I read all the reviews here (there are only 21 by this time)and there were just 2 reviews that didn't come from Asia. Here is a third one. "The Warlords" is a great epic war movie based on historical events:the last decades of the Qing dynasty, in particular the years of the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) that cost the lives of 70 000 000 people (that's 10m more than World War II, but who's counting). I agree that this is the best Chinese movie 2007, though Ang Lee's "Lust.Caution" is very good too. The Warlords movie budget was $ 40 million(after seeing it you will ask yourself "How did they do that with so little money?!?")A production of the same caliber would cost in the US at least $ 100 million. But this movie is the proof that cheap stuff that comes form China isn't always bad.Same with the outstanding performance of Jet Li(out of the $40m budget he received $13m payment)who was worth the money.There is a lot of drama in the movie, but also a lot of action.If you like battle scenes like in "Braveheart" this movie will deliver.If you liked "Crouching Tiger, hidden dragon" and "Hero" you will like this one."The Warlords" though is not a fairytale like those two, it is very realistic and if you are expecting to see people flying around,kung fu fighting or something like that, you will be disappointed.There is none of this here.But the movie is good. ten stars.
Review of The Warlords
