The Warlords (DVD clear version)

Chen Kexin, the best director winner of the Golden Horse Award, invested 40 million US dollars in an annual historical costume epic. The movie starred three international superstars: Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. In the autumn of 1870, Big Brother (played by Jet Li) was wearing official clothing overlooking his inauguration stage from the top of a city wall; full of ideals and ambition, if he hadn't gone down this one-way road, he might have been one of the revolutionaries to overthrow the corrupt Qing Dynasty and create a great cause to be remembered in history. Unfortunately... two bandits and a woman changed his life, leading to both his success and ultimate destruction. These two bandits were sworn brothers who had vowed life and death together with him: Second Brother (played by Andy Lau) and Third Brother (played by Takeshi Kaneshiro). And that woman was Second Brother's wife, Liansheng (played by Xu Jinglei).

Second Brother was straightforward and unrestrained, a straightforward and righteous hero who became a bandit in turbulent times. He led hundreds of people to raid everywhere, but he had his own code of honor. Even when robbing, he would "take seven leave three", leaving a lifeline for the villagers being robbed. The spoils of his raids would be shared with the good civilians living in the same mountain village as him, thus winning their hearts. Second Brother loved two people most in his life: Liansheng and Third Brother, who had followed him to become a bandit at the age of thirteen. He regarded Third Brother, orphaned since childhood, as his own younger brother.

Third Brother possessed a unique charm of manhood. Besides having the wildness of a wolf and the cold ruthlessness of a killer, he also possessed the innocence and romance of youth. Therefore, in his life, the brotherly bond of life and death was an eternal emotion he valued more than life itself. Since the battle where Big Brother, a stranger, got injured while shielding him from an arrow during their raid on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's grain convoy, he deeply felt the grace of being saved. Driven by his innate fervor, his admiration for Big Brother even surpassed his admiration for Second Brother.

After their mountain village was ransacked by the Qing army at a heavy cost of lives, Third Brother strongly advocated for them to swear brotherhood and join the Qing court under Big Brother's leadership. To avoid disappointing Third Brother and to prevent his fellow villagers from falling into despair, Second Brother disregarded personal gains and losses, handing over his position as leader to Big Brother.

As a good brother in the world of men, Second Brother was a failed lover and an unqualified husband in the world of women. His intense machismo lacked the romantic charm to captivate women. His wife Liansheng, however, was exactly the kind of romanticist who believed in love at first sight. Although he had once rescued her from being sold as a young prostitute in Yangzhou, and although he tried hard to care for her, his illiteracy meant he lacked the scholarly air she liked, so she never truly loved him.

To realize the ideal of a peaceful era without war, Big Brother used the strength of a group of brothers led by Second Brother and Third Brother to establish the "Mountain Camp" temporarily serving the Qing Court, originally planning to use the fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to gather military power. However, as he gained more power, Big Brother became increasingly ambitious, wanting to remove all obstacles. He didn't hesitate to break ties with Second Brother, slaughtering the Taiping soldiers who had surrendered after being persuaded by Second Brother, just because he feared they might rebel. He exploited Third Brother's fervent nature, persuading him to take his side. Originally, Big Brother was only a step away from success, but his actions deeply hurt Third Brother, who admired him greatly. Just at his grandest moment during the inauguration ceremony, at the peak of his power and influence, Big Brother was assassinated.