Deliberate anachronisms
The movie directors utilizes some intriguing and interesting technological and other anachronisms.
The movie takes place presumably at the height of the glorious Tang dynasty, some 1,200 years ago, when China was indisputably a world superpower alongside the other superpowers of Sassanid Persia and the Byzantine Empire. Yet the director introduces European-type flintlock handguns which existed in the later 17th to early 18th centuries. More, the three barreled handgun featured in the movie utilizes a kind of metallic cartridge ammunition that would appear in the mid-1900s. Also the Persian merchant who sold the contraband firearm speaks some English, most unusual since the English language did not exist 1,200 years ago. I love the funky Persian merchant. He's no doubt a spin-off of Johnny Depp's screwy pirate captain, Jack Sparrow.
The Persian merchant initially demands 10 Guan in payment for the three barreled pistol. We have no idea how much 10 Guan is worth, although the noodle shop owner's wife talks him down to 3 Guan. It all sounds pretty cheap until later in the movie, the noodle shop owner bribes a local policeman to engage in murder for 10 Guan, which he assures the policeman will support him nicely for several years. That's when we realize 10 Guan is a lot of money and probably worth the equivalent of 10,000 U.S. dollars.
Chinese culture of the Tang dynasty is admirably depicted in this movie for history buffs and fans of Chinese civilization. The Chinese of the Tang dynasty were in many ways much different than the Chinese of centuries later. They dressed in bright silk clothes. They thought, spoke, and acted differently. The Tang Chinese were far more exposed to foreigners than the Chinese of later, more introverted dynasties. The superpower Tang, like today's superpower America, was heavily engaged in international trade and commerce which brought many foreigners to its land.
The peculiar, unique Tang military/police costumes and armor are well depicted. The was little difference between being a military man and a police man in Tang China. Both were essentially the same. The military garb and armor of the Tang Chinese looks really scary and intimidating. The Tang military look evokes mental impressions of fascistic Romulan-type Asians.