To say that Tony Ching's martial arts epic An Empress And The Warriors drew a lukewarm critical response is being kind, reviews from both The Visitor and Stefan in these pages being strongly negative. I actually enjoyed this one significantly more than either of those two and the film is certainly not without its fans and if you're one of those who likes their martial arts action old-school then it's certainly worth noting that the film is about to arrive in an English friendly, region free DVD edition in Hong Kong.

Now, when I say old school for this film I mean it. Though blessed with a lavish budget and impressive production design the film is directed by Tony Ching, a legendary fight choreographer most recently known for his work on Zhang Yimou's Hero and House of Flying Daggers though his resume stretches back much farther than that. Ching shoots his film very much in the old style - complete with over the top soap opera melodramatics - and he's got one of the best screen fighters in the biz - Donnie Yen - to work with here. Take it as a throwback with the actors playing to certain stock types and you'll have a good time with it and, if nothing else, the martial arts and set design - particularly Leon Lai's hidden tree fort refuge - are fantastic. You'll find trailers below the break.