The Warlords

The Warlords is yet another Chinese costume drama. I like many of those I’ve seen, yet others leave me cold, and I’m not sure why. Sometimes they have a story that just doesn’t grab me. The Warlords did not give me the thrill I seek from these movies. You may enjoy it.

It’s the story of a “Brotherhood” of three men who lead the ragtag men of a small village to defeat the Taiping Rebellion.

The Taiping Rebellion lasted for about fifteen years in the middle of the 18th century. It was led by a leader who used a cult-like adaptation of Christianity he called himself the younger son of Jesus to rally peasants in the south of China. Mao Zedong described it as a classic peasant rebellion. Quite possibly it was that as well. The discontent of the ordinary people with the Quing Manchu empire perhaps caused by widespread starvation led them to follow the leader offering something different.

Historically, it ended in 1864, thanks to the participation of U.S. and British armies who decided to support the Empress Dowager.

This is a fictional version of the career of a General Pang. We see him stand up from a pile of dead bodies. He survived a battle by pretending he was dead, though the rebel soldiers massacred his own unit while another army, led by Ho, stood by and did nothing.

Anyway, he comes across a bunch of peasants dug into a mountain and just surviving by stealing supplies. He forms a blood brotherhood with two of their leaders and convinces them to join the government’s army. He leads them to capture a rebel supply caravan to prove their worth to the government.

But they never seem to join the government. Instead, they become the government’s main force against the rebels. Supposedly they are supported by General Ho, but he seems to know how to get away with getting all the spoils without actually fighting.

There’s also a woman loved by the General and one of his blood brothers, and she’s given the difficult role of having to look attractive despite the dust and grime and grungy clothes, and becomes a victim of the Brotherhood herself.

The biggest break is when Er-Fu sneaks into a rebel city and, finding the civilians and defending rebel soldiers inside all as hungry as the attackers outsides, convinces their leader to surrender by promising the soldiers and civilians will be spared.

In the real Taiping Rebellion, civilians were often massacred by both sides.

But General Pang has enough bread only for his own soldiers. He doesn’t kill the civilians, but does massacre the 4,000 rebel soldiers despite Er-Fu’s pleas. Perhaps he remembers how they massacred his troops.

But he’s determined to reach the center of the rebellion, Nanking, before General Ho, and does so.

He’s killed in 1870 while accepting the position of governor of the province, with the film stating it was ordered by the Empress Dowager because General Pang was an outsider to the empire leadership.

It’s not the quality of the actors. Jet Li is a big martial arts star and was terrific in Hero. Andy Lau is a star as well, and was great in The House of Flying Daggers.

If you simply enjoy the battles scenes, though, you’ll like the one in the middle of this one.

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