Tau ming chong (2007)

Directors:

Peter Chan
Wai Man Yip (co-director)

Writers:

Tin Nam Chun (screenplay)
Junli Guo (screenplay)

Release Date:

12 December 2007 (China)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Plot:

It's a heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval...

Plot Keywords:

Blood Brother | General | Dynasty | Assassination | Revenge

Awards:

15 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Jet Li	...	General Pang Qingyun (as Lianjie Li)
Andy Lau	...	Zhao Er-Hu (as Dehua Liu)
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Zhang Wen-Xiang (as Wu Jincheng)
Jinglei Xu	...	Lian
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bao-ming Gu
Xiaodong Guo
Zhaoqi Shi	...	He Kui
Dong Dong Wang	...	Zhang Shan
Kuirong Wang	...	Jiang Da Ren
Yachao Wang	...	Young soldier
Zongwan Wei	...	Cheng Da Ren
Bo Zhou

Also Known As:

Ci ma (Hong Kong: Cantonese title) (working title)
The Warlords (International: English title)
Tou ming zhuang (China: Mandarin title)
Warlords (USA) (new title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sequences of strong violence.

Runtime:

126 min | 110 min (international version)

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | UK:15 (cut) | Ireland:15A | Germany:16 | Japan:PG-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:MA (2009) | Netherlands:16 | USA:R (certificate #45669)

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company:

Applause Pictures

Trivia:

The main battle sequence had a detailed script treatment of over 20 pages and a maximum of 8 cameras rolling simultaneously.

Movie Connections:

References Paths of Glory (1957)

Not bad, actually, not bad...

..for a movie that's a bit difficult for Western audiences to enjoy. I mean, let's face it, we're not exactly suckers for blood oaths as the main plot device, which is the case here, and the story may feel hard to follow at times.

Two things made be enjoy this one. For one thing, the Chinese did a pretty good job as far as giving the movie the proper epic side it needed. There's only a fine line between epic cinematography and drollery and these guys managed not to cross it, unlike, say, Gladiator or '300'.

Then, there's the acting. Having only seen Jet Li in Hollywood movies before I thought he was something of a Jackie Chan without the funny face. I stand corrected, he gives a great performance in Tau Ming Chong, he is truly believable as his character, general Pang, gradually turns into a ruthless backstabbing freak for power. Finally, kudos to the actor playing Er Hu, Andy Lau. I hope I'll get to see more of him.

Having seen the abominable blockbuster that 'The Last Samurai' really is the other night, it definitely enhanced my appreciation for this title.