A love triangle adds extra depth to the proceedings, with mournful looks exchanged between Jet Li, as ruthless career soldier General Pang, and Lian, his lady love, played by Xu Jinglei.

Set in 1870s' China, The Warlords (aka Tau Ming Chong) is a vivid recreation of a time of cruelty and brutality. It is both a lavish and sumptuous tale of honour and loyalty while simultaneously depicting a constant, never-ending war of attrition.

Pang and his blood brothers Zhao (Andy Lau) and Jiang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) ally themselves to help overthrow the deeply corrupt Qing imperial regime in an effort to establish a new China and aid the poor.

To do so they must seize power. To seize power they must join their enemy. Thus the three men enlist in the Qing army and form the Shan Regiment. Pang is its leader. But power and ambition darken Pang's motives and, soon, he swaps steadfastness for betrayal and nobility for murder.

Directed with élan by Peter Ho-Sun Chan, this is a rich and ambitious picture that plays to the strengths of its triumvirate of Asian leading men, always allowing them space to be heroic but without ever diluting the power offered by quiet moments and stillness.

Lau and Kaneshiro (both seen in House of Flying Daggers) make the leap to period authenticity with effortless ease. Theirs are complementary performances to the main attraction: a phenomenal, revelatory portrait by Jet Li as a man driven by something deep within that eventually morphs from goodness to cold aloofness and, finally, pure mercilessness.

Li sets aside his traditional (and accepted) heroic persona to play a committed, driven warrior who will stop at nothing to achieve peace. Bizarrely it has a Godfather feel as he kills all around him on his journey to what becomes the dark side.

This is acting on a level we have previously not witnessed simply because Li has never before been presented with the opportunity. Throw in some mammoth mêlées – not least the incredible staging of the battle of Suzhou, where good men die while generals wade through their blood – and this rapidly becomes the stuff of which classics are made.

On limited release