| War | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Philip Atwell |
| Produced by | Steve Chasman Christopher Petzel Jim Thompson |
| Written by | Lee Anthony Smith Gregory J. Bradley |
| Starring | Jet Li Jason Statham Terry Chen John Lone Devon Aoki Andrea Roth Sung Kang Ryo Ishibashi |
| Music by | Brian Tyler |
| Cinematography | Pierre Morel |
| Editing by | Scott Richter |
| Studio | Lionsgate Firerce Entertainment Mosaic Media Group |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
| Release date(s) | August 24, 2007 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million[1] |
| Box office | $40,452,643[2] |
War is a 2007 American action thriller film, directed by Phillip G. Atwell who makes his film debut, with fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film was released in North America on August 24, 2007 and stars action film actors Jet Li and Jason Statham, making their second collaboration after the 2001 film The One. Statham plays an FBI agent determined to take down a mysterious assassin known as Rogue (who is played by Li), after his partner is murdered.
War's working title was Rogue; it was changed to avoid conflict with another film with the same name. It was re-titled as Rogue Assassin in New Zealand[3], Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia, the Philippines, and several European countries.
Contents |
During a shootout against Chinese Triads at a dock warehouse, FBI agents John Crawford (Jason Statham) and Tom Lone (Terry Chen) stumble across the notorious assassin Rogue (Jet Li), a former CIA assassin who now works for the Japanese Yakuza. Rogue ambushes Crawford and is about to execute him when Lone appears and shoots Rogue in the face, causing him to fall into the water. Rogue's body was never found and he is presumed dead. However, Rogue survives and his retaliation against Lone, his wife and his daughter, leaves three corpses in the ashes of their home.
Three years later, Rogue re-appears, working under Chinese Triad boss Li Chang (John Lone). Rogue is assisting Chang against Chang's arch-enemy and Rogue's former employer, the leader of the Japanese Yakuza, Shiro Yanagawa (Ryo Ishibashi). Rogue first attacks a club ran by the Yakuza in order to recover a pair of antique gold horses, family heirlooms of Li Chang. However, Rogue is secretly setting the Yakuza and the Triads against each other, in order to push the two factions toward all-out war.
Now the head agent of the FBI's Asian Crime Task Force, Crawford is determined to hunt Rogue down and exact revenge for Lone's death. Crawford's obsessive pursuit of Rogue has taken a toll on his personal life, estranging him from his family. Crawford comes close to catching Rogue in the wake of Rogue's various killing sprees against the Triads and Yakuza, but Rogue always manages to stay one step ahead.
Ultimately, Rogue's machinations have gained the trust of both Li Chang and Yanagawa. Rogue succeeds in betraying Li Chang, but spares Li Chang's wife and child, turning on the Yakuza. With Chang dead, Yanagawa is finally ready to come to America, where he intends to take over and expand Yakuza business operations. However, he is confronted by Crawford and the FBI; Crawford presents Shiro with proof that Rogue has betrayed him and spared Li Chang's family, but Yanagawa refuses to assist Crawford in locating Rogue.
Later, Rogue delivers the horses to Shiro personally. Knowing of Rogue's betrayal, Yanagawa captures Rogue and demands the location of Li Chang's family. Rogue kills all of Shiro Yanagawa's men, and engages in a sword fight against Shiro Yanagawa himself. Rogue reveals that he is actually FBI agent Tom Lone (who, after receiving plastic surgery, changed his voice to obtain a Chinese accent); and killed the real Rogue, assuming the assassin's identity. Rogue/Lone reveals that his actions have all been designed to bring him face-to-face with Yanagawa, so he could kill the man who ordered the death of his family. Yanagawa reveals that Crawford was in his pocket and responsible for leaking Lone's identity and home address to Rogue. Angered, Lone disarms and decapitates Shiro Yanagawa.
Meanwhile Chang's wife receives a package from Lone, composed of the golden horses that belongs to Chang's family and a message reading, "Make a new life". Yanagawa's daughter also receives a package with the same message and inside the box is her father's head. Lone then calls Crawford as he was packing up his office, telling him to meet him at the dock warehouse they last made their investigation. Before going to the warehouse, Crawford enlists the help of Goi (Sung Kang), an FBI sniper who helped in the investigation throughout the film.
At the warehouse, Crawford and Rogue battle each other in an intense hand-to-hand fight. When Rogue reveals his identity as Lone, a devastated Crawford reveals his employment of Yanagawa and that he only gave Lone's address to Shiro because he thought that the Yakuza were only going to beat Lone up, and did not expect the family to be assassinated by Rogue. Crawford begs Lone for forgiveness, but is rebuffed by Lone, finalizing his identity as Rogue. During the revelation, Goi takes aim at Rogue, but Crawford jumps in Goi's line of fire, saving Rogue's life. Rogue pushes him away and shoots him in the back, later driving out of town accepting his new identity.
War opened on August 24, 2007 with $9,820,089 from 2,277 theaters, a $4,312 average.[2] As of December 2007, the film grossed $22,466,994 in United States and $17,778,869 in foreign box offices totaling $40,245,863 worldwide. DVD sales totaled $27,347,065.[4] It has a 12% rating on the film rating website Rotten Tomatoes.
| War | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Brian Tyler | |
| Released | August 21, 2007 |
| Length | 65:09 |
| Label | Lionsgate Records |
The soundtrack was composed by Brian Tyler. The additional music is by RZA, Mark Batson and Machines of Loving Grace.