Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

The Warlords Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 4, 2008

Top martial-arts star Jet Li teams up with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro in Peter Ho-Sun Chan’s epic extravaganza “Tau ming chon”g a.k.a “The Warlords” (2007). Winner of four Hong Kong Film awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Peter Chan), Best Actor (Jet Li) and Best Cinematography (Arthur Wong), the film delivers on promises of spectacular battle scenes and impressive period decors. Courtesy of UK-based distributors Metrodome Video. Region-Free.

Bloody times

The Taiping Rebellion. A gruesome 14-year old civil war has claimed the lives of over 70 million people. Army general Pang Qingyun (Jet Li, Once Upon a Time in China) has miraculously survived the extermination of his men - the Qui army, once a powerful and trustworthy ally, has betrayed him. Barely able to walk, Pang Qingyun collapses in a nearby village where a peasant (Xu Jinglei, A Letter from an Unknown Woman) helps him recover. Soon after, he encounters the leaders of a local gang of warriors - Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau, A Battle of Wits) and his protégé Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro, House of Flying Daggers) - who are forced to steal and rob in order to feed their clan, and joins them. During a deadly raid, Pang Qingyun saves Zhao Erhu’s life and the three men pledge to always look after each other. They become blood brothers.

Servants of the Qui army reappear and confiscate the loot the blood brothers have brought to their village. Pang Qingyun tells Zhao Erhu and Jiang Wuyang that the only way to stop the harassment of their oppressors is to join the government forces; they do, and immediately after that attack the lucrative Shi City. The news of their success reaches the rulers of the local kingdom, and Pang Qingyun and his men are redirected towards the much more affluent and formidable Suzhou City. After a long and deadly blockade, Suzhou City falls, but not before general Pang is confronted by Zhao Erhu. The blood brotherhood is challenged.

Granting the three main characters in The Warlords a sufficient amount of time to define their strengths and weaknesses, director Peter Chan succeeds in presenting a realistic story where even the heroes appear surprisingly vulnerable. For example, a controversial mass killing of captured soldiers during the first half of The Warlords introduces a different side of Jet Li’s character where we see him torn between following the rules of war and succumbing to his desire to be forgiving. Later on, the enormous transformation he undergoes is so powerful that it single-handedly elevates The Warlords above practically every other recent, similarly-themed, period production where warfare is used to send a universal message.

Best known in America for his highly-decorated sensual love story Perhaps Love (2005), Peter Chan maintains a steady tempo for The Warlords. Even the slightly awkward rendezvous between Pang Qingyun and Zhao Erhu’s wife does not detract much from the overall tight execution of the script. As a result, The Warlords gradually builds up until the final, fittingly dramatic scene where resolution is achieved.

Anthony Wong’s (2000 AD) preferred color scheme - a period mix of gray, yellow and black - enhances the drama exceptionally well. Also, the impressively choreographed fights seen in the film are neither excessive nor tedious; they simply compliment the story without degrading the grandiose and genuinely epic visuals.

The Warlords Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Warlords looks stunning; detail and clarity are incredibly strong and contrast simply terrific. In fact, even the more subdued scenes from the film reveal tremendous depth. Frankly, the more one stares at this transfer, the better it gets. The color-scheme, a major component of the film's highly stylized look, is also spectacular. During the opening scenes, where general Pang is seen wandering the battlefield, the prevalent sepia-yellow colors, mixed with rich gray hues and light green, grant The Warlords with a very unique look that matches perfectly its gritty aura. I am also very happy to confirm that DNR has not been applied to this transfer and the fine film grain is appears to be intact. As far as the quality of the actual print is concerned, one word describes it best – spotless. To sum it all up, this Hong-Kong produced BD is an absolute gem. (Note: Please note that this is a Region-A "locked" disc. Therefore, unless you have a native Region-A or Region-Free player, you won't be able to access its content).

The Warlords Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The following tracks are available on this BD Mandarin: DTS-HD Master 7.1, Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1, and Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1. I opted for the DTS-HD Master 7.1 mix and was impressed enormously. The audio producers have provided an HD sound extravaganza that will surely test most every home theater set-up, believe me. The action-ridden scenes in The Warlords are so many that you will certainly get plenty of opportunities to check the muscles of your audio system. The deep bass in particular is so powerful that I actually thought that during the second battle scene where Jet Li's character is wounded was approaching overkill. Furthermore, the surround effects are just as impressive (the best scene to experiment would be where the archers unleash the counter-attack). Finally, the actual dialog is crystal clear and very easy to follow. I also did not detect any hissing, pop-ups, or cracks. Traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, and English subtitles are provided (well done without any syntax errors).

The Warlords Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Aside from three trailers for the main feature, this disc also offers a total of 20 deleted scenes with optional English and Chinese subtitles. Quite a few of these are actually presented as extended scenes, so you shall notice footage that is already in the film. This being said, I thought that many of of them were quite good (specifically the palace bits), so I recommend that you find the time to check them out. The disc also offers an interesting "Making of" titled 117 Days: Production Journal where director Peter Chan, Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro share their thoughts on the film, the technical difficulties they faced while shooting it, etc. Finally, there is a very descriptive audio commentary, subtitled in English, by Peter Chan and production designer and partner Yee-Chung Man.

The Warlords Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A visually stunning production with a great dose of substance, The Warlords reconfirms my conviction that Peter Chan is one of the most creative directors currently working in Asia. Fans of martial-arts guru Jet-Li will certainly want to add this terrifically produced disc to their collections as it delivers on all fronts. Indeed, this is a fantastic package that we Highly Recommend.