Veteran Hong Kong director Tony Siu-Tung Ching (director of A Chinese Ghost Story and the Swordsman trilogy and action choreographer for Curse Of The Golden Flower, Hero and House Of Flying Daggers) makes a partial return to form with the epic, An Empress and the Warriors (Kong saan mei yan), starring Donnie Yen, Kelly Chen and Leon Lai.

Set during China's Warring States period, the film tells the story of Yan Feier (Kelly Chen), the daughter and only heir of the ruler of the Kingdom of Yan, who, following her father's untimely death, reluctantly inherits the throne. With the kingdom currently at war with the neighbouring Zhao warriors, Feier finds herself ill-prepared to lead her people and turns for assistance to her childhood friend and her father's most trusted general, Muyong (Donnie Yen), who harbours a secret love for his newly-appointed empress. Meanwhile, incensed that he has been overlooked by his former king, Feier's envious cousin, Wu Ba (Guo Xiaodong), plots to kill her and take the throne for himself even if it means initiating a civil war between his troops and those loyal to the empress.

When Feier is attacked and poisoned during a failed assassination attempt on her life, she is rescued and nursed back to health by a forest hermit, Duan Lanquan (Leon Lai), and the two soon fall in love. But with her kingdom in crisis, Feier is forced to resist her passion and return to fight her enemies alongside her devoted friend, Muyong, and to assume her rightful place as the leader of the Yan nation. Boasting epic battle sequences and visually striking action set-pieces, the film has nontheless met with a mixed reaction so far, the general opinion being that it's a bit of a mess that the highs are nonetheless well worth the required patience to get to.

An Empress and the Warriors will be released on UK DVD (£15.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99) by Cine Asia on 23rd March 2009. Special Features include a making-of featurette and a theatrical trailer. Both Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo soundtracks will be included