Three men swear a blood oath, and there is the inevitable betrayal, as a woman comes between them. Along the way, in The Warlords, there are solidly dramatic performances by Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, bloody large-scale battle scenes and sumptuous, yet gritty, costuming and settings.

For director Peter Chan, whose previous film was the romantic musical Perhaps Love, The Warlords may seem like a departure. But, for a director who started his career as a location manager for Jackie Chan films and as a assistant director for John Woo, it really isn’t – it’s a return to his roots, and the roots of Hong Kong action cinema.

It’s also an advancement. With a $40 million budget (including a record $13 million salary for Li alone), The Warlords marks a new era of Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, with filmmakers seeking to be treated in the same league as Hollywood. The three stars and the director were present at SF World Cinema at CentralWorld in Bangkok last Sunday for the biggest movie premiere in Thailand yet. Indeed, most of the film's post-production was completed in Bangkok, at Oriental Post and Kantana studios, so there are plenty of reasons to make a big splash with the film in Thailand.

The Warlords is inspired by Chang Cheh’s 1973 film, The Blood Brothers, with Chan insisting it is not a remake of the Shaw Bros.’ film, even if it is the same story. Even so, The Warlords probably would have been called The Blood Brothers if there hadn’t been a Hong Kong-Taiwan gangster film called Blood Brothers released earlier this year.

Based on a true story from the mid-1800s, during the last throes of China’s Qing Dynasty, Jet Li portrays the disgraced general Ma Xinyi, who falls in with a gang of thieves led by Zhang (Kaneshiro) and his older brother, Erhu (Lau).

It is the most multi-faceted role for Li yet, and though he has said he will no longer make “martial arts films”, he does display some of his legendary fast, furious moves. Lau and Kaneshiro spur Li on in his acting, while his martial arts prowess aids the actors.

Nobody flies or dances atop bamboo stalks, but there are plenty of severed limbs and heads. As the bandits are transformed into a disciplined force under Ma, his coldly calculating and deadly tactics are questioned by Erhu, who ends up insane and in chains.

And while Ma is rewarded with a governorship for his battlefield efforts, the rambunctuous Erhu must be dealt with somehow.

The drama is heightened by the fact that Erhu does not know Ma has been carrying on an affair with his woman, Mi Lan (Xu Jinglei), but Zhang does – a moment of revelation between the two characters that is worth the price of admission. If you don’t see the film for the well-mounted battle scenes and solid performances, see it for the looks that Li and Kaneshiro exchange in that crucial scene.

More information:

• Official site
• Gallery of production stills and Bangkok press conference
• Photos from premiere at SF World Cinema