The Lost Bladesman

Set during the Three Kingdoms period of ancient China, The Lost Bladesman follows the celebrated warrior Guan Yunchang, who finds himself caught between two rival warlords. Cao Cao, the general who holds real power behind the Emperor, wants Guan's fighting skill for his campaign to unify the country, but Guan remains loyal to Cao Cao's enemy Liu Bei. To force his cooperation, Cao Cao seizes Guan's beloved Qilan. After Guan helps lead Cao Cao's troops to victory, he sets out with Qilan to return to Liu Bei, and the Emperor's forces are sent after him.

The 2011 film was directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, who also wrote the screenplay. It came after their earlier collaboration Overheard and before their subsequent work together on Overheard 2, and it sits within Mak's run of films that includes the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Initial D. Donnie Yen plays Guan Yunchang, with Jiang Wen as Cao Cao, Sun Li as Qilan, Alex Fong Chung-Sun as Liu Bei and Shao Bing as Zhang Liao. Made in Hong Kong and China, it took about 24 million dollars worldwide.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6 out of 10 from roughly 4,700 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.3 out of 10 from around 120 votes. A critics' rating of 6.2 out of 10 from seven reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a broadly similar middle-ground response across viewers and reviewers.