Warriors of Heaven and Earth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Warriors of Heaven and Earth | |
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| Directed by | He Ping |
| Produced by | Bai Song Chen Kuo-fu |
| Written by | He Ping Zhang Rui |
| Starring | Wen Jiang Kiichi Nakai Xueqi Wang Zhao Wei Bagen Hasi |
| Music by | A. R. Rahman |
| Release date(s) | 2003 |
| Running time | 114 mins |
| Language | Mandarin |
| IMDb profile | |
Warriors of Heaven and Earth (Chinese: 天地英雄; pinyin: Tiān dì yīng xióng) is a 2004 action/adventure film from China, and is directed by He Ping. The film is in Mandarin, with some Japanese. It was made in 2003, but was released internationally the following year.
The film features the theme song Mirage (Warriors In Peace), sung by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai. This particular theme song has become one of the most famous Chinese movie theme songs after Coco Lee's A Love Before Time, which featured in the wuxia film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by A. R. Rahman, which features 16 tracks including the theme song in 3 languages, Chinese (Mandarin), English and Hindi. Following the film's release, the score and soundtrack were released in one album separately, under the title Between Heaven and Earth.
Another notable aspect of the film is its cinematography, by Zhao Fei, which captures a wide range of landscapes, across the Xinjiang province of China. The film also includes numerous horse-riding sequences, played out by trained Kazakh horsemen from the Peoples Liberation Army. It consists of a classic battle between good and evil.
[edit] Plot
The film is set in the Gobi Desert, 700, and revolves around two protagonists, the first of which is Lieutenant Li (played by Jiang Wen) of the Chinese army, who refuses to kill women and child prisoners. His actions cause a mutiny, and he becomes a fugitive, travelling through the desert. He eventually comes across a caravan which carries a relic, which is accompanied by a Buddhist monk. Li protects the caravan from Mongol bandits as well as the overlord of the region, Master An (played by Wang Xueqi). The other protagonist, a Japanese emissary, Lai Xi (played by Kiichi Nakai), is ordered by the emperor of China to kill Li. In a twist of fate, Lai Xi realizes that the caravan is on an Imperial mission and helps Li to defend it, and ensures that it arrives at the capital safely. They promise to fight each other only after their duty is done.
[edit] Cast
- Jiang Wen - Lieutenant Li
- Kiichi Nakai - Sir Lai Xi
- Wang Xueqi - Master An
- Zhao Wei - Wen Zhu
