During the warring period of the three kingdoms, ancient China is in turmoil. To unify the country general CAO CAO, the real power behind the emperor, enlists the aid of the greatest warrior in the land GUAN YUN CHANG (Donnie Yen). However, Guan Yun Chang is a loyal friend of CAO CAO’s enemy LIU BEI. To persuade the peerless warrior to fight, Cao Cao takes his beloved QI LAN (Sun Li) hostage.

After leading Cao Cao’s forces to victory Guan Yun Chang sets out with Qi Lan to rejoin Liu Bei. But now Cao Cao has deemed him too great a threat to live, and on the journey he must face all the forces at the emperor’s command sent to destroy him.

View teaser trailer here.

Director : Tsui Hark, Kwak Jae- Yong
Cast : Zhou Xun, Kwai Lun-mei, Kitty Zhang Yuqi
Release Date : Late 2008

Synopsis
NOT ALL WOMEN ARE BAD, a comedy on modern metropolitan life that is being done from an unforeseeable perspective, is set against the backdrop of the rapidly developing city of Beijing. It takes a look at three women of different professions and backgrounds, and presents a contemporary comedy from the way they deal with love. In this chic comedy, Zhou Xun transforms from gentle to captivating, playing 12 roles in the movie including a doctor, a patient, a reporter, and more. Kwai Lun-mei transforms from innocent to rock-and-roll, while Kitty Zhang from girl-next-door to rich coquette.

Director : Alexi Tan
Producer : John Woo & Terrence Chang
Cast : Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, Liu Ye, Chang Chen, Tony Yang.

Synopsis
Blood Brothers (aka Gateway to Heaven) tells the story of 3 youngsters from the countryside who arrives in decadent, dangerous 1930s Shanghai where they find life is the big city isn’t quite the paradise they hope for. As time goes by each is forced into a life of crime, taking a different path in life. The days of innocence have passed for them and the three men must grow up quickly and make hard choices.

Quick View
Produced by John Woo and Terrence Chang and directed by newcomer Alexi Tan, Blood Brothers is a stylish and elegant gang flick. Inspired by John Woo’s classic -Bullet in the Head (1990), Blood Brothers shares similar story where three youngsters arrives in Shanghai to find fame and fortune. There are some beautiful moments in the movie but overall Brood Brothers still lack of depth and never satisfy as a gangland epic.

Rating
Plot : 2.5/5
Acting : 3/5
Entertainment : 3/5
Overall : 3.5/5

Notable Scenes
- Gun battle
- Liu Ye’s performance

Director : Tsui Hark
Cast : Leon Lai Ming, Charlie Yeung Choi Nei, Lu Yi, Sun Honglei, Kim So-Yeon, Donnie Yen, Wang Xueqi, Zhang Jingchu, Zhou Qunda, Dai Li-Wu, Huang Peng

Synopsis
Adapted from renowned writer Liang Yu-shen’s timeless classic, Seven Swords tells the story of seven unlikely heroes gathered together to save a village from the massacre of a general that is seeking a fortune through killing. In the early 1600′s, the Manchurians have assumed sovereignty and established the Ching Dynasty. A highly oppressive reign thus began. To fight against the brutality of the new government and save the innocent, seven unlikely heroes gathered together and became the Seven Swords. Each sword carries its own character – The Transience Sword, The Dragon Sword, The Heaven’s Fall Sword, The Unlearn Sword, The Deity Sword, TheCelestial Beam Sword and The Star Chasers Sword.

Review
Well, finally Seven Swords hit the Asian cinemas. Adapted from renowned writer Liang Yu Shen’s novels, it tells a story of seven unlikely heroes gathered to save a village from the massacre of a deadly, barbarian cult armies. They are seeking fortune from killing the innocents to collect prize money from the government. Basically, Seven Swords follows the “Seven Swordsmen Leaves Mountain Heaven” novel where 5 swordsmen are summoned from Mount Heaven to save the innocent people. Each and every of them carry an unique sword which has it own capability and usage. There are The Unlearnt, The Dragon, The Transience, The Deity, The Heaven’s Fall, The Celestial Beam, and The Star-Chasers. Another 2 swordsmen came from the village itself and joined as a group to become the Seven Swords.

It started when Fu Qinzu (Lau Kar Leung) got hunted by the deadly armies when he tries to retrieve dog tags from the dead bodies to alert the villagers where they going to be the next targets of the armies. Liu managed to escape and landed on the village, but unfortunately the people doesn’t seems to believe Liu’s words. Two of the villagers sneak out and release Fu in order to find help to save the people. This awaken the heroes of Mount Heaven and their quest begins.

Its an interesting story adapted from the rich Liang Yu Shen’s Wu Xia novels. There are many things to tell and it seems Seven Swords is quite toned down. From its original 4 hours, its been cut to 2.5 hours to suits the theatrical length. As i can see, it really affect the overall outcome of the entire movie. Some of the sequences are poor edited where it jumps from scenes to scenes in a sudden and it makes you wonder. The momentum of the movie seems inconsistent and unable to give a cinematic suspense hype to the audience. The action scenes are good enough to deliver the swords capability but ain’t that great to give you a hype over it. The most notable action scene is the part where Donnie Yen (Chu Zaonan aka Dragon Sword) versus Sun Hong Lei (Fire-Wind Leader) in the tight space alley where Chu Zaonan set to reclaim his Dragon Sword from the Fire-Wind leader. Tsui Hark definitely put an effort in the visual part where the sets, location, back drop, and scenery look really promising, especially the scenes on Mount Heaven. Costumes are no doubt well made and look good. On the screenplay, Tsui Hark tends to follow the original, concentrated on the coming together of the swords where each of them are driven to unexpected courage and strength by love, friendship, spirit of justice, and the longing for a peaceful and harmonious world

On the actors, we can see the return of several veteran actors such as Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung (New Police Story) and Andrew Lau Kar Leung. Donnie Yen has been quite active in these several years and it seems he is going to shrine in this genre. There is nothing to shout out about the acting performance of the entire cast but most of them delivers their characters well enough.

Overall, Seven Swords is a piece of new Wu Xia genre which focus more on storytelling plot rather than action-speaks louder flick. The original novels are so rich that it cant be fit into a single movie only, thus there will be a sequel. At last, this movie is not for everyone. If you are looking for an entertaining action-packed Wu Xia flick, you will be disappointed.

Stills

Rating
Plot : 2/5
Acting : 3/5
Entertainment : 3/5
Overall : 3/5

Notable Scenes
- Scenes on Mount Heaven
- Chu Zaonan (Donnie Yen) vs Fire-Wind Leader

Buy this movie at YesAsia – Seven Swords

Director : Peter Chan Ho-Sun
Cast : Andy Lau, Jet Li, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu JingLei

Synopsis
The nineteenth century was an era of conflict: the Franco-Prussian War and the establishment of the German Empire in Europe; the Civil War in America; the Meiji Restoration in Japan; the Opium War in China followed by the Taiping Rebellion in Nanjing… all critical events that shaped the world today. At times of chaos, heroes are born yet innocence is forever lost…

It’s the mid-19th century, one of the darkest periods of Chinese history. The country is suffering under the rule of the corrupt Manchus who invaded China from the North and established the country’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing. Natural disasters are wreaking havoc in the countryside, and in the midst of this chaos, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, one of the strongest rebel groups ever to rise up in China, is overrunning the country and staging battles with the Qing army threatening the Dragon throne.

When Ma first met the rough-and-ready bandit, Cao Erhu (starring Andy Lau) and his trusted Lieutenant Zhang Wenxiang (starring Takeshi Kaneshiro), he had not an inkling that they will forever change his life. Cao, the dark and charismatic leader of a band of bandits, bonded with the dark Ma when this stranger saved his life. At Zhang’s urging, the three swear blood brotherhood. Ma had a dream – he wants to rid China of both the rebels and the corrupt Qing officials. Ma convinces Cao and Zhang on this noble quest and the trio soon engages in many dangerous battles and win. With the help of Cao and his men, Ma manages to squelch the rebels and rises through the ranks. Success has the power to corrupt – Ma soon became obsessed with power.

Cao and Zhang return to their native village, and Cao reunites for an evening with his beautiful wife, Lian (starring Xu Jinglei). But when she and Ma look at each other for the first time, the chemistry is overwhelming; and the seed of betrayal is sown. Ma must remove the one obstacle standing between him and the loyalty of the bandit-soldiers and the beautiful Lian.

Stills

Director : Wei Lang, Shen Dong, Chen Jian
Cast : Zhang Lin, Alan Lau Tak Hoi, Wang Wu-Fu, Liu De-Kay, Tony Leung Ka-Fai

Synopsis
Set during the first three years of the Sino-Chinese war (1938-41), On The Mountain of Tai Hang tells the story of three separate groups of Chinese forces who managed to work together to defend a vulnerable Chinese province from a large Japanese Army. The film follows Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and his troops as they risk their lives to defend their country and how different classes of Chinese managed to unite for one common cause.

Review
by Martin Cleary

At its best On The Mountain of Tai Hang is an epic war film depicting the Chinese Red Army’s military defence of the Shanxi province of Tai Hang against Japanese invasion. The film’s battle scenes are truly impressive as what appears to be thousands of troops fight over a massive mountainous area. There’s some pretty good CG camera shot’s allowing the camera to fly through the air, through the cockpit of a plane and out of the otherside, as well as assisting in showing bodies being blown to bits through the air. Some of it is pretty gruesome – but of course this is a war film.

The historical story is interesting as the splintered Chinese troops cover the valley and require assistance and back-up from one another against the superior war-power of the invading Japanese armies. At it’s worst On The Mountain of Tai Hang is a piece of Communist propaganda, flaunting it’s patriotic rhetoric and providing nothing but a negative portrayal of the Japanese. This in it’s self is of course nothing new or surprising for a war film. It’s not like Hollywood films about war always give a balanced view of both sides – they don’t – and there’s always a lot of Patriotic flag flying in those too. Where OTMOTH verges on overstepping the mark is in its complete and total insistence on preaching the ideas of Chairman Mao who is invoked constantly. This is not surprising as the troops are inspired and pushed on by Mao’s ideas, but the need to quote and underline the fact at every opportunity slows the film down and makes it blander than it could have been. It’s no surprise that the film was financed by the People’s Liberation Army. As it stands, OTMOTH is neither a classic nor a terrible film.

Unfortunately the balance between the films politics, plot and historical focus is so out of balance that it makes it difficult to become involved in the story. The central character who narrates and moves the story forward is Commander In Chief Zhu, a man who manages to convince every other General and soldier that his way is correct by quoting Mao’s words and ideas. This is fine, except us as the viewer do not need to hear this over and over again. The film manages to swing wildly in different directions regarding its visual techniques, and style and although I suspect this is not intentional – possibly due to the films’ three separate directors – it actually works well for the film.

The result is that the ‘speech’ scenes seem all the more slow and plodding, while the action is energetic and unpredictable. The only actor in the film that I recognized was Tony Leung Ka-fai (from Prison On Fire). This is more of a cameo role than anything, in what was for me the most surprising scene of the film, as I thought it was going to turn into a kung-fu movie! Tony Leung plays a one-armed general who – in true Jimmy Wang-Yu ‘One-Armed Boxer’ style – explodes on the battlefield with what appears to be a broadsword and takes out half of the army single-handedly. Literally! For all of it’s bad points (being overlong and preachy), OTMOTH is certainly watchable and not a bad way to spend a couple of hours. The battle scenes were better than I was expecting and the sweeping cinematography over the battlefield is certainly impressive, but it’s in no way great which is a shame as it certainly has the budget and cast to have been something more.

Rating
Plot : 3/5
Acting : 3/5
Entertainment : 3/5
Overall : 3/5

Notable Scenes
- The first large-scale battle begins
- The soldiers run out of bullets and use their bayonets
- Tony Leung’s battlefield scene

Buy this movie at YesAsia – On The Mountain of Tai Hang

Director : Namchoke Daengput
Cast : Shahkrit Yamnarm, Darawan Wilaingam, Suwannaparp, Suthida Harnwisej, Sattawat Dullayawijitt, Aadchara Luengsawat

Synopsis
In this explosive action thriller from Thailand set in Bangkok’s sizzling Yaowarat Chinatown district, the precarious truce between two mafia gangs. Yaowarat and Pahurad ended in violent gunfights when Kao, one of Pahurad’s hit man killed a Yaowarat member. In retaliation, Yaowarat enlists the help of Saleng, the best hit man in the business, to take Kao out.

Review
by Edward Tang

Hmm. Thailand gets another release via Tai Seng who usually bare bones it up for a decent film. On the cover is a guy holding two pistols ala God of Guns John Woo. I wonder if that interested me? Of course it did. “Yaowarat” tries to be a cool film and edgy, starting off with a gangster boss raping the shit out of one of his girls and follows with one boring film filled with nothing in between. There were some attempts at action, but they looked completely stupid. Take this out for example, one guy has one pistol, against four other guys with pistols. Now, how does this one guy kill two of them and still survive? The action-thriller promised in the synopsis is never really met, and what we are left with is something that resembles a gangster-drama-romance type story. So in the long run, the film isn’t that bad and for the most part I got enough out of it, but the editing and the annoying voice-overs left me wanting to go home.

The synopsis on the DVD cover is basically wrong, so I’ll try to explain it here. We are met in the beginning with Boss Tang raping his girl, who dies. This will be important later in the show. So anyways we learn that the two gangs in Yaowarat are friendly, both of them respect the hell out of each other. We learn of two men in particular, Saleng and Kao, both hitmen from different gangs. Saleng is an orphan who Boss Tang took in and kind of made as a son. Saleng has been pouring clam chowder on this hooker, which seems to have developed in some kind of relationship. Kao is a loud mouthed assassin who wins during a big night of gambling in the rival gangs casino. The next day, he comes to gamble and isn’t allowed back into the VIP room where he won previously. This angers the shit out of him and he opens fire on the other gang and kills a bunch of them. This confrontation pisses off both gangs and they eventually split in the process. So Kao lives but is not able to go back to the district in which he killed the Boss Tang gets a new girl, whom I forget but will call Crabs for the sake of this. Saleng gets a boner for Crabs and they kill the boss (The Boss walked in and saw them hugging and thought they were doing the dick disco). So as they are on the run, they hire Dao to track his ass down which eventually happens. As they meet, Dao and his boys shoots down Saleng and his eventually dies when Crabs executes both of them with one bullet. Dao then gets killed by both of the gangs, whom have came back together and wanted him not to cause any trouble. Then we end with some explanation on how hopefully peace will return to this place. Also, if anybody sees this film, tell me if the beginning credits don’t remind you of a mixture between Ichi the Killer and Bangkok Dangerous.

Whew! I’m sure you’re already tired of this film, as you will be if you actually watch this boring film. Yes, it’s truly boring, there are a few scenes in which just show people sitting there and eating. The story is very sketchy and moves in a real odd pace. This in process with the endless stream of backstories and tries to develop the character. First, we’d develop Saleng’s character a little bit, okay he’s an orphan who was raised by a garbage man. Then we’d go toward Dao’s character, okay he saved a few guys from getting the shit kicked out of them. Then two more stories on the hooker and Crabs, and by then it just gets plain old. I’d describe the film as a few stories, where they focus on one character’s journey for a bit then go onto another. The film really lacked interesting characters more than anything, they were the stereotyped ones, the quiet hitman who has a heart of gold followed by the cocky hitman who cheats and lies his way up to the top. I couldn’t get into the flow and I was bored most of this story, which is not a good thing. (Though, there was enough nudity to keep my interests peaked.) The ending kind of was trying to preach to the people “One day, will we be peaceful?” Then the narrator basically tells us that the story really didn’t matter and is forgotten, kind of like this film in the long run! The story was basically ripping off any other gangster film “If you become a gangster, you’ll die and be forgotten about!”

Being an “action” film, the action tried to be cool like John Woo’s flicks, doubled pistoled and fueled with superhero-like characters. Okay here’s the point, the main characters DID get shot in this film, countless times I might add. But one guy in particular got shot about 7-8 times and still could walk around at the end. They got shot, but still really didn’t feel it. The action scenes were sloppy as hell, a bunch of close-up fire which never really entertained and for some reason, 15 guys can’t hit four at a close range. But they weren’t that bad in all truth, there was a cool scene that involved two idiot assassins trying to kill Saleng, but he takes both of them out while still taking one in the gut. The music was crappy as hell and annoyed the living hell out of me for the entire film. Also, why do people use the voice-over technique? The old guy speaking was completely boring and while the characters on the screen were talking, his voice would cut in and describe what was going on. Like I couldn’t understand this crappy story by myself? This voice-over also disturbed the subtitles, as he would talk, they would get sped up or just not appear at all.

The actors in this film were truly boring if I had ever seen them. The main character Saleng was boring as hell. Even during the sex scenes, the guy had no personality and nothing able to get us his side. Although he sucked, Dao was funny as hell and had one of the better laughs I have heard in a while. His character was entertaining and didn’t give a fuck about anything. Then we had the two girls, both of whom were beautiful but still seemed to be sticks in the mud. Boss Tang raping in the beginning was a little harsh, but as it happened about 15 times throughout the film, it got to be almost comical. Oh yeah, if anybody knows who the narrator is, kick him in his boring ass.

So what is my final verdict on it? I didn’t hate the film and kind of enjoyed it. That kind of is based on some of the characters and moments rather than on the story itself. But this film does include one of the more painful deaths in recent memory. I’m sure it has been done before but the thought of losing my balls in that way just made me cringe. It is probably worth a rental for those out there who want to further there Thai knowledge of films, and for one view it’s worth it. Other than that, I’d avoid the rental unless you REALLY need to see shit in action.

Rating
Plot : 2/5
Acting : 2/5
Entertainment : 3/5
Overall : 2/5

Notable Scenes
- Boss Tang’s castration and death

Buy this movie at YesAsia – Yaowarat

Director : Ping He
Written by : Ping He
Cast : Kiichi Nakai, Xueqi Wang, Bagen Hasi, Vicki Zhao, Tao Ho, LInian Lu, Deshun Wang & Yeerjiang Mahepushen

Synopsis
A Japanese emissary is sent to the Gobi desert to execute a renegade soldier. When a caravan transporting a Buddhist monk and a valuable treasure is threatened by thieves, however, the two warriors might unite to protect the travelers.

Review
by Edward Tang

This is an example of a great film that was probably tailor made to have something of a notice in the states. Like your “Crouching Tiger” and “Hero”, it’s an epic film with great action sequences and top notch acting/story. But covering familiar ground seems to be the constant with films of this nature, and it doesn’t change here. The film looked good and remained good until the ending. Everything up until that point was great, but the ending seemed rushed and out of place. What we were shown was good enough for me, but how the events unfolded left a sour taste in my mouth, considering we had been along with these characters for almost 2 hours and the harsh tone wasn’t needed. But as in all films of this caliber, it saves itself with a great bunch of actors whom pull the reigns of this film. Both main characters (whom wanted each other dead) pulled off their roles with great respect, you didn’t want either of them to face each other at the end. 

The story follows Lai Xi, a Japanese soldier whom is sent to kill a renegade soldier named Li (whose crime was not killing a bunch of women and children, yeah). Li on the other hand gets saved in the desert by a soldier, who was one of the last surviving members of a caravan, which was moving a Buddhist and a bunch of Buddhist writings to a different city. Li promises to help the soldier get the caravan to its destination for saving his life. After Li meets up with his old friends, he goes to search for some guards that can help him make a safe pass through the desert. Whilst this occurs, Lai Xi has caught up with Li and they go into battle. Since of the situation, Lai Xi promises to meet him at the city to continue their duel, so that the caravan can make it their in one peace. Meanwhile, Master An has been hired to take down the caravan and take their possessions. During their trek through the desert, they are taken over by bandits whom are learned to be under the reigns of An. Lai Xi who has been following them, embarks to help them fight off the goons. After the escape, they question the Buddhist of why they were being chased. He tells them of the Buddhist relic that he has in his possession, and they witness its beauty. Barely making it out of the desert alive, they come across an abandoned fort. They case it with weapons and fend it off until they can’t anymore. 

I’ll leave some of the plot open for your viewing. On my first idea of this film, I really enjoyed it for everything it dished out. The story moved along nicely and was explained by a voice-over from the woman character. Voice over can be abused to the point and get irritating, but her voice was calm and sweet and did the job for explaining the easy going plot. Everything else was piled on in basic strategy: take a great item, take the guards of it, take the men who want the great item for themselves, and finally take them defending the such item and to close with a familiar plot. But seeing the good bits of dialog and the great performances, everything seemed to flow like water. 

The acting was great, especially the performances of the men who portrayed Li and Lai Xi. Both characters were likable and everything in between from them looked good. Vicki Zhao, whom was the only female in this film, seemed to have the question complex. Her goal was to narrate the film and give us a little bit of a personality, someone to understand all of the characters, and to be in with the mix. The rest of the cast is notable as well, the man who portrayed An was great as well. His villain was pretty much the powerful bastard, he had the men and he had the power to get what he wanted. But guess what? His power wasn’t greater than God’s, he would later find out. I must say that if it was another cast, I don’t think this film would be as good as it was. 

Amongst all of the beautiful shots of the desert and the wonderful performances, there does lie some very good action scenes. Particularly the final scene at the fort, but still as in a whole the film has enough action to satisfy an asshole like me. (I’m an asshole). I liked the symbolism as well, a character named Old Diehard is killed and plants his sword into the ground, and a large amount of water shoots from the sand. It reminded of an old quote that I heard a while back, “In death, he brought us life.” I thought it was pretty damn cool as well. The end was pretty much a fight to the death, only when a “mystical” force was brought upon, did the heroes succeed in their final mission. 

Finally, after I was reading the DVD box, I noticed that this film is compared to Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. What the hell? Trust me, you won’t see anything that you saw in Hero/Crouching Tiger in this film. Maybe something on the lines of a overall moral of humanity (heh) but there aren’t any f*cking wires in this film. But what you do get in this film, is a good story backed up with great action and awesome performances. See it, it’s definitely worth a view, and just maybe you can find whomever put Crouching Tiger on the box, and kick them in their face. (Don’t mention me).

Rating
Plot : 4/5
Acting : 3/5
Entertainment : 4/5
Overall : 4/5

Notable Scenes
- the “raiding” of the fort

Buy this movie at YesAsia – Warrior of Heaven and Earth