God Of War is a pretty solid period war/action movie from director Gordon Chan(who directed some of my favorite movies, Fist Of Legend and Beast Cops). This is probably the best acting performance to date from leading man Wenzhuo aka Vincent Zhao. He is brilliant in the fight scenes and there is quite a bit of battle action to go around in this picture. The choreographed action looks great and is very fluent, but complex. The film also looks very sharp and has good character development and pacing. Sammo Hung appears only briefly, but has a memorable cameo and good chemistry with leading man Wenzhuo Zhao. The legendary Yasuaki Kurata gives a powerful performance as Japanese general and gives a lot of empathy and insight to the Japanese side of this historical conflict. This film has elements of Red Cliff and Warlords, but most reminds me of Korean movie The Admiral Roaring Tides. All above are quality productions and highly recommended and I am very impressed by this excellent film.

GOD OF WAR is another fine historical war flick made as a collaboration between China and Hong Kong. It has that Hong Kong sensibility in the many action sequences, which are well-choreographed, gruesome, and hard-hitting. The film is one for lovers of Chinese cinema, featuring roles for two Hong Kong film legends, Sammo Hung and Yasuaki Kurata, and both get to show their mettle in some skilful one-to-one combat scenes. The rest is a mix of politics, strategy, and characterisation in the best Asian sense. There's a rather slow midsection but some great early battle sequences and a ferocious climax which lets rip for around 40 minutes or so.

For a historical movie I have to admit I'm not too impressed by the result. Not that I had a very high opinion of Chinese movies before starting to watch God Of War, as most of the time you have alot of actors or extras overacting. For example it all feels unnatural when you see them running around, never saw anybody run this way (there is absolutely no way any Chinese will win a race if they all run like that). The only good thing about this movie are some fighting scenes but even those could have been much better. The movie is just too long, too repetitive, and to be honest their strategies are just becoming boring after awhile. It didn't do it to me and I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one that will be disappointed.