History Film / TheWarlords

* RockBeatsLaser: Even though the Taiping army in the first battle are armed with 200 rifles, they're still no match for basic archers, led by an infantry charge. {{Justified}} since the Qing army are given faulty rifles, but they also combine it with WeHaveReserves by promising their soldiers higher pay to act as {{Human Shield}}s for the archers.

* RockBeatsLaser: Even though the Taiping army in the first battle are armed with 200 rifles, they're still no match for basic archers, led by an infantry charge. {{Justified}} since the Qing army are given faulty rifles, but they also combine it with WeHaveReserves by promising theier soldiers higher pay to act as {{Human Shield}}s for the archers.

The film plays heavily on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: ideally, the BloodBrothers want to end the war quickly as possible, with hopes their loved ones back home can be safe and secure; cynically, ''The Warlords'' showcases how brutal one of the most bloodiest, largest and near-forgotten conflicts in Asia truly was, but also how ambition, back-door politics, and conspiracies are what drives men to deeper extremes.

''The Warlords'' (投名狀) is a [[HongKongFilms Hong Kong]] EpicMovie directed by Peter Chan and starring Creator/JetLi, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. Released on December 13, 2007, ''The Warlords'' is set during the 1860s when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]] was underway in the [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing late Qing Dynasty of China]]. The story is based loosely on the RealLife [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Xinyi assassination of Qing general Ma Xinyi]].

* BladeOnAStick: Qingyun uses a massive ''guandao'' in the epic desert battle, which he uses with deadly effect by killing waves and waves of rebels using this weapon.

''The Warlords'' (投名狀; ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) is a [[HongKongFilms Hong Kong]] EpicMovie directed by Peter Chan and starring Creator/JetLi, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. Released on December 13, 2007, ''The Warlords'' is set during the 1860s when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]] was underway in the [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing late Qing Dynasty of China]]. The story is based loosely on the RealLife [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Xinyi assassination of Qing general Ma Xinyi]].

* DecapitationPresentation: Wuyang in the first battle with the rebel commander's head

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Erhu is assassinated on the Qing lords' orders to Qingyun, Wuyang kills Liansheng because he wrongly believes Qingyun's affair with Liansheng motivated the former, and he fulfills the BloodOath by ending Qingyun's life. Wuyang becomes TheScapegoat in Qingyun's death - a convenience since the Qing lords and the Empress Dowager were already plotting to assassinate Qingyun from the start. Wuyang is executed two months later, and [[WrittenByTheWinners the conspiracy is covered up]]. [[KillEmAll All major characters do not survive]]]].

* KnifeNut: Wuyang ''really'' loves using daggers and always [[DualWielding carries two around]].

* BadassBeard: Erhu, until he shaves it off

''The Warlords'' (投名狀; ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) is a [[HongKongFilms Hong Kong]] EpicMovie directed by Peter Chan and starring Creator/JetLi, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. Released on December 13, 2007, ''The Warlords'' is set during the 1860s when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]] was underway in the [[UsefulNotes/DynastiesFromShangToQing late Qing Dynasty of China]]. The story is based loosely on the RealLife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ma_Xinyi assassination of a Qing general named Ma Xinyi]].

Pang Qingyun (Jet Li) is a general of the Qing army and following a crushing defeat by the Taiping where he's the SoleSurvivor, he stumbles onto a village and is nursed back to health by a woman named Liansheng (Xu Jinglei). The village is comprised of bandits, who rob convoys from the Qing and Taiping for their supplies in order to feed themselves. Following a successful raid on a Taiping battalion, the Qing army attacks the village and seizes the supplies for themselves. Through convincing Liansheng's husband Zhao Erhu (Andy Lau), Jiang Wuyang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and other men in the village, Qingyun reforms an army to fight the Taiping, in hopes the village won't have to starve from the on-going war. To secure their friendship, Qinyun, Erhu and Wuyang swear a BloodOath, with death as their punishment should they break their new bond .

Notably the first collaboration between Jet Li and Takeshi Kaneshiro in a decade, ever since ''Film/DrWaiInTheScriptureWithNoWords''.

* BarehandedBladeBlock: Qingyun during the bandit raid against a Taiping convoy, saving Wuyang before a {{Mook}} has the chance to kill him
* BearTrap: The first battle that Qingyun's army fights is an ambushing a Taiping convoy marching through a deep valley. As part of the ambush, they set a number of hidden bear traps in the ground that snare a few of the horses and soldiers at the front of the convoy.
* BladeOnAStick: Qingyun uses a massive ''guandao'' in the epic desert battle, which he uses with deadly effect killing wave and wave of rebels using this weapon.

* TheCavalry: In this case, this trope was already present at the first battle, but they don't make a move since they're only reinforcements. It's only until Qingyun's men of 800 manages to anger and rouse the rebel army of 5000 that they do move in and assist.
** CavalryBetrayal: General He Kui towards Qingyun at the beginning of the film

* CorruptBureaucrat/ CorruptPolitician: The Qing lords and He Kui

* {{Determinator}}: Even though [[spoiler:Wuyang]] is getting a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown by [[spoiler:Qingyun when he goes to kill him]], the former still staggers towards the latter.
* DownerEnding/ KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Erhu is assassinated on orders from Qingyun, Wuyang kills Liansheng because he believes Qingyun's affair with Liansheng motivated the former, and he fulfills the BloodOath by ending Qingyun's life. Wuyang becomes a convenient scapegoat in Qingyun's death, since the Qing lords and the Empress Dowager were plotting to have Qingyun assassinated from the start. Wuyang is executed two months later, and [[WrittenByTheWinners the conspiracy is covered up]]]].

* AFatherToHisMen: Erhu deeply cared for his subordinate compared to the other two of The Trio. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: this trait and using royal treasury to pay the soldiers provided an excuse for the Qing Lords to manipulate Qingyun to assassinate him.]]

* HeroicBSOD: Erhu [[spoiler:after Qingyun orders the surviving Taiping troops at Suzhou to their deaths]]

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler: Qingyun killed an entire populace of the city after the {{The Siege}} to prevent food shortages from bringing them along their journey and quickly recapture Nanjing--whose populace outnumbers that city--to prevent He Kui from commit RapePillageAndBurn over it. [[Main/TearJerker Both his subordinates and Erhu were not happy about the ordeal]].]]
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: [[spoiler:Like the entry in IDidWhatIHadtoDo on this page, Qingyun's reasons also included lack of large supplies to feed prisoners-of-war, nor does he trust them if they're conscripted; if released, he fears they will join another regiment. Ultimately, he demands their execution by volleys of arrows. To put a salt upon the wound, average citizens were also part of the siege.]]
* KilledMidSentence: Before the penultimate battle between the Qing army and the rebels, a rebel messenger marches up and declares that the rebels outnumbers the Qing army by over a few thousand men, and they should consider surrendering. Erhu removes the messenger's head before he could continue any further.

* RockBeatsLaser: Even though the Taiping army in the first battle are armed with 200 rifles, they're still no match for basic archers, led by an infantry charge.
** Justified since that the protagonists' army were given faulty rifles and also combined with WeHaveReserves by promising them higher pay to act as human shields for the archers.

* BloodOath: Sworn between the PowerTrio.

* AFatherToHisMen: Erhu deeply cared for his subordinate compared to the other two of [[PowerTrio The Trio]]. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: this trait and using royal treasury to pay the soldiers provided an excuse for the Qing Lords to manipulate Qingyun to assassinate him.]]

* KillMidSentence: Before the penultimate battle between the Qing army and the rebels, a rebel messenger marches up and declares that the rebels outnumbers the Qing army by over a few thousand men, and they should consider surrendering. Erhu removes the messenger's head before he could continue any further.

-----
''The Warlords'' contain examples of the following:
[[hardline]]

** Justified since that the protagonists' army were given faulty rifles and also combined with WeHaveReserves by promising them higher pay to act as human shields for the archers.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler: Qingyun killed an entire populace of the city after the {{The Siege}} to prevent food shortages from bringing them along their journey and quickly recapture Nanjing--whose populace outnumbers that city--to prevent He Kui from commit RapePillageAndBurn over it. [[Tearjerker Both his subordinates and Erhu were not happy about the ordeal]].]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Erhu deeply cared for his subordinate compared to the other two of TheTrio. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: this trait and using royal treasury to pay the soldiers provided an excuse for the Qing Lords to manipulate Qingyun to assassinate him.]]

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler: Qingyun killed an entire populace of the city after the {{The Siege}} to prevent food shortages from bringing them along their journey and quickly recapture Nanjing--whose populace outnumbers that city--to prevent He Kui from commit RapePillageAndBurn over it. [[Tearjerker Both his subordinates and Erhu were not happy about the ordeal.]]
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: [[spoiler:Qingyun refuses to spare the surrendered Taiping soldiers, citing the army doesn't have enough to feed prisoners-of-war, nor does he trust them if they're conscripted; if released, he fears they will join another regiment. Ultimately, he demands their execution by a volley a arrows]].

* BloodOath: Sworn between the PowerTrio

* CorruptBureaucrat, CorruptPolitician: The Qing lords and He Kui

* DownerEnding, KillEmAll: [[spoiler:Erhu is assassinated on orders from Qingyun, Wuyang kills Liansheng because he believes Qingyun's affair with Liansheng motivated the former, and he fulfills the BloodOath by ending Qingyun's life. Wuyang becomes a convenient scapegoat in Qingyun's death, since the Qing lords and the Empress Dowager were plotting to have Qingyun assassinated from the start. Wuyang is executed two months later, and [[WrittenByTheWinners the conspiracy is covered up]]]].

* HeroicSacrifice: A {{Mook}} saves Qingyun during the first battle by putting himself ''directly'' at a Taiping cannon before it fires. LudicrousGibs ensue

* RockBeatsLaser: Even though the Taiping army in the first battle are armed with 200 rifles, they're still no match for basic archers, led by an infantry charge.

''The Warlords'' (投名狀; ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) is a [[HongKongFilms Hong Kong]] EpicMovie directed by Peter Chan and starring Creator/JetLi, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. Released on December 13, 2007, ''The Warlords'' is set during the 1860s when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]] was underway in the [[DynastiesFromShangToQing late Qing Dynasty of China]]. The story is based loosely on the RealLife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ma_Xinyi assassination of a Qing general named Ma Xinyi]].

* BearTrap: The first battle that Qingyun's army fights is an ambushing an army marching through a deep valley. As part of the ambush, they set a number of hidden bear traps in the ground that snare a few of the horses and soldiers at the front.

'''The Warlords''' (投名狀; ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) is a [[HongKongFilms Hong Kong]] EpicMovie directed by Peter Chan and starring Creator/JetLi, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. Released on December 13, 2007, ''The Warlords'' is set during the 1860s when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]] was underway in the [[DynastiesFromShangToQing late Qing Dynasty of China]]. The story is based loosely on the RealLife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ma_Xinyi assassination of a Qing general named Ma Xinyi]].

* AmbitionIsEvil
* BadassBeard
* BarehandedBladeBlock
* BloodOath
* TheCavalry
** CavalryBetrayal
* CorruptBureaucrat, CorruptPolitician
* DecapitationPresentation
* {{Determinator}}
* DownerEnding, KillEmAll
* EpicMovie
* FaceDeathWithDignity
* FreudianTrio
* GreyAndGrayMorality
* HeroicSacrifice
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown
* KillTheCutie
* KnifeNut
* LoveRuinsTheRealm
* LudicrousGibs
* MurderTheHypotenuse
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone
* OnlyAFleshWound
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil
* RapePillageAndBurn
* RockBeatsLaser

'''The Warlords''' (投名狀; ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) is a Hong Kong EpicMovie directed by Peter Chan and starring Creator/JetLi, Creator/AndyLau, Creator/TakeshiKaneshiro and Xu Jinglei. Released on December 13, 2007, ''The Warlords'' is set during the 1860s when the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]] was underway in the [[DynastiesFromShangToQing late Qing Dynasty of China]]. The story is based loosely on the RealLife [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ma_Xinyi assassination of a Qing general named Ma Xinyi]].