The Storm Riders (1998)

Very Cool!!!

A different way of telling a story

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Amazing special effects!Good plot, for a martial-arts movie.For those of you:(A) Haven't read the Storm Riders comics, but love martial-arts movies, YOU WILL LOVE IT(B) Read the Storm Riders comics, YOU WILL LIKE IT(C) Don't like martial-arts movies, skip this one, unless you want to see the amazing special effectsFor (A) people, buy the books, you won't regret. There is a special discount of 75% at comics one.

What a martial arts movie! Good acting, great special effects and charismatic characters. The martial arts sequences were beautifully shot, indoors as well as out of doors.The plot is a little hazy, at least as to why Cloud would be a student under the man who killed his father; however, he has the appropriate amount of angst, so it is easily ignored. In my opinion, the Cassandra-like character, Mud-Buddha, is the most compelling. Like Cassandra, he misused his gift of prophecy; however, unlike Cassandra, he was stricken with running sores.Sonny Chiba was sufficiently intense in this movie. I've seen a great many of his movies and this is not his best performance; however, I don't think that he was meant to overpower the special effects anyway. I find it interesting that, if I hadn't known beforehand, I never would've guessed that the man on the screen behind the beard was Chiba...Anyone who liked Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon would enjoy this movie. If you like the older martial arts flicks, this one should also be a joy to watch. I give it a nine out of ten...

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.

When I first saw the box for The Stormriders, I had never heard of the comics, let alone the film. But given that this is one of the biggest films, Hong Kong had ever made, I had to watch it for myself.I was, it has to be said, very pleasantly surprised. The storyline was a bit dark (possibly one might say it could have been darker to give it a bit more depth), and some of the martial arts action were brilliantly choreographed. The characters were on the whole well built giving the whole movie an edge.However, the main weakness of the film has to be the discontinuity in many places in the film. It does feel, even with the Directors' Cut, version that I saw, there was too much edited out of the film and it left you slightly disoriented at times. I can't begin to imagine what the International Version must be like as it has some 40 minutes taken out of it.But credit has to be given to the graphics team behind the special effects. They were all discreetly put together into the film, such that it added to the film rather than the film depending on it. The film is already some four years old as I write this, and it seems to not have aged at all.Overall, it is a good film to watch. The box also mentions that it's Final Fantasy HK Style, and though I'd say the story itself might not make a great Final Fantasy game, the SFX do give it that feel. The film isn't perfect, but I have to give it full marks have for effort.