The Storm Riders

The wuxia/super martial arts subgenre of HK films is pretty well established. However, the Storm Riders goes somewhat beyond the usual and adds in a set of actors who were clearly chosen not just for their ability to carry off martial arts on screen, but for their prettyboy looks -- a characteristic of a great deal of the "god-warrior" anime subgenre. The result is like a cross between Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Saint Seiya, and it works surprisingly well.Storm Riders has the usual angst-tragedy overtones of wuxia films like CTHD or The Bride With White Hair; the Bad Guy, Lord Conquer, is (as usual) Trying To Take Over the World, and is given a prophecy that his success and failure hinge on two people, "Wind" and "Cloud", who are mere children at that point. In the great tradition of classics the world round, like Pharoah and Moses in the Old Testament, Conquer's actions subsequent to the prophecy are, of course, going to make it come true. (Just once, I'd like to see a show in which the prophet makes this prophecy and the Evil Dude shortcircuits it by shooting the prophet and ignoring the prediction. Maybe I'll do that for my next book.) Conquer finds all boys who might fit the description and raises them as his own (having, naturally, whacked their parents). Things go along swimmingly for Conquer for a while, but naturally this is all going to come apart once the boys become young men. BOTH sides -- Conquer's AND Our Heroes' -- are rather screwed by the Prophecy, which leads, of course, to the final, inevitable showdown.Martial arts in this world are REALLY not something to laugh at. Those who master certain techniques (Frost Fist, etc) end up able to take on dozens or hundreds of lesser foes, freezing them solid, electrocuting them, burning, etc. They have power attacks that hit at range and can do damn impressive amounts of damage. Okay, we're not talking Dragonball Z here, but it's up there with Saint Seiya.Saint Seiya keeps coming to mind when watching, too; personalities and even appearances of certain characters remind Seiya fans almost irresistably of some of the Saint Seiya characters -- there's a Shun equivalent, an Ikki equivalent, and a Shiryu equivalent. The grand finale battle, featuring Conquer (who has, naturally, not QUITE taught all his tricks to his students, and is therefore FAR more powerful than any one of them) taking on Cloud and Wind together, is one of the most impressive I've seen, especially considering this was done on a budget about 1/10 of that which Hollywood would have required to do the same thing.This one's a keeper.

Storm Riders is a nearly perfect chinese fantasy movie! If you are thinking, maybe another Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you are not even close. I am not at all saying that if you like C.T.H.D. you won't like this, they are just two very different movies. Along with some high-wire acts, Storm Riders combines great visual effects with exciting and original sword play. The sword fighting along with some hand to hand action is purely of the fantasy kind consisting of swords throwing huge waves of energy out from them to whirlwind kicks and manipulating liquid to be used as a weapon. There is also real fighting mixed in there to keep you from saying this is too much. Sounds a bit out there, doesn't it. You must know that this film is based on a comic book. The story is of two young boys who are raised and ruled by the man who killed their parents and grow up to become martial arts masters. Filled with a ton of action, this tale is of loyalty, love, and revenge. The movie slows down a few times, but only to add to the depth of the story, then right back into another gravity-defying brawl. The acting is much better than I anticipated and is probably the best I have seen Ekin Cheng perform.The movie is in widescreen but not anamorphic. Excellent film quality and sound(DTS/Dolby Digital) help this movie really come to life. You will have to read subtitles but they are done very well. There are no extensive lines that will cause you to have to speed read. If you have an open mind when it comes to fantasy you will surely enjoy this one. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed and must recommend checking this out.

I have to start with some information and answers to questions first here.This IS the film about wind, cloud, storm, and frost who control an elemental force each with cloud having the water manipulation power, frost having ice powers and storm having a few powers. also in this film is the graveyard of magical swords everyone is always asking about same with the above water fighting. the special effects are truly excellent sadly this is a chinese version (region 0 aka free) and seemed to work fine on all players including the newer model sony ps2's so this is the wind and cloud disc everyone is looking for.Review: This is a story of a japanese warlord seeking to become the supreme ruler of the entire province. however there is a legend of 2 boys that will be born with legendary power and if he finds them they will unite his power throughout the land for the next 10 years.. however this is only the first part of the legend the 2nd part is stuck in an enchanted puzzle box that takes 10 years to solve. when solved it reveals that when wind and cloud join forces they will become a storm to end lord conquerer.thus the battle begins with again I say superb special effects and a asian style sword and the sorcerer type of film and some of the magical sword effects are truly amazing especally since things like this I have only ever seen done in videogames NOT Movies. it's a masterpiece and while there is an english dubbed version out there I prefer the true format it started out as without any edits and this IS IT!!!5 star special effects5 star sound and presentationthe kung fu theater acting you expect 4 starsoverall: a must own title with some blood and gore and a few godlike scenes of violence that may mar this film for a few fans of the film (like me) will be thrilled to get this full unedited version of this rare gem.buy it here! The Storm Riders

a+++++++++++goodseller

This movie promises much more than it delivers. it has an uninteresting storyline which is sort of Ok but the fighting is really lousy. You sit through the whole movie waiting for something better to happen

Actually I don't know how to review this - as it is a good movie - cut from the even better series, but with actors Peter Ho and Chiu Man Chak, NOT Takeshi Kaneshiro, as stated above. That is one thing I don't like on Amazon - that you never know, untill you have the dvd in hand, whether it is the one you want or some other version.

Klassisch gedrehter Martial Arts Streifen, der einen nicht unbedingt vom Hocker haut. Eher etwas zähfliessend, die Handlung an mancher Stelle schwer nachvollziehbar (speziell der Umgang der Helden mit ihrer Vorgeschichte). Leider kein Geheimtipp, eher etwas in Richtung "kann man ansehen, muss man aber nicht!"

Along with the directors cut you get two movies for the price of one. I remember this movie being a lot more awesome back in 1998 but it's the one movie that sprung all of the other wire fu flicks to come after. Great purchase.