From Hong Kong action superstar Chow Yun-Fat and powerhouse director Wong Jing comes a story of the rise and fall of real-life gangster Cheng Daqi, spanning 30 tumultuous years in Shanghai. For Cheng, innocence and young love are shattered by circumstance, wrongful imprisonment, murder, and escape. He finds himself in the crime gangs of Shanghai and apprenticed to the local "tycoon" (Sammo Hung). As the years pass, Cheng rises to the upper echelons of power and finds himself torn between the love of two women, the murderous plots of the secret service, and the looming threat of war that may destroy the entire city.
