In 880s imperial China, the Tang dynasty court no longer had effective control of its empire, and the national capitalChang'an was sacked by Huang Chao's anti-government army. Li Keyong, a Shatuo chieftain loyal to the Tang cause, led his troops to suppress the rebellion. His 13 generals—essentially all adopted sons—helped expel Huang from Chang'an, although a rift between some of them became more and more apparent in the process. Following the victory, Li Keyong accepted an invitation for a banquet at military governor Zhu Wen's territory of Bianliang, unaware that it was a trap to assassinate him.
Some events in the film are loosely based on history, such as Li Keyong's troops expelling Huang Chao from Chang'an in the summer of 883, and Zhu Wen's failed assassination attempt of Li Keyong a year later that took the lives of Shi Jingsi and many others. However, many other events have been fictionalized. While Li Cunxiao did in fact have a strained relationship with Li Cunxin and Kang Junli and did die by dismemberment, he was actually the one who betrayed Li Keyong, who eventually executed him. Except for Kang who was killed by Li Keyong in relation to Li Cunxiao's death, no other general died from infighting. In history, Shi and Kang were not adopted sons of Li Keyong, hence their different surnames from the other generals, in fact Kang was Li Keyong's senior by 9 years. Li Cunjin was one of the oldest adopted sons, and both Li Cunxin and Li Cunshen were older than Li Siyuan, and quite possibly Li Sizhao and Li Cunzhang as well. Li Cunxu, a few dozen years younger than most of his adoptive brothers, was not even born in 883-884. Li Keyong was not created "Prince of Jin" until 895, a good 12 years after expelling Huang Chao from Chang'an. Zhu Wen was actually called the Xuanwu governor instead of the "Bianliang governor"—Bianliang being a much later name of Xuanwu's capital Bianzhou. The film got one detail right: according to historical records, Li Keyong had one eye smaller than the other.
Reception
gave The Heroic Ones four out of five stars, saying that although the film was "occasionally uneven in pace, nonetheless delivers spectacular action and earns its rep as a must-have." Far East Films remarked that it was a "worthwhile addition to anyone's collection though, but is not among Cheh's finest works". The film has experienced some success since its original release in 1970 and has been screened at the 2004 Melbourne International Film Festival.
