This is not a bad movie. While the plot line and story is simplistic the action scenes are OK.

I likened it to watching the game Dynasty warriors. Thats how the action scenes look. Armies charging at each other, individual battles with ONE person killing everything in sight, one swipe of the spear taking out everyone within reach, bodies flying and one person being able to defeat an army.

The 3 Kingdoms is used as a back drop for this movie. It is only used to set the characters and the time period. At no point is there any plot concerning the 3 kingdoms. The story is base on the military life of ZiLong. His enlistment as a recruit, how he won fame and became a general then it fast forwards to his last battle. No character development or even a story. This is strictly an action movie.

There have been many negative comments regarding costuming, especially how the armour look Japanese. I would say that most ancient armour look alike but in this case the producers have taken artistic license to up the "cool" factor for the armour. The 1st thing i noticed were the helmets, British "Tommy" Helmets and German "Fritz" helmets. Also noticed how the more peaceful guys had the Tommy helmets and the invading hordes the Fritz helmets.

My main complain, not only with this movie but the made in China "historical" epics is how it reeks of government propaganda. Divided nation/people and how sacrifices must be made of one self or of the people to achieve unity. Trust the leaders, the sacrifice is for the good of the nation.

Such an epic movie! It has beautiful battle scenes and the main character Zhao Zilong is just a beast and a half. Like seriously the mans blood is probably what was used to create steroids. Also Cao Ying played by Maggie Q is such a well done character and Maggie's portrayal was brilliant, not to mention that she is a gorgeous actress.

The movie has a great cast and a the action scenes and emotions are played out really well.

My ONLY criticism to the movie is a slightly weaker storyline. I'm not saying you won't enjoy it as I definitely did, I am just saying that they could have maybe had a slightly better and improved storyline as I felt the movie was a bit short.

China has been churning out historical war films like there's no tomorrow, and THREE KINGDOMS is yet another in a long line of similar lavish and stylish epics. This one's a co-production with South Korea and sees Andy Lau yet again playing a brave and loyal soldier who finds himself battling immense odds in ancient China.

THREE KINGDOMS certainly looks the part, with hulking battle sequences featuring huge armies massing and meeting on sweeping plains. The quality of the effects is such that you can't tell that some of these soldiers are CGI animations, like in LORD OF THE RINGS; who knows, maybe they aren't! The action choreography is slightly blurry, so that it's easy to miss crucial detail in the battle sequences, and there's a slight over-reliance on wirework, but for the most part this is a vicious, viscous piece of cinematography.

The storyline is equally interesting, with Andy Lau playing a guy who rises from the ranks to become a hero, and Sammo Hung supporting him in an atypical part of a cowardly man who also ends up rising high. Unfortunately, the viewer is also saddled with the overrated Maggie Q (NAKED WEAPON) playing a warrior queen; everything about her screams artifice and hollowness to me, but the good news is that she isn't given too much screen time. More dependable genre stalwarts like Ti Lung and Rongguang Yu are given meaty roles, however.

The first half of the film depicts a fairly typical rise-to-power type storyline, but the second half is much more interesting, with events skipping forward twenty years in the future and the outcome much more uncertain. In fact, it gets better as it goes on, featuring a climax that can only be described as epic in feel. THREE KINGDOMS might be easy to miss amid a welter of similar product, but it's certainly entertaining enough to reward the viewer's attention.