Warriors of Heaven and Earth

[Ravi]

Has anyone seen this?  Pete?

http://www.warriors-movie.com/en/home.html

[pete]

no, I have the dvd but the guy who told me he'd give it right back has yet to give it back.

[Pas]

Looks fucking cool though

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: September 3, 2004 (LA/NY); expands to other cities at later dates

Cast: Jiang Wen (Captain Li Zai), Kiichi Nakai (Lai Qi), Vicky Zhao (Wen Zhu), Wang Xueqi (Master An); other cast not announced yet.

Director: He Ping (Red Firecracker Green Firecracker)

Cinematographer: Zhao Fei (Small Time Crooks, Raise the Red Lantern, Sweet & Lowdown, The Emperor and the Assassin)

Screenwriter: He Ping (1991's Swordsman in Double Flag)

Premise: This film, heavy with swordplay, revolves around a caravan during China's Tang Dynasty, in the western territories, that is carrying a sacred bone of the Buddha. The caravan, however, is just the setting, as the film follows several characters, each with different motives, including An, who plans to steal the bone...

Here's how Sony puts it:

"Set in the ferocious Gobi Desert, the story follows two protagonists, Lieutenant Li (Jiang Wen) and Japanese emissary Lai Qi (Kiichi Nakai) - both first-class warriors and master swordsmen. After decades of service to the Chinese Emperor, Lai Qi longs to return to Japan, but is instead sent to the West to chase wanted criminals. His only passport back to Japan is to capture and execute Lieutenant Li, a renegade soldier wanted for leading a violent mutiny when he refused orders to kill female and child prisoners. Li and Lai Qi battle, but finally agree to delay their final personal fight until the caravan carrying Minzhu and a Buddhist monk is brought to safety. The monk, however, is carrying a sacred and powerful pagoda that attracts the attention of the region's ruthless overlord, Master An (Wang Xueqi). Lai Qi and Lt. Li, accompanied by Li's former posse of soldiers, who have forsaken their peaceful new lives to return to his side, must face the cruelty of the desert, the region's barbaric bandits and the brutality of the overlord's men before they can finally face one another."