“Love, politics, and loyalty threaten to tear apart three soldiers in this lavish historical epic from
Hong Kong. In 1870, the power of the corrupt Qing Dynasty has been threatened by the rise of a
revolutionary army, led by religious fanatics, and civil war is tearing the nation apart. Pang Qingyun
(Jet Li), a good man who finds himself fighting for the Qing leadership, is one of the only survivors of
a bloody battle in between revolutionaries and Qing troops, and is looking for someplace to go when
he's offered shelter by a beautiful peasant woman, Lian (Xu Jinglei). Pang and Lian spend the night in
each other’s arms, and he finds himself falling in love with her. Pang sets out to make his way home
when he's befriended by Zhao Er-Hu (Andy Lau) and Jiang Wu-yang (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a pair of
bandits. When Jiang is attacked in an ambush, Pang helps save his life, and the three men become
blood brothers in a gory ritual. Pang convinces Jiang and Zhao to join him in the fight against the
revolutionaries, and with their help Pang is able to achieve some impressive victories. However, when
Pang allows his own ego and dreams of glory to override his common sense and loyalty, Zhao and
Jiang come to distrust their ally, and matters become worse when it is revealed that Lian is Zhao’s
wife.[...]” -
movies.com
