Promotional material for Warriors of Future Photo: Courtesy of Douban

'Warriors of Future': Sci-fi mech story draws on China's most famous myths

From the recent released animated film Rainbow Sea Fly High to the domestic hit Mozart from Space, which explores the relationship between music and the universe, Chinese directors have been focusing their lens on discussions about futuristic worlds.

Set to hit the big screen on August 5, Hong Kong film Warriors of Future is being marketed as China's first hard sci-fi mech movie.

The story is set in a future time when human beings are paying the price for years of environmental destruction. One day, a meteorite hits the Earth, bringing with it the extremely lethal alien plant known as Pandora, which starts to devour all it encounters and endanger life on Earth. The two main characters Tai Lai and Zheng Chongsheng must lead a mech team to defend Earth from Pandora. Yet a mysterious conspiracy may hinder their efforts. 

In the newest trailer released on social media on Tuesday, futuristic mechs named after mythological figures such as Xingtian and Qiongqi captured viewers' attention.

The mech names originated from the ancient book The Classic of Mountains and Seas, a treasure trove of information about mythical figures, rituals and natural history.

According to myth, the deity Xingtian lost his head in battle. Not willing to give up, he uses his nipples as eyes and his bellybutton as a mouth to continue to fight with a shield in one hand and a battle axe in the other.

The movie also names a mech after Qiongqi, a mythical demonic beast. The beast was said to have been exiled by the Emperor Shun for breaking faith and loyalty. It was described as looking like a tiger with a pair of wings.

The movie studio worked with the special effects team for the Chinese sci-fi blockbuster Wandering Earth. According to reports, the films budget is $HK 450 million ($58 million). 

Directed by Hong Kong visual effects master Ng Yuen, the movie stars Louis Koo, Sean Lau and Carina Lau.

With its rare genre, Warriors of Future currently ranks second on the Highest Anticipated Movies list on Chinese movie ticketing platform Taopiaopiao.

Global Times