If you haven’t seen director Gareth Evans’ The Raid: Redeption, you’re really missing something. It’s an amazing action film full of so many martial arts fights your head will spin.
Yes, it’s that good. And now there’s a sequel, which looks to push things to an even higher level.
The first trailer for that sequel, called The Raid 2: Berandal, has arrived and without wasting too much time we can safely say we were hooked from the first few seconds. Can’t wait to see the rest of this one.
Check out the trailer after the break. Look for The Raid 2: Berandal to hit theaters in 2014.
When you’re a successful actor looking for the next challenge, that next challenge is often to direct a movie. Add Keanu Reeves to that list of actors.
His first directing effort is a martial arts film called Man of Tai Chi. In it Reeves plays the owner of a Beijing underground fight club who recruits a skilled tai chi practitioner (Tiger Hu Chen) to battle on his deadly martial arts circuit.
There’s a new trailer for the film out today and in it we get a lot more of the martial arts action we should expect from a film lie this. And yes, there’s also a bit of story in there too, for those of you who like that kind of thing.
The latest trailer is after the break. The movie hits theaters on November 1.
When you’re a successful actor looking for the next challenge, that next challenge is often to direct a movie. Add Keanu Reeves to that list of actors.
His first time in the big chair is a martial arts film called Man of Tai Chi. In it Reeves plays the owner of a Beijing underground fight club who recruits a skilled tai chi practitioner (Tiger Hu Chen) to battle on his deadly martial arts circuit.
There’s a new international trailer for Man of Tai Chi out today and in it you can get a look at Reeves, Tiger and all the action. As the star fighter of the movie was also Reeves’ martial arts trainer and stunt double from The Matrix series, we expect some pretty great fights from this one.
We hope Keanu’s direction will rise to the occasion too. Look for Man of Tai Chi to arrive in theaters later this year.
Marial arts movies are pretty much always a good time. And this upcoming one called Tai Chi Zero looks particularly interesting. Here’s the scoop:
As an uncommonly gifted child, Yang Luchan had a fleshy abnormality that holds tremendous power growing on his forehead. However, being teased as the town fool, Yang’s mother spurs him to practice martial arts, and following her wishes, Yang travels to the distant Chen Village to learn TAI CHI. At this legendary village everyone practices TAI CHI and uses TAI CHI in every aspect of their lives. Nevertheless, it is forbidden for a villager to disclose TAI CHI to an outsider, which Yang learns the hard way.
Upon arriving at the village, locals discourage Yang by challenging him with fights. From the strong men to old ladies to children, everyone defeats Yang with their TAI CHI moves. After facing the toughest battle and being defeated by Master Chen’s beautiful daughter Yuniang, Yang is determined to master the art of TAI CHI and goes in search of Master Chen.
If there’s one thing you can say about action star and all around badass Jason Statham it’s that he’s consistant. In almost every movie he does, he ends up playing pretty much the same character.
Not that we’re complaining. He does it pretty well and is usually, if not supremely talented acting-wise, at least fun to watch. This leads us to the trailer for his latest upcoming action extravaganza Safe.
Written and Directed by Boaz Yakin, who’s previous credits include Fresh and Remember the Titans, Safe features Statham as a former elite agent protecting Mei (Catherine Chan), a 12-year-old numerical prodigy who has in her head a code the Triads, Russian Mafia and corrupt cops are determined to get.
As you would expect, the trailer features mostly what Statham fans are expecting: action. It also gives us a bit of insight into the story and who we can expect in the film opposite the star. And yes, Statham beats up and kills several people during the trailer. No surprise there.
Check out the trailer after the jump. Safe, which in addition to Statham features Anson Mount, Chris Sarandon and James Hong, opens on March 2, 2012.
There are some pretty amazing martial arts films out there these days, but when you mesh the timeless genre with another timeless genre in spy thrillers, you get the Legend of the Fist franchise and the hero Chen Zhen.
That hero, who was once played by legends Bruce Lee and Jet Li, is back, and this time next generation Kung Fu master Donnie Yen is taking on the role. Here’s the official synopsis.
Legendary Kung Fu hero Chen Zhen is an iconic cultural mainstay in China and Hong Kong, having spawned both record-breaking feature films and a TV series. Over the years, martial arts legends such as Bruce Lee (FIST OF FURY) and Jet Li (FIST OF LEGEND) have played the popular hero. In LEGEND OF THE FIST: THE RETURN OF CHEN ZHEN, Donnie Yen continues this rich historical legacy, but with a brand new take on the urban legend.
In 1920s China, the nation is divided by infighting. Japan has become the most powerful force in Asia, taking over Northern Shanghai. With the city torn in half by international conflict, the popular nightclub “Casablanca” has become a hotbed of spies, mobsters, English officials and the Japanese military- all looking to gain control of the country, with little regard for what happens to its citizens.
To help you get ready for the film’s upcoming release, we’ve got 4 action-packed clips for you after the jump. Enjoy!
With Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX coming up in mere weeks, we’re going to be getting more and more info about the fest and the great programming offered during it. We’ve already been bringing you some info and now we’ve got a really cool bit of news to share with you today.
Acclaimed action master and director Yuen Woo-Ping will be honored by the fest with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition for his vast achievements in cinematic action and direction.With credits ranging from Crouching Tiger, HiddenDragon, Drunken Master, Fist of Legend, Iron Monkey to Kill Bill Vol. 1 and II and The Matrix, Woo-Ping has proven time and again that he is, indeed, a master.
This is a well-deserved award indeed. For the full scoop on the award and all that’s associated with it, check out the full press release from the fine folks at Fantastic Fest.
FANTASTIC FEST HONORS DIRECTOR YUEN WOO-PING WITH
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The Lifetime Achievement Award Will Be Presented at the
Gala Screening of “True Legend”
Austin, TX—Tuesday, August 31, 2010— The 6th annual Fantastic Fest will honor director and master fight choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the world premiere of his new martial arts fantasy True Legend, starring Vincent Zhao (Fong Sai Yuk, Dragon Gets Angry) Zhou Xun (The Emperor and the Assassin, Suzhou River) with Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and the late David Carradine (Kill Bill), on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at The Paramount Theatre in Austin, TX. The film will play as part of a double feature with Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, Yuen Woo-Ping’s directorial debut and the film that put action legend Jackie Chan on the map. Fantastic Fest will play host to Yuen Woo-Ping’s first U.S. festival appearance.
If you’ve ever walked out of a movie theatre after watching a martial arts film and left your jaw on the floor, your eyes were probably dazzled by the fight choreography of filmmaker, Yuen Woo-Ping. Gods of kung fu — Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, Jet Li, Donny Yen and Michelle Yeoh — have all had their impressive abilities molded into a cinematic language of fist-pounding aerial artistry at the hands of Yuen Woo-Ping. His work headlines the top fight sequence lists of all time from films like The Matrix trilogy, Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey, Drunken Master, Once Upon a Time in China, Fist of Legend and Kung Fu Hustle.
We like to find things from around the Internets and bring them to you here at The Flickcast. Sure, we tend to cover larger events, movies, TV, Comics, games and all that, but we also want to make sure to let you know when we find cool stuff that doesn’t get much, or any, coverage.
Like last week’s trailer for Space Battleship Yamato, this new trailer is also from our friends in Japan. This time around, however, the fight isn’t in space, it’s on earth and it features a band of Ninjas pitted against a seemingly unstoppable alien bent on their destruction. Obviously, when we find a video that not only has Ninjas but Aliens and features some pretty decent martial arts action, we need to bring it to you.
So, for your viewing pleasure, check out the trailer for Alien vs. Ninja after the jump.
Even though I didn’t exactly give Ninja Assasina rave review when I first saw the film last year during Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX I was still loking forward to seeing it on Blu-ray when it came out. Well, it has and I did watch it on the HD format and all I can say is I’m more impressed with the film now than I was the first time around.
Granted, the story of a boy trained from childhood in the way of the Ninja who is stalked by his former brothers and their dojo master (martial arts legend Sho Kosugi) and who is also on the run with a Europol agent (Naomie Harris) with proof the clan sells assassination services to governments, is still pretty much the same and the flaws I have with it are still pretty much the same. However, experiencing the film on Blu-ray added very much to my enjoyment of it.
I’ll go out on a limb and say one of the main reasons is that the Blu-ray represents the final version of the film with completed visual effects, final color correction, sound, etc. Most likely the version I saw last September was not the final version. This one simply looks and sounds better.
Visual effects, especially the simulated blood (of which there’s a lot) look far better on the Blu-ray version than before. Also, other effects have been cleaned up and the entire presentation of the film has been improved. Plus, you can actually see more of the fight sequences in this version as they have been somewhat lightened, probably due to early screening feedback. Who knows, maybe even I had something to do with it? It’s possible.
