Warlords

Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Martial Media and Popular Culture
1

okay lets talk about this pink elephant jet li’s next period martial arts film warlords, starring himself andy lau and takechi kaneshiro. yes jet li said he wouldn’t do those movies anymore but come on lets face we’re glad he is. well the plot of this film goes something like this:

It’s a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. It is based on “The Assassination of Ma,” a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the killing of general Ma Xinyi.

The story was filmed by Chang Che in 1973 as The Blood Brothers, here is the original plot for master changs film:

The story follows three men–Chang, Huang and Ma. The former two are good friends and partners in crime, who make a living stealing from travellers, but Ma is a refined man with great ambition and a desire for power and fame. Chang and Huang, despite having different goals to Ma, become his close friends and join forces with him to conquer a rebel outpost, receiving the surrender of a small army of warriors. All seems to be going well, until an affair starts between Ma and Huang’s wife, but is cut short by his decision to join the army, where he can finally make a name for himself. Ma’s success in battle leads him to fame and he requests the aid of his two good friends, Huang and Chang, in crushing rebels. But power proves more important to Ma than friendship…

The fight choreography is consistently outstanding, from the lighthearted opening fight scene to the stunning, emotionally charged finale. Weapons are put to good use, Chang’s use of the three-section staff stands out in particular. Slow motion is also used well, especially in the last battle.

Production values seem surprisingly high, with thousands of extras, weapons and costumes on display. The sets are well made, although some outdoor scenes are obviously filmed inside a studio.

Despite some minor flaws, THE BLOOD BROTHERS stands out as a highly memorable martial arts epic, with a more involved plot than the usual kung fu movie. Chang Cheh was a talented director and the THE BLOOD BROTHERS is one of his classics.

because jet is the only martial artist on board i don’t expect the action scene to come close to changs movie but i’ll see it anyway.

2

teaser

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txyBNd25JmA

3

im with you. glad its being made.

i think andy lau is da bomb actor too so it should have some decent acting in there. mix up andy lau and jet li. good acting and some good action should follow.

thanks for posting this, i had no idea this was being done.

4

Hold the phone

They’re calling it WARLORDS? Oh man. :rolleyes:

So let me see if I got this straight. Jet has WAR coming out September 14, 2007 and now WARLORDS coming out December 2007. I’m so glad Jet got out of the martial arts movie biz. He was starting to get typecast. :smiley:

5

[QUOTE=GeneChing;763603]They’re calling it WARLORDS? Oh man. :rolleyes:

So let me see if I got this straight. Jet has WAR coming out September 14, 2007 and now WARLORDS coming out December 2007. I’m so glad Jet got out of the martial arts movie biz. He was starting to get typecast. :D[/QUOTE]

rofl…so true.

well i guess at the end of all that he wasnt suppose to make any more martial art epics

so i guess warlords wont be an epic :stuck_out_tongue:

6

actually that exactly what it is!

and i think he said he wouldn’t do any folk hero movie’s. which doesn’t matter cause this movie is a folk hero movie and an epic

7

The loophole is WAR

I have carefully reviewed my interview with Jet on the subject and I have discovered the loophole:

GC: FEARLESS is billed as your “final martial arts epic,” but the buzz is that you’re doing ROGUE. Why isn’t that a martial arts film?

JL: I think (the) martial arts have two parts. Usually, when we talk about the physical, one is external, one is internal. But whatever is external or internal, they are both the physical part. If you want to be a martial artist, we talk about the mental. Through martial arts, you learn how to be a nice person.

We see a lot of action films – waaah! – they only use the physical part on the film. You can make all kinds of action films. You can use martial arts to talk about your own story. That story doesn’t talk about how to be a nice person. I think (this is) a big difference if you want to be the martial artist. FEARLESS talks (about) this very deeply: how to learn martial arts, why learn martial arts, how to use martial arts, how to be the martial artist. Not so many movies can talk about that subject.

[SIZE=“1”]Unless the movie has the word WAR in the title. If it has the word WAR, then I will still do it, whether it is a martial arts movie or not.[/SIZE]

8

oh

so he’s he’s saying that the subject matter is not about kung fu but it just has kung fu in t. well thats what i figured he was talking about, but he’s doing that journey to the west film with jack and thats about kung fu the subject matter is kung fu here is the plot:

A discovery made by a kung fu obsessed American teen sends him on an adventure to China, where he joins up with a band of martial arts warriors in order to free the imprisoned Monkey King.

so that throws that theeory out the window well, i said this in another post and outline how the conversation would go when he went to those hollywood execs and talked about not doing actions movies anymore. to quote myself:

jet li: i don’t want to do martial arts films no more i want to do regular acting!

producers: B!tch you can’t act you better stick to kicking and punching thas what you do.

jet li: but i’m tired of it and my knees hurt!

producer(pulls out contract): well this here says we got five more film out your ass, and trust me there not going to be no romance comedy with, jennifer aniston. hey don’t you wushu guys have a saying “eat bitter”

jet li : yeah and?

producer(whips out lemon): chow down cause ur not going anywhere.

so in the end money talks and bullsh!t walks, so we should just forgive jet li like hop heads forgave jay z when he said it. and be done with it

9

[QUOTE=doug maverick;763952]and i think he said he wouldn’t do any folk hero movie’s. which doesn’t matter cause this movie is a folk hero movie and an epic[/QUOTE]

Jet has downplayed this ever since it came out that Fearless would be his last martial arts film. Then it was his last epic. I still say that it was just to promote Fearless. If the right movie came along, I doubt he would pass it up.

10

No Oscar for Jet

It’s the revenge of Hero for the Jetster…:frowning:

Investors’ Disputes Keep “Warlords” Away from Oscar
2007-09-18 21:10:59

Shortly before the October 2 deadline for submitting Oscar entries as a foreign language film, the Chinese heroic tale “The Warlords” was dropped from the bill.

Hong Kong-based Media Asia Films, one of the film’s Chinese investors, announced the decision on Monday, citing disagreements among investors as the reason, Guangzhou Daily reported.

The Peter Chan film, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Xu Jinglei, was jointly backed by a number of companies, among them Morgan Chan Films, led by Hollywood producer Andre Morgan.

The report says Morgan strongly opposes the film’s Oscar application as a foreign language film. He has bigger plans in mind, to help the film gain nods for more coveted awards, after it hits American theaters early next year.

That means “The Warlords” will miss February’s Academy Awards and have to wait another year.

Given the film’s upcoming China release date in December, Chinese investors insist that an Oscar entry would greatly boost box-office ratings.

According to the rules of the Academy Awards, a film can only be submitted once.

Previous reports suggest that other two Chinese-language films, namely Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution” and Jiang Wen’s “The Sun Also Rises,” will compete to be named final nominees for best foreign language film.

11

thats smart

its good to wait till next year cause angs new film is going to smoke the competition. his new one is amazing.

12

Warlords withdrawal wake

According to this Lust Caution is Taiwan’s submission.

China’s entry for Oscar undecided after ‘Warlords’ pulled out
Beijing, Sept. 25 (PTI): China’s movie mandarins are keeping mum on the possible entries for the best foreign language film at the next Academy awards.

With the highly anticipated battle epic “The Warlords”, officially withdrawn from the competition, China’s hopes for a blockbuster candidate appear to have been dashed, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), which has the final say on the selection, said it was determined that Chinese mainland films would still be in the running.

“We won’t let this chance go by. There will certainly be a film selected to compete for the award,” it quoted an unidentified SARFT official as saying.

Chinese blockbusters have been submitted as entries for best foreign language film, but Ang Lee’s Golden Lion-winning thriller “Lust, Caution” will represent Taiwan and Jiang Wen’s “The Sun Also Rises” has been put forward as a Hong Kong offering.

According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, only one picture will be accepted from each country.

“Every year we set up a special committee to vote for the candidates recommended by mainland film companies, and we will do so again this year,” the SARFT official said.

The withdrawal of “The Warlords” has prompted speculation as to what films might be contending for the mainland entry.

Director Peter Chan’s “The Warlords”, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, had been announced as a possible candidate for best foreign language film, but was withdrawn after opposition from US investor Morgan Chan Films.

13

it is but warlords is not going to compete with that. cause the academy likes ang. because of broke back. so any thing he does they’re gonna be salivating over it

14

Yeah, the Academy loved the Hulk

It really goes back to CTHD. Ang is a great filmmaker. He’s just should stick with Green Destiny swords instead of green superheroes. :wink:

15

You obviously never read many Hulk comics.

I enjoyed HULK btw.

while it certainly could’ve used more HULK SMASH moments (and maybe more Betty Brant in a bikini) the psychedelic qualities of the film where quite true to the Hulk comics circa 1980’s.

Big green dogs . . . er. I guess that’s better than a hulk mobile.

and Nick Nolte, er . . . . I guess I’ll stop now.

16

I confess, I never read the Hulk…

But I watched the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno show. Does that count? :rolleyes:

Are there any green swords or gay cowboys in Lust Caution?

17

ang hating???

whats up with all the ang hate gene. lust has a great story and its a very original spy drama, about a women who joins an acting troupe, who are really a group of revoulationaries and hatch a plot to kill a japanese supporter during world war 2

official synopsis:

Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a café, places a call, and then sits and waits. She remembers how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII underway, Wong has been left behind by her father, who has escaped to England. As a freshman at university, she meets fellow student Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom) Kuang has started a drama society to shore up patriotism. As the theater troupes new leading lady, Wong realizes that she has found her calling, able to move and inspire audiences and Kuang. He convenes a core group of students to carry out a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung). Each student has a part to play; Wong will be Mrs. Mak, who will gain Yees trust by befriending his wife (Joan Chen) and then draw the man into an affair. Wong transforms herself utterly inside and out, and the scenario proceeds as scripted until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Shanghai, 1941. With no end in sight for the occupation, Wong having emigrated from Hong Kong goes through the motions of her existence. Much to her surprise, Kuang re-enters her life. Now part of the organized resistance, he enlists her to again become Mrs. Mak in a revival of the plot to kill Yee, who as head of the collaborationist secret service has become even more a key part of the puppet government. As Wong reprises her earlier role, and is drawn ever closer to her dangerous prey, she finds her very identity being pushed to the limit…

18

I don’t hate Ang at all…

…I just think any discussion of Ang needs to include the Hulk. I was really hoping he would succeed with that film. It would have demonstrated an amazing virtuosity on his behalf.

Anyway, back OT…

Politics stall China and Taiwan’s Oscar
Written by Patrick Frater & Clifford Coonan
Sunday, 07 October 2007

Selecting which film to submit for the foreign-language Oscar category has become part of the political quagmire engulfing China and Taiwan.

If indeed “The Knot” (for China) and “Lust, Caution” (Taiwan) emerge as the respective candidates, it won’t have been without plenty of twists.

At one stage it seemed as if China might have named Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution” in a move to frustrate Taiwan — a territory that China regards as a rebel province, not a sovereign nation.

But, according to sources at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Taiwan’s Government Information Office submitted “Lust” in time to meet the Oct. 1 deadline.

The same sources were unclear whether China had submitted a picture in time, but told Variety that they like to be “as flexible as possible.”

Given the total shutdown of China for the Golden Week holiday, repeated phone calls to the Film Bureau seeking clarification have gone unanswered. Strong rumors now have it that “The Knot” (Yun shui yao), a period melodrama by Yi Lin, is China’s choice.

The situation once again underlines the t***** problems of assigning nationality to movies — especially co-productions and especially in Asia.

Taiwan’s claim to “Lust” already has proved controversial. During the recent Venice Film Festival, where “Lust” premiered, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council made an official complaint about the festival’s website, which listed the film as originating from “Taiwan, China.” The council said that looked too much like “Denver, Colorado,” and gave the impression that Taiwan is part of China. Venice caved in and amended the site.

Apart from being the place of Lee’s birth, Taiwan had little to do with the film. Its story is set in Shanghai and Hong Kong and filmed in China and Malaysia. It was made with coin from China, Hong Kong and Focus Features of the U.S. Lead actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai is from Hong Kong, while Tang Wei and Joan Chen are both from China. Highest ranking cast member with a Taiwan connection is Wang Lee Hom, a New Yorker who now has a decent Mandarin pop music career.

While China’s claim to “Lust” may be considerably stronger, pic did not play commercially there before the submission deadline. Its sex scenes were partially trimmed and were nevertheless deemed too provocative to screen before this month’s upcoming Communist Party Congress. The film opened in Taiwan on Sept. 24, giving it exactly the minimum required seven days of commercial release necessary to qualify for the Oscars.

China’s film industry honchos may have felt the red carpet being pulled from under their feet. Not only did “Lust” not screen in China, Jiang Wen’s “The Sun Also Rises” was both too arty and too public a box office flop to enjoy a decent Oscar run. Peter Chan Ho-sun’s “The Warlords,” which the local press talked about as the strongest candidate, will not emerge from post-production until mid-November ahead of its Dec. 13 commercial release.

Industry gossip says that there might have been another political dimension, too. Some say that China backed down over “Lust” and appeased Taiwan in the hope that Taiwan may reverse its objection to next year’s Olympic torch relay traveling through the territory.

That leaves China with “The Knot,” an undistinguished period melodrama. The irony is that the pic was very carefully constructed to have a multi-territory Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese production pedigree and a heartwarming pan-Chinese, cross-strait theme.

19

also johnnie to’s exiled is going to be te selection for hong kong. i saw tis film recentl not bad but certainy not to’s best.

20

I heard Chin KAr Lok has a nice little part in Lust Caution. It sounds interesting, though I heard the sex scenes are really weird.