Warlords, The

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Epic in scope but intimate in theme, The Warlordsheaves with spectacular battles and the relentless sway of self-interest over conscience.

NPR Mark Jenkins

It's a surprisingly nuanced and sober tale of brotherhood and betrayal.

Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

Like the best war movies do, director Peter Ho-Sun Chan has woven together an intimate story of men against a backdrop of history writ large.

Empire Kim Newman

The guy story is so strong that conventional romantic interludes with the woman torn between two men could easily have been dropped.

The Hollywood Reporter Maggie Lee

After a career excelling in highbrow urban romances, Hong Kong director Peter Chan ("Perhaps Love") earns his spurs in his march into war epic territory.

Variety Derek Elley

Laden with gritty action, but with an emotional undertow that carries the drama even through its weaker moments, picture reps a strong comeback by Hong Kong helmer-producer Peter Chan.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

Chan's old-fashioned, highly watchable mega-production comes complete with God's-eye surveys of mass carnage, the moist sounds of sword-skewering, and little or no discernible CGI.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

The Warlords relies too much on combat movie clichés and corny sentiment, weighted down by speeches about heroism and hypocrisy.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Fans of this film will some day wear out their DVDs and Blu-rays playing that fantastic battle scene again and again.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

The Warlords, ultimately, tries to speak to the futility of war - but it does so by staging one gargantuan dustup after another.

Boxoffice Magazine Wade Major

Though less splashy than "Red Cliff," or for that matter "Hero," or even "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," the picture nonetheless embraces a classic melodramatic approach to an otherwise familiar Ching Dynasty tale, delivering one of the most bracing Asian period films in many years.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It’s all lavish, if disposable. But in a nifty change of pace, the warriors in The Warlords are interesting.

Time Out New York Keith Uhlich

The film lurches through narrative incidents: Battle scenes, political intrigue and a ticking-time-bomb love triangle are all pitched at the level of mundane competence and rarely get the blood racing.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

The scope of director Peter Chan's military drama is impressive, though this sometimes-rousing depiction of strategy and loyalty in mid-1800s China pales next to recent, similar historical epics like "Red Cliff" and "Mongol."

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

There's a visceral, albeit somewhat goofy, satisfaction to this stuff.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Is nothing sacred? In the schizophrenic war epic The War lords, Jet Li, the hunky action hero, cries -- no, make that sobs -- several times. What will his legion of young male fans think?