Best movies like Sable Cicada

The action-packed and captivating tale of Dee Renjie's beginnings in the Imperial police force. His very first case, investigating reports of a sea monster terrorizing the town, reveals a sinister conspiracy of treachery and betrayal, leading to the highest reaches of the Imperial family.

In this war drama, a brave reporter tries to remain detached while covering the war in Shanghai. While there, he falls for an ex-streetwalker, but must compete with a mercenary pilot for her love. By the end, the correspondent loses his objectivity after he helps the pilot save the woman from the enemy. The rescue costs the pilot his life.

A heroic tale of three blood brothers and their struggle in the midst of war and political upheaval. It is based on "The Assassination of Ma," a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) story about the killing of general Ma Xinyi.

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.

The story of Wilson Bond, a pimp who after saving Chan, the leader of the Heaven and Earth society, a revolutionary group, is made a member. After a botched first assignment for the group, he is made a servant to the Prince, the very person the Heaven and Earth society want to overthrow. What follows is plenty of mayhem and laughter.

An American missionary is gradually seduced by a courtly warlord holding her in Shanghai.

During China's Tang dynasty the emperor has taken the princess of a neighboring province as his wife. She has borne him two sons and raised his eldest. Now his control over his dominion is complete, including the royal family itself.

In 9th century China, a corrupt government wages war against a rebel army called the Flying Daggers. A romantic warrior breaks a beautiful rebel out of prison to help her rejoin her fellows, but things are not what they seem.

China's first President Sun Yat-Sen and military commander Huang Xing lead the revolutionary Wuchang Uprising in a bid to put an end to the reign of the Qing Dynasty.

When the future empress Wu Zetian's two courtiers die in a mysterious fire, she gets Di Renjie, a former detective and rebel, released from prison to solve the mystery of the fire.

In the turbulent late Eastern Han Dynasty. Ambitious Dong Zhuo controls the court and the commonalty, and heroes from all over the country begin to rise.

Huo Yuan Jia became the most famous martial arts fighter in all of China at the turn of the 20th Century. Huo faced personal tragedy but ultimately fought his way out of darkness, defining the true spirit of martial arts and also inspiring his nation. The son of a great fighter who didn't wish for his child to follow in his footsteps, Huo resolves to teach himself how to fight - and win.

Based on the classic Chinese novel "Jin Ping Mei," written during the Ming Dynasty. The novel itself is the first full length Chinese fictional work to depict sexuality in explicit manner. The movie (as well as novel) takes place during 1111-1127 and centers around Ximen Quing, a corrupt social climber and lustful merchant who is wealthy enough to marry a consort of wives and concubines.

In eighth century China, the Emperor is grieving over the death of his wife. The Yang family wants to provide the Emperor with a consort so that they may consolidate their influence over the court. General An Lushan finds a distant relative working in their kitchen whom they groom to present to the Emperor. The Emperor falls in love with her and she becomes the Princess Yang Kwei-fei. The Yangs are then appointed important ministers, though An Lushan is not given the court position he covets. The ministers misuse their power so much that there is a popular revolt against the Yangs, fueled by An Lushan.

A dramatic history of Puyi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

During the reign of King Zhou, an official enters his bedchamber, and is devoured by the monstrous tails of Daji, his concubine. Outside their city, several warriors within a metal wagon discuss their strategies to free the Invisible People and their Chief, when Jiang Ziya appears to them. He tells them that when King Zhou was younger, he let himself become possessed by the Black Dragon for his quest for power.

During the warring period of the three kingdoms, ancient China is in turmoil. To unify the country, general Cao Cao, the real power behind the Emperor, enlists the aid of the greatest warrior in the land, Guan Yu. However, Guan Yu is a loyal friend of Cao Cao's enemy Liu Bei so to persuade the peerless warrior to fight, Cao Cao takes his beloved Qi Lan hostage. After leading Cao Cao's forces to victory Guan Yu sets out with Qi Lan to rejoin Liu Bei. Now Cao Cao has deemed him too great a threat to live, and on the journey he must face all the forces at the Emperor's command sent to destroy him.

Painted Skin is based on one of Pu Songling's classic short stories in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Zhou Xun stars as Xiao Wei, a fox spirit that feasts on human hearts in order to maintain her lovely, youthful appearance. When General Wang Sheng (Chen Kun) 'rescues' her from a band of bandits and brings her home, trouble brews as the demon falls in love with the general.

When a rival nation sends troops to invade the Song Dynasty, the emperor sends general Yang Ye (Adam Cheng) to defend the nation. However, Yang's place in the court is shaky due to a feud with Pan Renmei caused by the accidental death of his son at the hands of one of Yang's sons. At the battle, Yang is abandoned by Pan's troops, leaving him trapped in the face of an attack by Yeli Yuan (Shao Bing), an enemy general who wants to kill Yang to avenge his father. After learning about their father's predicament, Yang Ye's seven sons set out to rescue their father at any cost.

Yang Zirong disguises himself as a bandit to infiltrate and destroy a bandit group. He joins hands with a hostage, and together, they fight against the warlord, Hawk.

The battle of Red Cliff continues and the alliance between Xu and East Wu is fracturing. With Cao Cao's massive forces on their doorstep, will the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu survive?

Casanova, a young patriot in 18th-century Sicily, upon learning that his father and sister have been murdered, returns to Palermo and engages in guerilla tactics against the forces of the Governor. Lady Bianca, the Governor's daughter, is in love with one of the patriots, Lorenzo, and desires to escape from the palace. Her lady-in-waiting, Zanetta, enlists the aid of Casanova and he rescues them and takes them to the partisan's camp. The rebels are victorious. Lady Bianca makes plans to marry Lorenzo, and Casanova and Zanetta have similar plans.

Near the beginning of the Tang dynasty, in 7th century China, General Shi Yan-sheng is tricked into leaving the crown prince unguarded. The crown prince is murdered by one of his brothers who then becomes emperor. Shi retreats to a monastery, perhaps to hide, perhaps to plan a coup. When his loyal troops as well as the princess he desires are slain, he seeks refuge in a remote, abandoned monastery where an aged abbot schools him with practical, earthy teachings. The emperor's forces pursue Shi: first a woman, then a general seek to overpower him with lust and might. Over the course of the film, the reds of battle give way to blues of meditation.

Based on a popular swordplay novel, this colorful and complex saga (whose Chinese title literally translates into the poetic Meteor, Butterfly, Sword) has enough conspiracies, stratagems, and sword fights to fascinate even novice kung-fu cinema viewers. The cast of Shaw Brothers' leading swordsmen and swordswomen are masterfully staged by Yuen Cheung-yan, the brother of Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. The result is both a great action movie and an exceptional dramatic film.

Lee Khan, a high official under Mongolian Emperor Yuan of the Yuan dynasty procures the battle map of the Chinese rebel Chu Yuan-Chang's army. Rebel spies, aided by treachery within Khan's ranks, strive to corner him in an inn.

The emperor's reign of terror expands. Heroic outlaw Ma Teng joins a squad of female rebels, whose leader is torn between family loyalties.

Young men, angered by the repressive and corrupt Ching government, come to the Shaolin Temple to study. Fearing that the Shaolin Temple is a harbor for rebels wanting to overthrow the government, the Ching Emperor Yungzheng kills the monks wherever he can find them. After the Emperor orders the destruction of the Shaolin Temple, his name becomes the most feared and hated in China. After years of struggling, the surviving Shaolin disciples, led by Carter Wong, move to assassinate the Emperor. This epic tale of Manchu China has all the scope and action you'd expect from Hong Kong master Joseph Kuo.

The aging Zhao embarks on his final and greatest campaign, a road to adventure that will crown his name in glory for all time.

The story is based on the popular novel developed from folk legend. It goes that the Manchurian emperor Qianlong of China (circa 18th Century) was actually the son of a Han Chinese, the subject ethnicity. His brother of blood, Chen Jialuo just happened to be the chief of the Red Flower Society, an anti-Manchu secret society. Chen, a learned scholar, thought he could get his brother turn his back on the Manchu and restore the Han Chinese reign. But the story was ended by brutal clearence of the society members. It reflects one of the dark pages in Chinese culture, that ethics and humanity always become impotent when countered with power.

Warlord Yu Ming gained great power for himself. Anyone he suspected of disloyalty was jailed or murdered. He himself was a notorious killer, having personally betrayed his friend General Yip and then slaughtered his entire family. But the General's son escaped to tell the tale, and spent a lifetime learning all the martial arts, with the sole aim of one day killing his evil enemy Yu Ming. Only first he must lure him away from his private army of thugs and gangster.

Perhaps the most notorious concubine in Chinese history, Yang Guifei set a pudgy standard of beauty in her days of glory during the Tang dynasty. The Emperor Minghuang was so besotted with the woman that when An Lushan stages his rebellion against the empire, the ruler takes Yang Guifei along with his imperial entourage in an escape to the mountainous area of modern-day Sichuan, and sanctuary of sorts. But the concubine had roused the jealousy of the court and unfortunately for her and to the great sorrow of the king, her brother and others among the king's retainers demanded she be strangled to death while they were still in the mountains. This is the story told in this interesting Taiwanese adaptation by director Li Han-hsiang (Li Hanxiang).

The Mad Empress is a 1939 American historical drama film depicting the 3-year reign of Maximilian I of Mexico and his struggles against Benito Juarez.

Admist a rebellion during the Ching Dynasty in ancient China, a nurse flees the palace with a young prince. As an adult, he convinces the daughter of the usurper to betray her father and to assist in restoring him as the rightful monarch.

Based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Diau Charn is a sublime retelling of a familiar tale with iconic actress Linda Lin Dai (Lam Doi) in the titular role of Diau Charn, one of the four storied beauties of ancient China.

Beyond the Great Wall is a true story based on how Wang Chao-chun sacrificed her love and life for the good of the Chinese people during war time fears between China and the Huns.