The Warlords

‘The Warlords’ is an intriguing drama set in the 1870s, in the backdrop of Hong Kong. The movie centers on the character of Pang Qingyun (Jet Li), an ambitious young man who wishes to rule the corrupt Qing dynasty.

Pang is among the only warriors to have survived the civil war between the Qing troops and the newly rising army of revolutionaries, led by religious fanatics. As he escapes for cover, he ends up at the doorstep of a beautiful young woman, Lian (Xu Jinglei), who takes him into her house. They spend a beautiful night together, making love, and kindling a passion that changes life as they knew it. As he sets off to continue his mission to reach the helm of the Qing dynasty, he befriends two bandits whom he meets on the way, Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau) and Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro). He then saves Zhao’s life, when he is attacked in an ambush. The three men then pledge brotherhood, and vow to put down the corrupt leaders together. Their mission seems to be nearly successful, as their unity poses a reasonable threat to the opposing leaders. However, things take an ugly turn when Pang’s ego comes in the way, and he begins to selfishly think about his victory only. This breaks Zhao and Jiang’s trust in him, and the three of them part ways.

The situation goes from bad to worse when Pang discovers that Lian is married to Zhao. As he is torn between returning to the woman who made him feel love for the first time, and patching up things with a man he considered his brother, we get to see a riveting side of the human mind. Watch the movie to see what happens next in this labyrinth of love, deceit and revenge. The movie is directed by Peter Chan, and is a massive success all over Asia.