Xiang83

You are welcome :) This movie will be amazing. Definitely old-school action, and no over-usage of filters which plagues too many C-dramas.

If you want more information and/or BTS, I've shared more details in a few replies to other excited readers.

I've added more details in a few replies to comments here, so go check those out if you want to see BTS and more :)

None of the Four Dragons are in this movie. This is definitely old-school wuxia. And Nicholas Tse has come a long way from his Gen-X Cops days. In Raging Fire, here is one of his compelling fight scenes utilising nifty nasty knifework (of course in cantonese, and it's not yet the exchange mentioned in the article as a showdown with Donnie Yen):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy09ux5pJDQ

There's an animation version of more than 12 episodes from the manhwa produced by Tencent. Have you seen that?

I've replied to a few comments here with more details of the movie and what some stars said, including links to BTS. If you could read what's available in Mandarin, a lot of wuxia fans of all ages plus older Chinese viewers are very stoked for this production because it might be the only one of its kind, given the ages of the older martial arts legends involved. hk01.com has multiple articles for this movie, as one example. And since the younger stars are also reputed to be faithfully carrying on their traditions in training and devotion, bruises and all- It's a CNY must-see!

You're welcome! Ever since I translated part of one article for this upcoming wuxia epic 9 days ago, I thought why not put together an article on MDL, which would be easy for me to do? Websites such as hk01.com are full of enthusiasm, with the likes of "国际武打巨星 “功夫皇帝” 李连杰多年未有主演新戏，目前最后一部主演作品《镖人：风起大漠》由袁和平执导，与吴京、谢霆锋合作主演，早前电影推出预告片段并宣布将于内地贺岁新春档期上映，让影迷观众极为期待!"

This is Yuen Woo-ping's dream. It was originally supposed to be billed as "the reunion of the three great masters" of Jet Li, Wu Jing and Nicholas Tse.

Jet Li signed on because our beloved 八爷 is already 80-years-old and told Jet Li he wanted to make one more movie, plus Wu Jing also told Jet Li he wanted to produce this movie. The rest is history.

How can I not do something for all of them? The trailer was also super-inspiring.

Here is 13 seconds of group dynamics comprising allies in one carriage together, late at night 😆😆😆😆😆: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1yu6jBQEgh/

And everyone is in this BTS compilation (Wu Jing, Jet Li, Nicholas Tse, Sean as Zhi Shi Lang, Yushi, Ci Sha, Chen Li Jun, Li Yun Xiao, Kara Wai, Jun, Win Win, etc) : https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1sqkeB5EBd/

[ Maybe I'll do a historical costume J-drama as a second article. There's an epic one airing on 15 February which was produced by WOWOW partnering Lemino (https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/627593) based on Kitakata Kenzō's multi-volume reinterpretation of "Water Margin", for which the writer won the prestigious 2006 Shiba Ryōtarō literary prize.

No English subs for the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhDdI0px43A ]

Here's a great introduction summary as a short on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3jhbl4oHixA

Does Shui Duopo count? XD

He's an interesting chap in the novel. In this drama, he's half-mad due to various reasons.

The animation style has the early vibes of Samurai 7 with a touch of Peacemaker Kurogane, very enjoyable!

I wanted to expand on the veterans we are familiar with, since I'm sure there are viewers who feel left out without any articles touching on what they know. I couldn't fit in more about the amazing Kara Wai Ying Hung in this movie (she debuted on-screen earlier than Michelle Yeoh), whose dedication to her work as an artist is totally mind-blowing. She didn't know wushu, but she promptly threw herself into everything necessary to be convincing. She has starred in roughly 100 action-related movies, and she has also won awards.

All that dedication earned her a broken nose, fractures and other injuries to her cheekbones, eye socket bones, etc. She had to undergo cosmetic surgery to sort out those injuries. I only have deep respect and utmost admiration for her, just like many fans of Shaw Brother movies where everyone always suffered wince-worthy injuries in those days. One of her chest bones was fractured from a kick-in. Her left leg didn't heal well due to suffering a meniscal tear and hence re-aggravating an old injury after doing a specific kick in the movie "Wuxia" at the age of 49, so she couldn't do a movie that Simon Yam wanted her to be in.

Here's a summarised video of her earlier efforts including where she's had stitches on multiple areas of her face (89 stitches at least in total, if I remember correctly), and shows off her action chops in her earlier works: https://m.weibo.cn/status/5260462992395062#&video

65-year-old Kara Wai praised all younger actors and actresses in this movie for working as hard as the veteran stars did in the early days, with best efforts: https://www.yzwb.net/news/wy/202601/t20260127_315765.html

Nicholas Tse said he put in 200%, and it definitely looks to be paying off! I'm keen to see him squaring off against Wu Jing in the cinema!

Thank you for this article, Lily Alice! Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Tan Jianci's styling is very on-point XD: https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:5258910748311557

Lu Yuxiao's styling is beautiful, and filmed scenes from today (30 January) include nearly getting something in her face: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5260878524191746

Given how hard everyone has worked for this, a lot of wuxia fans are excited! I'm looking forward to the action stars I grew up with duking it out, and seeing how they win or draw. Wu Jing fighting Jet Li is definitely something I am anticipating. And Zhang Jin! Plus Tony Leung Ka Fai!

Cinemas in USA will also air this film on 17 February.

The gals also worked very hard. From the weibo buzz, Chen Li Jun's appearances will be noteworthy (I'm intentionally keeping quiet about the other two ladies plus one awesome guest female star): https://kisskh.at/767811-blades-of-the-guardians#comment-25003288

I'm not familiar with Win Win or Jun, but I respect everyone who has a main role, supporting role or guest role in this film. Yuen Woo Ping is very old-school when helming a movie. Sore muscles and bruises are the minimum medals in finishing a film of his XD

When Yuen Woo Ping is in the driver's seat and he also controls all the gear sticks, only the truly-dedicated will survive and excel in his films. He's very old-school. I automatically respect anybody who has a main role, supporting role or special role in this movie.

Chen Li Jun really has my admiration. From the weibo buzz, you can see snippets of how hard she trained and a bit of her action sequences:

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5255776056904280

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5256793382978787

https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5258887678921157

Glad to have collaborated with you, which made this more fun!

Those of us who are seasoned C-Ent watchers also familiar with wuxia artists will always focus on the details that matter. CGI and stunt training cannot fool us as to whether an artist knows martial arts or not. I admire artists who are physically able and willing to go through intensive stunt training despite no martial arts background, to make their work in a drama or movie as convincing as possible.

Trolls who know nothing will talk trash and focus on gossip and if you see that kind of rubbish, I advise ignoring their noise pollution :)

I'm glad you enjoyed the just-published MDL article about this movie: https://news.mydramalist.com/article/cinematic-wuxia-epic-blades-of-the-guardians-premieres-on-february-17

We're all excited! I'm sure the veterans and newer stars are going to bring surprises!

You're going to have to find a way for me to have more time to prepare articles like this XD

The lovely Cryssy Anne was also very helpful, in collaborating with me.

You're welcome :) Yuen Woo Ping's career spans more than six decades, whereby he has directed at least fifty films. This might be his final film as a director, so it takes on special significance, especially when we only have two dragons left after both Bruces passed away (Lee and Leung).

Well Go USA has secured North American distribution rights, so they get to host the official trailer with English subs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYJ2C8tmS1s

That's an interesting article. Thank you for sharing!

Official Trailer for Suikoden (Water Margin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhDdI0px43A

Tang Lici parallels Qi Sizhe FMV: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5253930380428942

And fans continue celebrating SLY's successes: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5257623892921685

Yes, the Monomax 1-billion-views milestone #1 in Thailand for 2025 C-dramas banner: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5254387241853568

I'll catch up with DramFun and the rest of you in February when I can set aside a few days to watch the third time XD

“人生要不断调整心态，在变化中游刃有余，看透它的同时保持初心，不要觉得自己多了不起，不要看不起身边每一个人，我相信真诚会彼此回馈，这就是我的成长” -罗云熙 ( https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5257287270664445 )

Archive Of Our Own is chockful of YanLi fics in mandarin XD