The Storm Riders (1998)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Touches You

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This is a very impressive movie, if only for the special effects. Everything else about it though make it a very poor Hong Kong movie. It is probably a very good movie, and in fact deals with struggles within the main characters, Cloud and Wind, but the two main problems are that the subtitles were really bad and the movie followed a series of comic books, so it is a little difficult to understand some of it as the background is not there.Basically the movie is about two young warriors, Cloud and Wind, whose fathers are killed by the leader of the a great martial arts clan whose master wishes to become the most powerful martial artist in the world. Unfortunately he cannot because he must wait ten years to fight an even more powerful martial artist, but during that time he trains the two boys, plus Frost, a third one, to make a martial arts triad.There are lots of little turns in the plot of this movie which would be much better if the subtitles could be read. Unfortunately I cannot explain them because of the difficulty in understanding the dialogue. For the fights and the special effects then the movie is great, but from watching what I could of the plot one can see an even deeper level with developing characters. In fact the characters are meant to be the heroes, but they are in league with the bad guy, so they must first overcome their loyalty to him.The main comment that I wish to make about this movie is that I see it as the movie that Mortal Kombat should have been. The effects are probably just as good, but the way in which they are used are much better (especially the fist scenes). The plot is also superior (if I could understand it).

I bought a DVD of this from a second hand shop because it referred to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on the box. This is just as lush looking, but the story is from another planet. It's all well acted and brilliantly directed and all that, and the settings are epic and beautiful, but the script has the shudder inducing obviousness of an internet fantasy parody. The fight sequences are strangely detached, and some nice special effects (such as a bamboo walkway rising up and attacking a character) are almost lost in the twitchy editing. Even more distracting is the fact that the character Cloud has a nineteen eighties hair colouring job that kills any sense of exoticism. Actually, as I write this it occurs to me that this might be aimed at children and the UK DVD has been clumsily packaged for an adult market. Anyhow, despite all this criticism, it is a fun DVD for idle minds. Try watching this with vodka, and making farting noises every time someone says "Wind" (it's the name of one of the characters). For the full effect, I recommend the director's cut. My DVD includes this and the international version, which besides being a great deal shorter, is dubbed, which kills it. Deranged, but joyous.

I saw the DVD of this movie in a local HMV store and on the cover it said that it outsold 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' in Hong Kong. I read the back and it sounded very interesting. The DVD contained 2 discs - the international version and the Director's cut. I opted for the Director's cut as I like to see films the way the Director intended.So, I bought it, sat back and pressed play. I was absolutely amazed - the story was fascinating, steeped in Eastern mysticism, the acting was superb (especially Aaron Kowk as Cloud and Ekin Cheng as Wind, the two principal leads) and the special effects were mind blowing. I won't give the story away and to be honest, the plot wouldn't do justice to the way the film's made and how entertaining it really is. Ideas are thrown in one after the other, Lau's direction is assured and there are set pieces which defy belief (for example, when Wind is fighting the fire dragon in the cave).It's simple, if you have a chance to see this, then watch it. Watch the Director's version though - the International version is many minutes shorter and badly dubbed.

I had heard a lot of good things about this movie, so when I saw the double DVD version for a tenner I couldn't help but purchase the merchandise.After a good study of the pack I couldn't help wonder why they bothered releasing it as a double because, quite frankly, disk two isn't worth watching. Disk one contains the original 2hr+ release, in original language plus subtitles, widescreen format and a few decent goodies. Disk 2 contains the dubbed version, a pretty poor pan and scan (it cant do justice to the explosive visuals) and no extras. The only time it ever comes in handy is with mates (or my girlfriend) who cant watch subtitles at any cost. But watching this version leaves them just as confused as many plot points and fight scenes are hacked out. It is more than a little annoying that the disk one version doesn't allow you to change the aspect ratio or choose between dub or subs. If you had these options you could do away with the second disk entirely.As far as the film is concerned (the full version not the butchered edit), I cant remember a more enjoyable film. It really is a spectacle at times, people fly around and summon balls of energy and the sword saint showdown is ingenious. The story is coherent, and mostly makes sense. It bounces along at a fair pace and never really gets boring. The main players are decent enough. Cloud is the better of the two leads, his brooding performance really lends well to the character, whereas Wind comes off as a bit of a wimp (although he is anything but). Sonny Chiba is kick arse as Lord Conquer, giving real menacing performance of the strongest martial arts master in the world.The special effects are amazing, a real visual treat. The actors are quite convincing when they interact with the CGI. The score is also pretty good. The traditional music of the genre is replaced with something a bit more up tempo as befits a film of this speed and modernity. And the 5.1 sound is pretty good to. It gives the old sub a right rattling and the effects fly around all over the shop.Overall, I really enjoyed 'The Stormriders'. Shakespeare it aint, obviously, but it is so fast paced and visually enthralling that you cant help but succumb to its charms. The extras are pretty good, a FX documentary and a making of, both of which are entertaining and fairly informative. Like I say, stick with disk one As far as the Wu Xia Pan genre is concerned this is right up there.