This includes the portrayal of a masculine, harsh way of life and culture of honour at the frontier of civilization; but also the depiction of a rugged, majestic landscape (captured to great effect by cinematographer Cao Yu) that becomes a star of the film.

The film was inspired by the Wild Yak Brigade, a real-life volunteer group that patrolled the Tibetan Plateau during the 1990s, and events that took place between 1993 and 1996.

[1] The film opens with the summary execution of a patrol member by poachers and then follows, in quasi-documentary style, reporter Ga Yu (played by Zhang Lei) who is sent from Beijing to investigate.

In Kekexili he meets Ritai (played by Tibetan actor Tobgyal, or Duo Bujie (多布杰) in Mandarin) at the Sky burial of the deceased patrol member.

Ritai is the leader of the vigilantes who, despite poverty and the lack of any government support, roam the land to protect the endangered Tibetan antelope from extinction.

They release the poachers and send one of the cars, driven by Liu Dong (played by Qi Liang), back with the injured and sick team members to the hospital.

This led the Chinese government to offer much-delayed support to the protection of local species, and played a large part in the proposal of the Tibetan antelope as a candidate for official mascot of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The website's critical consensus reads, "In a setting both visually stunning and cruel, this Eastern film evokes the epic spirit of old-fashioned Westerns.