The very first feeling I had in watching the film, was its resemblance to David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, through its lead character having a dark past and being forced confront it. While it certainly has those plot elements, there’s still something incredibly unique and satisfying about a kung fu film drawing strong elements like these. From past sins coming to haunt us, to the sins of the father falling unto the son, truly helps Dragon soar much higher than things like The Four, Kill Em’ All and Legendary Amazons, films that are pretty action packed, but lack any serious amount of substance. There are only a few fight scenes, but each of them are so memorable and well choreographed, that you can’t help but feel invigorated and excited as each of them unfold.

Donnie Yen is always a sight to see, especially when he’s utilizing his impressive triple kick, puts on a solid display of acting chops in Dragon. While it would seem easy for one to feel sad when Yen begins to reveal some of his tragic past, but its in the subtlety in his performance and nuances in the small intimate moments that feel so genuine and earnest that make Liu Jin-xi feel all the more real. Takeshi Kaneshiro trades in his typical heart throb looks, to play the nerdy policeman with high morals, to bring us a character that has an unwavering sense of honor and duty. The character is a very nice departure for Kaneshiro and maintains a solid character arc and brings to the film a fantastic supporting character that is just as engaging as Yen’s. There’s also a surprise cameo from Jimmy Wang Yu, who manages to bring a presence unlike any other and should excite fans of his classic films, like Master of the Flying Guillotine and The One-Armed Swordsman.

The Blu-Ray for Dragon from Anchor Bay Entertainment is a pretty solid presentation on all fronts. The video is done in an AVC encoded, 1080p HD track, with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. All of the visuals in the film are crisp, clear and look magnificent on Blu-Ray. The cinematography was handled by two people, Yiu-Lai Fai, whose shot the amazing Infernal Affairs and Jake Pollock. From high frame rate action scenes, to the serene and tranquil locations near the local village, just about every single aspect of the film does an amazing job at incorporating visual elements that make the film better. The audio is presented in an 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track in Mandarin, with English subtitles. The mix sounds absolutely fantastic, with a solid presentation during the action sequences and some pretty impressive low end. The disc for Dragon is really light on extra features and only contains a short 20 minute making of and a music video for the film. While the behind the scenes is very informative, it was over too soon and really left me wanting more to know about how Peter Chan and Donnie Yen made this film a realization.

While there have been films like Tai Chi Zero and stuff like The Raid: Redemption to get fans pumped, Dragon is an offering of the old school kind. If you’ve grown up on watching things like 5 Deadly Venoms, 36 Chambers of Shaolin or The One-Armed Swordsman, you’ll certainly find a film that should find a spot in your heart, just like those classics have. Even if you don’t like kung fu films, the presentation and mash up of different genre elements, make Dragon worth seeking out for any person that is curious on what makes a solid kung-fu film. Highly Recommended!!!!! 

While any good kung fu movie manages to be entertaining enough through its action sequences, The Four ups the ante by capitalizing on the superhero genre and make something different. This single element makes The Four worth watching, whether you’re a kung fu fan or a fan of superheros, you’ll find something appealing about it. I was reminded of Andrew Lau’s The Storm Riders, in terms of spectacle and presence of all the characters powers, but The Four manages to make it much more grandiose and more along the lines of a Hollywood film, rather than a Hong Kong one. The integration of the CGI powers, alongside the physical wirework and fight choreography work extremely well with one another and present some incredibly well done action sequences.

The major problem with the film is that its incredibly convoluted, with too many characters, plot elements and story lines that get in the way of the film being completely effective. From romantic sub plots to betrayals and major plot reveals, the film takes too much time and juggles too many elements to create a solid dramatic effect. What’s there is good, but it could have been made much better, if Chan hadn’t felt the need to bring as many elements from the book or just focused on a few less plot and dramatic elements, that could have made the film an even more enjoyable experience.

The Four is most certainly not a bad film and leaves enough for one wanting more. The first out of a proposed trilogy, that is currently shooting its second installment, The Four could become a solid franchise, building out of the successful fantasy elements of Wu Xia, with the stylings of western comic book. If you only care for the action or visual stylings of kung fu films and the superhero genre, you might finding yourself loving this installment and maybe wanting more.

Affair of Nolandia (1985)

Created by Sunrise and Studio Nue as an OVA sequel to the TV series that aired earlier that year, Affair of Nolandia was the first undertaking in this retrospective. Taking place on the planet Ookbar, the girls are in search of Missinie, a girl with psychic powers that has gone missing in the forest of Nolandia. Once they find her, the girls realize that she’s being used as a part of a conspiracy, Yuri and Kei decide to fight back and save Missinie from her captors. At 57 minutes, Affair of Nolandia is the shortest film out of the bunch and was directed by Masaharu Okuwaki.

This film was certainly the weakest of the three films included and hasn’t aged very well. Due to the limited animation, it was painfully obvious that Affair was probably another string of episodes that never aired. The TV series was canceled and the final two episodes were released on home video as a two episode OVA. The overall aesthetic of Affair is the exact thing that dates it, from the clothes and styles of our two heroines, to the funky designs of various creatures and places that make the OVA feel much more older than it is. The film was certainly still fun and seeing the girls in action, especially during the final 20 minutes, that makes for some interesting action and adventure. Affair of Nolandia is still a fun movie, but its weak animation and average story make it the least interesting of the bunch.

Project Eden (1987)

Made two years later, Project Eden is the only true feature film of the Dirty Pair and while the film still has some issues, this film made me fall in love with this franchise and is now one of my favorite anime from the 1980′s. The girls are sent to a planet called Agerna, where two rival countries are fighting over a mineral named Vizorium. The pair first get wind of it, during a covert operation to bust some smugglers and find out the reasons for the increased demand for it on the black market. It turns out that both countries have mining operations on Agerna and all of their dig sites keep getting destroyed and any trace of Vizorium disappears. Kei and Yuri eventually find out that a mysterious alien species is the cause of all their trouble and a mad scientist on the planet is trying to using them and the Vizorium for his own maniacal means.

Project Eden is quite possibly, a perfect encapsulation of 80′s anime and still holds up to this very day. From the fantastic, James Bond-esque opening, animated by the legendary Koji Morimoto, to the catchy songs by Miki Matsubara, Project Eden is a joy to behold. The film is action packed and manages to stay entertaining for the entirety of its 80 minute running time. If there was anything that I’d have to say was a flaw in the entire movie, it would have to be the script from Hiroyuki Hoshiyama. The film sets a solid pace and a great amount of intrigue in the first 30 minutes, to then get bogged down during the second act of the film. The girls and Carson D. Carson, a thief that joins them in their excursion, gets kidnapped by Dr. Wattsman. It is during their captivity that there’s a huge dump of exposition by the good doctor, to tell us everything that has been going on and his plans of creating the perfect specimen. While it may have worked in the original novel, to have all of this explanation dumped on us in the middle, it doesn’t work in the film and bogs everything down to a very mundane level. All of this is made up in the last twenty minutes of the film, which includes a lightsaber/knife fight that every anime fan should behold, at least once in their lives.

Director Koichi Mashimo helmed the project and with such a prestigious person guiding the ship, its easy to see how this film was so enjoyable. The man founded Studio Bee Train and has directed plenty of anime that I enjoy, including Dominion: Tank Police, the severely under appreciated Wild Arms: Twilight Venom and the much more recent El Cazador de la Bruja. With fun titles like these under his belt, its really refreshing to go to his past work and see that he’s been cranking out entertaining anime for over 30 years. Watching Project Eden has made me understand why Dirty Pair has enamored anime fans for years and gave me a greater understanding and appreciation of this classic series.

Flight 005 Conspiracy (1990)

The Lovely Angels get placed on two incidents, a space shuttle that explodes, carrying 200 people and a famous scientist that goes missing. They soon find out that both events are intertwined together and are part of a major conspiracy involving a criminal organization and government officials that put the girls in deep trouble. Made by Sunrise in 1990 and one of the last Dirty Pair OVA’s, before their re-imagining in Dirty Pair Flash, that certainly stands out from the other two entires in the Dirty Pair Features Boxed Set.

What makes Flight 005 Conspiracy so different from the other installments in this set, is how bleak it is. Minor characters that Kei and Yuri get attached to, are murdered in cold blood or even many of the conspirators that they’re fighting against are given no quarter by the duo. Since the animation isn’t as old as Nolandia, it holds up much better, but its not as fluid as Project Eden, due to major budget differences. The story and script work the best in this OVA, out of all three contained in this boxed set and you really find yourself being drawn into the world and the stakes at hand in this series. The ending is downright brutal and one of the most heart wrenching endings I’ve ever seen in any anime. Its not Now and Then, Here and There bad, but its sure to make a few tears run down one’s face.

Each of the films in this boxed set offer something unique and different to the Dirty Pair universe, but ultimately add up to a wonderful collection. After watching all three and getting a feel for what makes these characters stick, I’m glad to have experienced Dirty Pair all these years later. Much like Lupin the Third, there’s a fun, campy quality to the entertainment that Kei and Yuri bring to the table and offer some of the most fun I’ve had with retro anime in a very long time.

Next week, I’ll be back with Part Two of this retrospective, where I’ll examine the Original Dirty Pair, a 10 episode OVA series made in 1987.

One of the best parts about this version of Evil Dead is Jane Levy, in both her brilliant performance as Mia and the trials her character must endure. With the stakes of her possibly killing herself through drug abuse, her character arc is much stronger than any other character arc in the Raimi version. All of the people in the original are really archetypes, which many are in this version as well, but with the inclusion of Mia in a state like this, it makes her journey through all this feel much more rewarding, than another girl just trying to fight for survival. From her withdrawal, to her demonic possession, to then becoming the triumphant heroine, Jane Levy shows an incredible range that marks as a major highlight of the film.

As I mentioned archetypes before, that is the only major flaw and downside to the film, in that it seems as though its going to develop its characters and then just decides not to. From the nerdy Eric to the medical training of Olivia, not a single character’s history or background is explored. We get hints of things here and there, we learn pieces of how this group fell apart, but nothing truly substantial. Even with David, who sort of becomes the protagonist in the second act of the film, never has the opportunity to showcase his character’s history, aspirations or motivations, with the exception of being supportive.

Even with these minor gripes, the one thing that truly matters is if it delivers as much of a terrifying experience as the original. While there are moments to laugh and giggle at the camp and low budget aspects of Raimi’s Evil Dead, it still does everything in its power to terrify you. Fede’s version goes the extra mile to ensure that gore hounds and horror fanatics get what they want in this memorable experience. Retaining some of the fantastic camera work that made Evil Dead such a visceral horror movie, this 2013 version uses this in tandem with some incredible make up and CGI that are truly unsettling. Dismemberment, self mutilation and plenty of other elements that make up the shocking imagery, but what it gets right through these elements is the tone and spirit of Evil Dead.

While there’s still some flaw in places, this is a film that’s a remake of Evil Dead, a low budget horror movie that made an incredible impact, due to its boldness and bravado of what a horror film could be. I don’t know if this film will leave as much of an impact, but I certainly love the fact that Alvarez’s version of Evil Dead, goes right for the jugular! Highly Recommended! 

Tormented 3D is quite possibly the worst film I’ve seen this year and while it certainly shames me to say that, due to the talent attached, it manages to be one of the most contrived films in Himizu’s filmography. Out of the 83 minute running time, about 10 minutes is from Himizu’s Shock Labyrinth 3D. The main narrative tries to confuse the audience so many times throughout its entirety, with all its plot twists, that it loses its potency about half way through the film. There are elements that are built in that could certainly work, the symbolism with fairy tales, the vengeful ghost that reveals skeletons in the family’s closet and even some of the performances, but all of it comes crashing down with a plot that makes no sense and makes everything feel like a complete waste of time. With cinematography by Christopher Doyle and a score from Kenji Kawai, one would think that this film would be able to at least hold some interest, visually and sonically. The color palette and compositions are extremely boring and the score sounds like stock music tracks from hundreds of other J-Horror movies that left me feeling completely hollow.

I’m not the biggest proponent and champion of 3D in cinema, I’ve seen some good films done in the format and I’ve seen plenty of bad ones. Tormented 3D would happen to fall into the latter category, with its intentions being completely gimmicky and filled with stuff flying out at the screen, as opposed to trying to immerse the audience in the film. With rain drops freezing in front of you, to stuffed rabbits flying towards your face, the 3D felt like a schlocky horror film from the 1950′s. The film manages to build some atmosphere, but when the next moment is something flying at you, all of that gets removed and you find yourself wondering if 3D is supposed to be the next thing in cinema.

Tormented 3D is a terrible film and probably one of the worst things that Well Go USA has distributed. If you like the J-Horror genre and Himizu’s other works, you might be able to find something redeeming about the film, but I certainly didn’t and have no plans on watching anything else the man puts his hands on.

Immediately from his introduction, Hogan manages to lay everything on the table, concerning the genre’s origins, its refections of society and the extremes that the genre employs to enforce its themes. Slowly then, does Hogan begin to dive into the various films and their contributions to the genre. There are sections that highlight a variety of directors, cinematographers and other crew people involved to give wonderful insight as to how all these various elements came together to create what we know as film noir.

While the book says its an FAQ, the book does give away plot elements to many of the films discussed in it. If this doesn’t bother you and you’ve seen a great portion of these film noirs, then you’ll find that this book does a great service to the material at hand. Hogan’s writing is extremely concise and provides a wealth of knowledge regarding the genre. I love the fact that he makes the actual distinction of film noirs, as being very different than that of heist films, police procedurals, revenge films and plenty of films from other genres that many times get thrown into the mix.

The amount of history provided on the productions and methods of how film noir came to be, makes the Film Noir FAQ, worth reading. From filmmakers various backgrounds, to various actors that became stars by being in these films, Hogan manages to unearth an insane amount of history, some of which I’ve never heard, until I read this book. For this portion alone, I would urge any film noir purist or any film historian to pick up this wonderful text on one of America’s oldest and richest genres.

David J. Hogan’s Film Noir FAQ is simply one of the best books I’ve ever read on a genre, period. Through its all of its concise details and exploration of a grand amount of films, Hogan presents a read that is educational and fun, at the same time. Highly Recommended! 

The first thing that struck me in Easy Money was the editing done by Theis Schmidt. While not rapidly cut like a music video, our introduction to these three characters shows scene that give us just enough information, to then cut away to random moments later. This immediately put me on edge, I didn’t know what to expect at any moment and the context of scenes would play out gradually. A cut here, would leave me reeling to find out what happened, to then find out a few cuts later how it all makes sense. This helped compress the sense of time extremely well and visually, placed one in the mind set and state that any of these three men would be. A total blur, from one moment to the next, when dealing with large amounts of drugs, money and excess, that would in no way, last forever.

Another fantastic element is how each of these three men are placed in dire situations and doing what they think is right, in order to survive. With JW, he’s trying to make a bunch of money, in order to get out of the life of being a broke student. Being from the north of Sweden, he’s doing everything in his power to become something that he envies and tries to be on a weekly basis. He finds true love with his heiress girlfriend, Sophie (Lisa Henni) and wants to have a fulfilling life with her. With Jorge, he wishes to gather enough money to get out of the game for good. He’s trying his hardest to do right by his family and not try to end up like his deadbeat dad. While Mrado starts out the film as being a straight up antagonist, his goals change, due to the fact that he now has custody of his niece and wants to make sure that she doesn’t grow up in the neglectful and negative life that he had. All three men have their backs against the wall and the tension and escalation of the actions and consequences make for some of the best crime drama I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.

Director Daniel Espinosa has done wonders with this cast and its easy to see that after this, he was picked to make the Denzel Washington vehicle, Safe House and the upcoming Child 44, with Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman. His way of crafting every scene, no matter how big or small, makes for a real impact in Easy Money and I’m hoping that this is the beginning of a wonderful career for him. A second film was released in August of 2012 in Sweden, with a third currently in production.

With a strong cast and brilliant script, Easy Money is one of the best crime thrillers from Sweden and with the fact that there’s more to come, with the original cast intact, I eagerly await what the crime saga of Easy Money has in store for the future. Highly Recommended! 

Full of American propaganda and hammy performances, Olympus Has Fallen is an extremely dumb movie, that I honestly had some fun with. While its certainly overstated, the Americana infused into the film was so blatant, that it got to the point where it was just fun to see where it popped up next. I mean, a man gets his head bashed in by a bronze bust of President Lincoln’s head and the only thing that I could think of in that moment was the theme song for Team America. Butler does do a pretty good job at leading the film, with some solid presence as the action star, but he’s no John McClane. The thing that boggles my mind the most is the cast that’s attached to Olympus, with such a terrible script by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt. With the likes of Morgan Freeman, Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo, the cast has a pretty solid track record to be in such a mindless film like this.

While I do like The Replacement Killers and Training Day, this kind of work is certainly typical for Antoine Fuqua. His films tend to be passable as mindless entertainment but certainly not good enough to stand the test of time. His ability to display action is pretty decent in Olympus, especially during the final battle sequence, but its nowhere near as compelling as it very well could be. One of the things that contributes to the mediocre action is the horrific CGI in the film, that looks like it would have been good, 20 years ago. From the initial attack on the White House, to the night attack on against the “Medusa” prototype, placed on top of the building, evert moment containing CGI is absolutely horrendous, especially knowing that this film has a budget of 80 million dollars.

Again, Olympus Has Fallen isn’t the best film, but knowing full well what it was, 30 minutes into the movie, I still had a fun time. From the ridiculous moments of the White House getting blown up, to the final frames of an American flag flowing in slow motion, Olympus Has Fallen can be rewarding, if you know full well what you’re getting into.

The Other Son is full of strong performances, from both families and all contribute to the drama at hand. The situation would be extremely difficult for anyone person to handle, but the drama is heightened due to the families being part of a major social conflict. As both families try to have dinner together and the boys are spending time with one another, their fathers begin to have a heated argument about their cultural differences. Even at one point when both men try to find a means to try and work things over a cup of coffee, they still sit next to one another in absolute silence. It elements like these and plenty of other great moments that Levy has crafted with her cast to create an emotionally gratifying experience in The Other Son.

The Blu-Ray of The Other Son from Cohen Media group is a well presented disc, with both excellent video and audio quality, as well as some solid extra features. The video is presented in a AVC encoded, 1080p video track, with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The clarity is crystal clear and presents an excellent natural look for The Other Son. Cinematographer Emmanuel Soyer, showcases Tel Aviv and the West Bank in fine detail and gives a fantastic presentation of a film that was shot on location. The audio on the disc is offered in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, that is in multiple languages. French, Hebrew, English and Arabic are spoken in the film, so there’s no other alternative track to choose from. With the film being dialog centric, there’s only a little of activity in the surround mix. When the characters are at a large location, like the beach or in the midst of the city, the mix becomes a little more immersive. There are only two extras on the disc, a 30 minute behind-the-scenes for the film and a blooper reel. The behind-the-scenes is very informative, on how the cast was selected and how the people involved did their best to explore the themes of cultural and familial identity. The five minute blooper reel is pretty hilarious, considering that the film is a straight forward drama and managed to make me laugh out lout at a few moments.

The Other Son is an excellent drama, that explores a difficult subject and personalizes it, in order to create drama. The film succeeds on this level, due to its well crafted script and brilliant cast, that make The Other Son a remarkable and genuine experience. 

Including some clever cameos, the entire cast of The Great Magician plays well off of one other and with the material at hand. Tony Leung and Lau Ching Wan have some really nice chemistry and do a fantastic job at handling the comedic tone of the film. While at points it may seem a bit dark, the film always manages to consistently display a playful tone, even when there’s lives at stake or when the villains are exhibiting their plans. If there was any major issue that I had with the film, its that its a tad too long, with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes. Granted, Yee probably wanted to stay true to the source material, but there were a few portions that could have helped both the flow of the film, as well as get to the heart of the material than the way its presented in this cut.

Well Go USA’s release of The Great Magician comes in a solid Blu-Ray, packed with great video, audio and a solid behind the scenes video, that shows much more than just a spliced together EPK. The video on the disc is presented in an AVC encoded, 1080p HD transfer, with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The colors are really lush and saturated on the disc and makes the film an absolute joy to look at. The CGI and practical effects are blended extremely well together and makes the film feel really fluid. The audio is presented in both Mandarin and English, with them being in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. The surround track really comes alive in the busier sections of the film and especially during the magic trick scenes, where the surround channels are bristling with activity. The behind the scenes is about 35 minutes, that shows cast and crew interviews, as well as various segments of the production.

Even though I thought the film was a little too long for its own good, I sure enjoyed my time with The Great Magician. The cast and production value really make the film shine through any short comings and is sure to appeal to fans of classic cinema, as well as Hong Kong cinema junkies, like myself. Recommended!