Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2003)

I love this movie so much

Highly Overrated But Still Good

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

I haven't watched a lot of Chinese cinema, but Warriors of Heaven and Earth seems to be part of a uniquely Chinese genre - the martial arts movie that preaches the importance of loyalty to the state.Lai Xi (Nakai Kilchi) is a Japanese warrior who has spent most of his life in China, serving the Emperor with his prodigious skill and strength. Xi has been given two oddly disparate missions. He is to both safeguard an important young woman on her way from the Western regions of China to the capitol, and he's also to hunt down and bring to justice the renowned outlaw "Butcher" Li (Jiang Wen). Li was once a solider in the Emperor's army, but he rebelled at being ordered to slaughter unarmed women and children. Li and his loyal men became mercenaries, until Li's men settled down in an isolated village while the "Butcher" pursued his destiny alone. Wandering through the desert, Li is saved by a convoy that's taking valuable Buddist artifacts to the imperial capitol. Xi and Li finally meet, and after a brief sword fight, Xi agrees to allow Li to escort the convoy to the Emperor and only kill him after that mission is complete. But, both Xi and Li have to save the convoy from Master An (Wang Yuengi), who seeks the convoy's artifacts to help his Turkish allies control China's Western regions. Through combat, deprivation and hopelessness, Xi and Li fight on…until the story ends with a rather strange, "Look! It's magic" conclusion.The first thing to know about this film is that it is not a wildly exaggerated, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", people-flying-through-the-air-with-super-powers martial arts movie. There are a couple of moments of so-called "wire-fu", but this is a much more realistic adventure and I think it's the better for it. Some people really get off on the intricately complex, ballet-like conventions of modern martial arts films, but I prefer action scenes that bear some resemblance to what can happen in actual life.There are certain aspects of the story that don't make sense or don't seem to hang together that well, but this is a foreign film so it's hard to tell if anything is actually missing or if I am just missing certain cultural or social themes that a Chinese audience would easily recognize.Even with all that, there's some good acting here. Jian Wen and Nakai Kilchi create very different characters without big scenes to show off in. Lai Xi has a decidedly aristocratic air to him, while "Butcher" Li is a solider much more used to the muddy trench. Several of the other characters are also allowed some depth.The theme of loyalty to the state running through Warriors of Heaven and Earth isn't something you see much in cinema from other countries. Loyalty is usually something between individuals, not between a person and a ruling government. Yet, I've seen a few Chinese films that strongly stress the nobility, honor and necessity of sacrificing oneself for the betterment of the nation. It's a very communitarian, as opposed to individualistic, concept of heroism.Warriors of Heaven and Earth is a pretty straight-forward adventure tale that's enjoyable on its own, but it also might teach you a little bit about modern Chinese culture…or at least the culture that's being propagated at this particular time.

A Japanese soldier travels across the Gobi to chase a deserter, but they have to join forces against a common enemy to reach their destination.Japanese actor Kiichi Nakai and Chinese actor Wen Jiang lead a brilliant cast that includes Xueqi Wang as leader of the desert bandits and the incredibly beautiful Chinese actress Zhao Wei, who will be appearing with Infernal Affairs actor Tony Leung next year in John Woo's The Battle of Red Cliff. She starred with Leung in Chinese Odyssey 2002.The battles were fierce, but the incredible scenery and special effects are what grabs you as the duel between Kiichi Nakai and Wen Jiang were delayed not only to fight the bandits and the Turks who wanted to control Western China, but to deliver a sacred relic to the Buddists. This relic had special powers that made this film beautiful.

Personally I think it's a rip off of Musa, but besides that, it does a terrible job of developing characters. You feel no attachment to any of them. Vicki Zhao was did nothing except play eye candy. You didn't know exactly what was going on until at least 45 minutes into the movie, and the main villain was absolutely laughable. There were scenes that were stuck there for no apparent reason at all. Either He Ping rushed this, or he had to clip out practically half the movie to make budget.Poorly developed characters and storyline. Even the music seemed inappropriate or cheesy at times. The only redeeming grace of this movie is its extraordinary cinematography. That and an attempt to add some symbolism in the movie with water and blood.Terrible movie. Not worth your money or time. If you want the same style but awesome story/characters, go for Musa.

I really enjoyed this movie.Do not expect "hero" or "house of Daggers" type quality but do expect a ripper of a Chinese B movie.Amazingly charismatic leads in this movie with special mention going to Xueqi Wang and Kiichi Nakai.The action is very good,the fighting choreographic fairly well done without over the top gore or violence and no wire work.What will keep you to the end of this movie is the acting not the action.The basic story is about a Imperial Agent wishing to return home, but first he must bring back or kill a renegade solider.While hunting him down the two are forced to unite for the greater good of a caravan being attacked by bandits.***mild hint of a spoiler here****This was very good up until the end,it took a bit of a supernatural twist.It was like they project ran out of money or steam and they just needed to finish it.Still very very good in-spite of a weakish ending.