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.

KineticSeoul I first thought this was going to be another Chinese war movie with different kingdoms fighting one another for different reasons. Mainly just to conquer and in a way that is what this movie is basically about. But it has certain attributes and direction with the story that makes it more captivating. Plus this doesn't really have over the top fight sequences or super unrealistic kung-fu. In fact the fight sequences is realistic for the most part and it has a story that is actually quite possible. It basically takes a real historical event and goes in a what if it happened this way to reach that point kind a direction. And it actually works for the most part. And the three cast members who are like the three most popular actors in china working today. Really are right for these roles. The plot is basically about three brothers, not by blood but by loyalty and allegiance fighting constant battles. And I seen a lot of these types of movies to know what is going to happen. But certain areas and direction this one takes makes it kinda new in a way. From the three brothers Jet Li plays General Pang a guy that pretended to be dead in order to survive a war. But starts to build courage and his vision. Andy Lau plays Er Hu a leader of a group of bandits that has certain codes and compassion. And Takeshi Kaneshiro plays Wu Pang, he is basically one of the brothers caught in the middle between the other two brothers. Who is both in love with a certain courtesan. But the thing is the love triangle actually is relevant in this movie and blends in with the story. Not a lot but it does have relevance. And the three actors like I said were just right for the roles in this movie, even if Jet Li's small stature makes him look awkward with all the armor he wears in this film. Although most of the way through it's a pretty generic war movie about loyalty and reasons for fighting. But the conclusion actually stands out and makes it, it's own. It's a very watchable war movie and is worth a rent.7.8/10

Tweekums Set in the nineteenth century when civil war plagues China one man Pang Qingyun, survives an overwhelming rout after a supposedly allied army stands by and does nothing. After the battle he is taken to a bandit village which is soon attacked by the very army that stood by earlier. He persuades the village leader, Zhao Er-Hu, and his brother to join an army and fight for the people. At first things go well for them and they are successful; they also stand for justice; then they decide that the city of Suzhou must be taken before going on to take Nanking. They think it will take three years but it is five years before Suzhou falls and when it does they are low on food and a rival army is already heading towards Nanking. Pang orders the execution of four thousand captured soldiers even though Ur-Hu promised that they would be spared if the city surrendered. They continue and take Nanking but their friendship is over and Pang is given the governorship of the city by the Empress. The problem is other lords want him to get rid of Er-Hu first.I hadn't heard of this film before seeing it advertised on television; I decided to watch it as I assumed it would be similar to other Chinese films I'd seen such as 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' or 'Hero'; I was wrong about that as the action here was far more realistic; no running up walls or flying across the roof tops here. The battle scenes were still very dramatic though and there was a degree of stylised choreography in the fighting which added to the excitement. I thought actors Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro did good jobs although not speaking Mandarin I can't comment on their accents! While I wouldn't call this a must see film it wasn't bad and is worth watching on television.

MartinHafer I can certainly respect this Chinese production. After all, the battle sequences are huge, the action very real and the look of the film is top-notch. Yet, despite all this I have a few reservations that keep this from being a truly great film.The first problem is that most non-Chinese will have no idea what's happening much of the time unless they research into the Taiping Rebellion FIRST. While there is a prologue that gives a bit of information, it is very scant--and leaves many, many unanswered questions that you can only understand if you have read up on this era in Chinese history. Some good examples are the significance of the crucifix necklace---the viewer will have no idea where it came from or why it's there. And, who were the rebels and why were they rebelling against the Qing empire? Most importantly, who were the good guys and who weren't? Interestingly enough, who is the hero and villain overall in this rebellion seems to vary over time. During Mao's reign, he felt that the Taiping rebels were the good guys as they represented the forces of socialism (with their redistribution of the land and equality). Today, the prevailing attitude in the country seems to be that the rebels were bad because they brought disunity. ALL of this might have been interesting to learn about in the film, but alas I learned none of this in "Warlords".Second, while the battle sequences were amazing and I was glad that they didn't make war seem bloodless (oooh, it's VERY bloody in this film!!), the film occasionally suffered from over-kill, per se. In other words, with so many battles and so much killing, the senses are overloaded and the film manages in spite of all the brutality and severed limbs to actually bore--at least it did do with me.But, despite these serious complaints, I DO recommend you see the film--provided you read up on the facts first. It's a particularly great film to see on the big screen or on a huge plasma TV. And, the plot involving the three blood brothers is pretty interesting and the acting very good. One final important reason to see the film for weirdo purists like me is that you CAN turn off the English-dubbed version and just watch it in Chinese with English subtitles--and I appreciate that option.