Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Battle of the Warriors Blu-ray Movie Review

Don't judge a movie by its title. Or titles.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 14, 2011

The title Battle of the Warriors is probably overly generic and fails to properly establish this film’s tenor and approach. It was originally released in English speaking nations as Battle of Wits, and that’s probably a much better peek inside this film which, while not shirking from a host of really exciting battle scenes, is more about strategy and cunning than it is about brute force. The Era of Warring States in China (roughly 475 BC to 221 BC) has long held an undeniable fascination for Asian filmmakers, and it once again is the focus of Battle of the Warriors. What makes this production more internationally interesting than most is that despite being set in China, the film is actually based on a Japanese novel which was then adapted into a manga (graphic novel) which became hugely popular in Hong Kong. While the film follows a somewhat generic model that is as hackneyed as its “new, improved” title, Battle of the Warriors is notable for being a rather thoughtful film laced with some great action sequences, rather than a straight out action film that shoehorns in some rudimentary philosophical questions. At the core of Battle of the Warriors’ unusual take on its oft-covered subject is its main character of Ge Li (Andy Lau), a Mohist who appears out of the desert as a sort of ancient Chinese Obi Wan-Kenobi, according to the exhaustive commentary by Bey Logan included on the Blu-ray. Mohism, though now largely unknown outside of the Far East, was a major counterpart to Confucianism, especially during the Warring States period, and Ge Li is therefore a sort of philosopher soldier, a thinking man’s action hero who would prefer to be fostering peace, but isn’t about to sit around and wait for the impossible dream of harmony to blossom when the town he’s decided to protect is about to get its butt kicked.

This period of China’s history was marked by a series of city states, and the factionalism and internecine fighting between them has been as fertile a ground for filmmaking in that country as the Wild West has been for Americans. (Isn’t it interesting to think that our own Revolutionary War or even Civil War, certainly more apt analogues to China’s Era of Warring States than the settling of the West, haven’t provided near as many films as the old staple of cowboys versus Indians). In the case of Battle of the Warriors, we have the city state of Liang, which under its buffoonish alcoholic king (Wang Zhiwen) is pretty much ready to just lie down and surrender before the huge invading forces of the Zhao state. Enter Ge Li, who rallies the residents of Liang, despite the King’s obvious misgivings. Ge Li isn’t above sensationalizing what might happen should the Zhao forces take Liang, but he also makes it clear that Liang isn’t the ultimate objective of the Zhao invaders, and that if the city can simply hold out long enough, the Zhao forces are sure to give up and move on to greater riches elsewhere.

Things become more strained when Ge Li’s tactics send the Zhao forces retreating in disarray. That sets up Ge Li as an unlikely hero and the King is obviously threatened by the growing popularity of this “man of the people.” The bulk of the film is therefore a sort of Shakespearean tragedy of sorts of rule by decree versus a commanding essence which emanates from a simpler soul. Punctuating the human drama are a number of exciting battle sequences, as the Zhao do not go gently into that good ancient Chinese night. But interestingly the conflict here is not really between Liang and Zhao, but between Ge Li and the King, both supposedly on the same side of the battle.

This is a stupendously huge production, and what makes it all the more impressive is that very little of the size and scale was accomplished courtesy of CGI. Full size sets fill the screen with mammoth, often overwhelming detail, and the entire production design of Battle of the Warriors ably recreates a feudal Chinese past that is both brutal and strangely elegant in its own way. Costumes are especially opulent though as Bey Logan comments, they’re not “traditionally” Chinese looking, as in this ancient period, the apparel we nowadays think of as being prototypically Asian hadn’t yet been developed.

As Logan also somewhat candidly talks about, director Jacob Cheung had never before helmed a film of this size and complexity, and that led to some problems both during production and especially in the post-production editing period. Cheung evidently utilized literally miles of film, including multiple takes of some of the more complex sequences, and that left editor Kwong Chi-Leung with an epic task to whittle the film down to even its current state at well over two hours. Unfortunately Cheung’s inexperience leads to some confusion at times which does not seem to be simply a case of “lost in translation.” Threads of the plot often dangle with unanswered questions and some of the more interesting philosophical quandaries which are at least hinted at by Ge Li’s Mohist background are never fully explored or indeed resolved by the film’s conclusion.

Nonetheless, Battle of the Warriors has the stately (some would argue slow) ambience and epic sensibility of the films of David Lean. This is a film that wants to explore large scale historical events through the interpersonal relationships of one or two prime characters, much like Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia or perhaps more fittingly, his still criminally underappreciated Ryan’s Daughter. Even those without a thorough grounding in Chinese history are going to come away from Battle of the Warriors with a good, if generalized, overview of at least some of the elements of the Era of Warring States. Yes, the treatment here is somewhat generic, but the film manages to rise above the clichés by offering a really fascinating lead character in Ge Li, and for going in some unexpected directions with regard to the relationship between Ge Li and Liang’s King.

There are certainly elements of Battle of the Warriors fans of this type of film have seen before, including in some recent films like the similarly named The Empress and the Warriors, which, like this film, also featured a sort of Mulan character fighting alongside the boys. (Logan humorously comments that Mulan seems to be the trend of the moment in Hong Kong films). But Battle of the Warriors is surprisingly facile, even as it stumbles a time or two in its storytelling. Filled with pageantry to fill the screen, while focusing on a fascinating dialectic between two disparate lead characters to provide tension and conflict, Battle of the Warriors really isn’t half as generic as its title might lead you to believe.

Battle of the Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Battle of Warriors blasts onto Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.37:1. For the most part this new Blu-ray looks reasonably sharp and well defined, though it's lacking in the crystal clarity that seems to elude a lot of these Dragon Dynasty releases. Grain is intact and natural looking, but there's also an attendant slight fuzziness that keeps this image from the top tier of immaculate looking BD's. Colors are well saturated, though the entire film is tilted toward a sort of yellowish-green palette that adds to the softness factor somewhat. The only real major complaint that some videophiles may have with this release is pretty prevalent crushing in the central dark segments of the film, which go on for quite some time. Because a central conceit of the film involves hidden underground tunnels, the lack of solid contrast and black levels in these darker sequences makes for a few confusing moments.

Battle of the Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Battle of the Warriors contains a really artful lossless Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, as well as an English dub in Dolby Digital 5.1. It's interesting to hear Bey Logan talk about how even fluent Mandarin speakers like Andy Lau had to be dubbed as the Chinese government has incredibly strict rules as to pronunciation and dialect and how that's delivered on screen. With that in mind, some careful listeners may in fact sense different recording ambiences in some of the dialogue. However, that's more than offset by a really careful and often amazingly well detailed mix that has a host of wonderfully nuanced sound effects, all placed brilliantly around the soundfield, offering a wealth of immersion. While we do get the expected bombast from the action sequences, including some thrilling pans as flaming arrows whip through the air, I was actually struck more by some of the "quieter" effects, things like a huge padlock clanging shut or the rattle of ancient gates being pushed closed. This is an incredibly well detailed track that invites the listener into an ancient sound world and recreates that world beautifully.

Battle of the Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Commentary by Bey Logan. Once again Logan provides an incredibly informative and fun to listen to commentary, which talks about everything from his own history in Hong Kong films to his personal relationships with many of the cast and crew on Battle of the Warriors, to the film's genesis as a novel and later manga, to its production and post-production. Logan is easily one of the most accomplished commentators currently working the circuit on film commentaries.
• The Making of Battle of the Warriors (SD; 50:29) is a good above-average making of featurette which offers lots of interesting interviews as well as copious footage of scenes being shot and final versions from the film itself. In Chinese with English subtitles.

Battle of the Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of Hong Kong historical action films will get enough of that element in Battle of the Warriors, but what's really the calling card here is the unexpected playing out of interrelationships as Ge Li's tactics prove perhaps too successful for his own good. The film has a really nice feel for the time and internecine warfare which seems to have played such a huge part in developing China's current psyche, and the production design and sound design on Battle of the Warriors is nothing short of stupendous. The image quality of this Blu-ray is just a tad problematic, but the soundtrack is quite impressive indeed. Highly recommended.