  • stdthagreat

    @ oh the humanity
    Damn! I didn't know the DD is in such a bad condition. I like them too but they have stopped releasing double disc special editions and also cutting back on bonus features. What a shame.

  • oh the humanity

    They're broke. They're working their way through their enormous catalog of unreleased stuff, and frankly they're leaving the most compelling titles on the shelf – probably to boost the value of their catalog of unreleased films when they're forced to sell off their assets as they go out of business. Hence, no BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR, GOD OF COOKERY, KING OF COMEDY, or CHINESE ODYSSEY 1 and 2 DVDs – even though all those titles are sitting on the shelf at the Weinstein Company. They're not going to release them, ever. Hopefully they'll collapse and sell their titles to someone who will.

  • http://goldenpigsy.blogspot.com/ GoldenPigsy

    I quite liked Battle of Wits. It's actually a very interesting take on certain elements of Chinese history that tend to get short shrift in popular media (Mohism, slavery, etc.) albeit very flawed as commercial cinema, which the makers were obviously aiming for. I don't think it's fair to write it off with “it sucks” though.

    Anyways, what's the deal with the re-title? Does anybody actually think that “Battle of the Warriors” sounds more evocative than “A Battle of Wits?” It isn't as bad as what they did with “The Banquet,” but still… I find it very hard to believe that making these movies seem more b-rate actually makes them more enticing to customers not already familiar with Asian genre films.

  • stdthagreat

    @ oh the humanity
    Damn! I didn't know the DD is in such a bad condition. I like them too but they have stopped releasing double disc special editions and also cutting back on bonus features. What a shame.