GOLDEN HARVEST PRESENTS A BOB & PARTNERS COMPANY LTD. PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH CENTRO DIGITAL PICTURES LTD. AN ANDREW LAU FILM AARON KWOK EKIN CHENG SONNY CHIBA "THE STORM RIDERS" CHRISTIE YEUNG SHU CHI MICHAEL TSE LAI YU-HUNG SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY ANTHONY WONG PRODUCED BY RAYMOND CHOW & MANFRED WONG EXECUTIVE PRODUCER LIU FUNG PING & JOHN CHU CO-PRODUCER JESSINTA LIU DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ANDREW LAU (HKSC) VISUAL EFFECTS PRODUCED BY CENTRO DIGITAL PICTURES LTD. BASED ON THE ORIGINAL STORIES BY MA WING SHING SCREENPLAY BY MANFRED WONG DIRECTED BY ANDREW LAU
"When the Wind and Cloud combine, the fish with Golden Scales will become a Dragon." Intrigue, magic, spectacle, and mystery are spelled out by that tantalizing prophecy which opens "THE STORM RIDERS" one of the recent arrivals from Hong Kong. A marvelously inventive, visually stunning, and perplexing tale of conquest and revenge.
The film opens with the arrival of the prophet Mud Buddha (Lai Yu-hung) to the mountaintop palace of the Tin Ha Sect. It is there that Lord Conquer Hung Ba (Sonny Chiba) receives the prophecy and the means with which to ensure his mastery of the martial world. Using birth charts, Lord Conquer raids the villages in an effort to locate the two children whose names are Wind and Cloud. After killing their families, Lord Conquer makes apostles of the children making them part of his inner circle along with his own son Frost.
As the children grow up into men, the Tin Ha Sect has decimated most of China, plundering its riches and people. Lord Conquer proves to be an unholy and evil man, interested only in his fame and wealth. Having collected the swords from all of his enemies except for the famed Ultimate Sword created by master swordmaker, Nip Yan-wong (Yu Wong-Guang), Cloud's father. Now conflict comes as the two adopted boys both fall in love with Lord Conquer's Daughter, Charity.
After ten years of success, Lord Conquer grows anxious. Wanting to know what his future holds, he orders his three warriors to find Mud Buddha, to force the seer to reveal the final part of his prophecy. When he learns that Wind and Cloud will bring about the downfall his empire, the evil Lord conspires to turn the two men against one another, by forcing his daughter, Charity to marry one of them.
Director Andrew Lau has constructed a marvelously striking fantasy in 'THE STORM RIDERS' (Cantonese Title: 'Feng yun' ). What makes the film perplexing is simple that some of the Chinese inter-titles are not translated, making the relationship between some of the characters difficult to identify. This problem aside, the film is remarkably entertaining and engrossing. Lau, serving as his own Cinematographer, frames every scene for maximum emotional impact. There are scenes here of extraordinary composition and beauty. Add to that the spectacularly vivid computer generated effects, and the film takes on the epic quality of a biblical drama.
The framing of the scenes are based on the panels of a comic or graphic novel. Camera angles are rarely straight ahead. The film, while violent and action packed is never grotesque. Scenes of violence have a joyous roller coaster ride vitality to them, incorporating some marvelously inventive effects, both visual and physical. There are scenes here of jaw dropping inventiveness and beauty. The Wow! Factor is in great abundance. While the choreography of the martial arts on display are in the traditional method of Hong Kong filmmaking, the addition of the fantasy element and the visual effects, display a marvelous joy and verve. The only western comparison that comes to mind is Director John Carpenter's unfairly maligned "Big Trouble in little China"(1986).
The plotting of the film is troublesome. The story, being base on a series of popular comics in Hong Kong is understandably episodic. While it is certain that most Hong Kong viewers will understand and recognize all of these characters, Westerners may have a hard time pulling all of these intricacies together. Nevertheless, "The Storm Riders" still entertains simple on it's own verve and sense of wonder.
The performances are all two dimensional, which is to be expected in such a fairy tale. The sole false note comes from lead Arron Kwok as Cloud is much too brooding, coming off as a petulant child rather than a man bent on revenge. Nevertheless, the performance does give the film a needed center and focus, as it is Cloud's determination to one day take revenge against his master for the death of his father.
The standout performance of the film is without a doubt the re-doubtable Sonny Chiba. His turn as Lord Conquer is a fine, scene-stealing tip of the hat to Toshiro Mufune. His performance is full of mad posturing and grand gestures, truly fitting a whu-shu performance. Best known for his 'Streetfighter' series of films (when released in the U.S. in 1974, the film was summarily given an X rating by the Motion Picture Ratings Board). Mr. Chiba pulls out all of the classic stops in giving Lord Conquer a full degree of madness and ego.
The sound design of the film is equally stunning. Recorded in sync sound (recorded live) in the native Hong Kong dialect of Cantonese, 'The Storm Riders' has one of the most luscious soundtracks recorded. The sound effects are stunning and deafening. If you get a chance to see this film on the big screen, do so. The second best option is the vibrant DVD released earlier this year by Universe Laser & Video (a Hong Kong video company).
In closing, with Hong Kong's film industry in danger of being devoured by the video pirates, it's a shame that films such as 'The Storm Riders' may never be made again. I can only hope that this does not happen. Made on a meager budget of $10 million dollars (U.S. equivalent), the film looks and feels like it cost six times that much.
On a scale of 1 to 5, "THE STORM RIDERS" rates a raging 4. Grand entertainment for those adventurous enough to seek it out. The film has no MPAA rating, but should be considered a PG-13. Cantonese language with English subtitles. 128 minutes running time. Panavision (scope-wide screen).
Copyright 1999 R. L Strong All rights reserved Nothing in this article may be quoted or re-printed without the express written permission of the author.
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