War (2007 film)
War | |
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Directed by | Philip G. Atwell |
Written by | Lee Anthony Smith Gregory J. Bradley |
Produced by | Steve Chasman Christopher Petzel Jim Thompson |
Starring | Jet Li Jason Statham Terry Chen John Lone Devon Aoki Andrea Roth Sung Kang Ryo Ishibashi |
Cinematography | Pierre Morel |
Edited by | Scott Richter |
Music by | Brian Tyler |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
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Running time | 103 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | English Cantonese Japanese Mandarin |
Budget | $25 million[1] |
Box office | $40,452,643[2] |
War is a 2007 American action film directed by Philip G. Atwell his directorial debut, and also fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film stars Jet Li and Jason Statham. The film was released in the United States on August 24, 2007. War features a collaboration between Jet Li and Jason Statham, reuniting them for the first time since 2001's The One. Jason 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.
Plot
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 run by the Yakuza by killing one guard and the runners in order to recover a pair of antique gold horses, family heirlooms of 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 Chang and Yanagawa. Rogue succeeds in betraying Chang, but spares 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 Yanagawa with proof that Rogue has betrayed him and spared Chang's family, but Yanagawa refuses to assist Crawford in locating Rogue.
Later, Rogue delivers the horses to Yanagawa personally. Knowing of Rogue's betrayal, Yanagawa captures Rogue and demands the location of Chang's family. Rogue kills all of Yanagawa's men, and engages in a sword fight against Yanagawa himself. Rogue reveals that he is actually FBI agent Tom Lone (who, after undergoing 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 Tom Lone's identity and home address to the real Rogue. Angered, Rogue/Lone disarms and decapitates Yanagawa.
Meanwhile Chang's wife receives a package from Rogue/Lone, containing one of the two 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. Rogue/Lone then calls Crawford as he is packing up his office, asking 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 that aided Crawford throughout the investigation.
At the warehouse, Crawford and Rogue/Lone battle each other in an intense hand-to-hand fight in which Crawford eventually has the upper hand and rogue mumbles to Crawford in his blood to stop. When Rogue/Lone reveals his true identity, a devastated Crawford reveals his employment of Yanagawa and that he only gave Lone's address to Yanagawa 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 Rogue/Lone, finalizing his identity as Rogue. As Rogue/Lone takes out a gun to shoot Crawford, Goi takes aim at Rogue/Lone, and Crawford jumps in Goi's line of fire, allowing Rogue/Lone to shoot Crawford in the back and later driving out of town to start a new life.
Box office and critical reception
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 received negative reviews from critics. has a 14% rating on the film rating website Rotten Tomatoes.
Cast
- Jet Li as Rogue
- Jason Statham as John Crawford
- Terry Chen as Tom Lone
- John Lone as Li Chang
- Mathew St. Patrick as Wick
- Sung Kang as Goi
- Luis Guzmán as Benny
- Devon Aoki as Kira Yanagawa
- Ryo Ishibashi as Shiro Yanagawa
- Mark Cheng as Wu Ti
- Nicholas Elia - Daniel Crawford
- Nadine Velazquez as Maria Chang
- Kennedy Lauren Montano as Ana Chang
- Steph Song as Diane Lone
- Andrea Roth as Jenny Crawford
- Angela Fong as Kabuki Dancer
- Kane Kosugi as Temple Garden Warrior
- Dario Delacio as Mahjong Player
Soundtrack
Untitled | |
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The soundtrack was composed by Brian Tyler. The additional music is by RZA, Mark Batson and Machines of Loving Grace.
- "Spyked" – 2:31
- "War Opening Titles" – 5:05
- "Confession" – 3:05
- "Rooftop Pursuit" – 1:44
- "Whips" – 2:14
- "Swordfight" – 5:16
- RZA – "Rogue Cleans Da Hizouse" – 2:15
- "Getting Started / Scene of the Crime" – 2:51
- Mark Batson – "The Set Up / Mr. Chang Sends Regards" – 2:36
- "Shiro Comes to Town" – 3:55
- "Bangkok Downtown" – 2:18
- "This Isn't Japan" – 2:16
- "Cop Hunting / Face to Face" – 2:42
- Mark Batson – "Compliments of Mr. Chang" – 0:36
- "Rogue's Revenge" – 1:09
- "Showdown" – 2:49
- "Plans for Retaliation" – 4:00
- "Watching the Changes" – 0:45
- "Shiro's Estate" – 2:33
- "War End Credits" – 5:31
- Machines of Loving Grace – " King" – 4:04
- "War Opening Titles (Remix)" – 4:54
References
- ^ "Movie War". The Numbers. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ a b "WAR". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ Rudkin, Francesca (2008-02-14). "Rogue Assassin". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "Movie War - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- Official website
- War at IMDb
- War at AllMovie
- War at Box Office Mojo
- War at Rotten Tomatoes
- War original soundtrack at SoundtrackCollector.com