Title: The Warlords
Director: Peter Chan
Country: China
Actors: Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jing-Lei
Release Date: December 2007
It's a remake of Shaw Brothers classic Blood Brothers.
Except that this one is set in the Qing dynasty.
Expect a big epic movie with big battles but no martial arts (Jet said he was done with wushu/kung-fu films ).
Last edited by tom2681 on 07 Jul 2008, 21:59, edited 3 times in total.
I used to be "the man who loves the movies you hate".
Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".
I just KNOW that the remake of THE FIVE VENOMS will suck. That film was of its time. You can't make it with today's performers. At least THE BLOOD BROTHERS was a drama at heart.
I'm sure they won't remake it 1:1, Mark. They are surely going to add modern themes to it, but I also think that the theme of friendship, loyalty and betrayal between men still works very well these days.
thelostdragon wrote:The use of these exact themes have led to many people wondering whether John Woo was gay (as pointed out by Chow Yun-fat in an interview).
I'm just intrigued to see what sort of film this is gonna be since Jet isn't gonna be in any more martial arts films!!! I'm predicting a slow, story told melodrama, with each character taking time to sit back and discuss their problems (a la orange film board discussion with Patrick Swayze - "Maybe if he talked more he wouldn't go around killing everybody?")
thelostdragon wrote: but I also think that the theme of friendship, loyalty and betrayal between men still works very well these days.
A la Brokeback Mountain.
The use of these exact themes have led to many people wondering whether John Woo was gay (as pointed out by Chow Yun-fat in an interview).
I find the homoeroticism in Woo's films hilarious, coz the way he uses male bonding is basically straight from Chang Cheh, but cheh actually was a homosexual and so perhaps unwittingly he did have an ultra-exagerrated and romanticised (also imo slightly sexualised) notion of heroic bonds and manliness/chilvalry. Woo though presumably is straight, and has always been completely bamboozled by reports that his films are "gay"
I thought it was well known amongst some people in the industry back in the 70's that Cheh was a closeted homosexual? I'll see if I can find anything to back that claim up.
But here's what Linn Haynes has to say over on theAsianDVDGuide:
Linn wrote:There is none, other than from the HK critics, snidely remarking that he was, which started around the time he lost cred at the box-office. Many chalk it up to critics who were pissed off at him for doing so well, and then flaunting it early on in his career. He denied it until his dying day, and said in interviews and in his biography that it was something that caused him a lot of grief over the years. I honestly felt bad for the man being put through the ringer over it.
I used to be "the man who loves the movies you hate".
Now I'm just "that weird french guy with a cat avatar who comes to BnB once a year for no reason and then disappears again".