ebossert The most appropriate opening statement for this review would have to be the following: Storm Riders is one of the most overrated movies to EVER come out of China.First of all, the movie proved insatiably annoying within the first half hour. The first action sequence (in a forest) is a disgrace to the art of action choreography, using quick-cuts and non-fluid camera tricks that play out like you're watching a slide show (similar to those used in Ashes of Time). Add to this a "wise man" who talks as if he's a robot with a stick up his rear-end, and one has in the making a remarkably poor film that annoys to the point of making the viewer angry.The use of extremely poor action is the hallmark of this film, as well as its brother movie A Man Called Hero. I have always held that the concept of "action" demands that the characters actually DO something. They don't here. Storm Riders first walks the dubious roads trekked by Pistol Opera in having its characters perform theatre poses, only to then invoke the Pokemon-like glowing balls used in A Man Called Hero. Who could possibly call this nonsense "action" while keeping a straight face? The fact of the matter is that the special effects in this movie are used as a smokescreen to mask its deficiencies in action choreography. It's as if the makers of this movie didn't feel like taking the time to painstakingly map out fight scenes or brainstorm over fresh combinations of moves and maneuvers. The result is a series of artsy confrontations devoid of any quality whatsoever.The fact that Storm Riders is absurdly overrated is beyond question. One reviewer on another web site went so far as to compare this movie with The Matrix because it "sets up a new dimension of film making." If the exploitative substitution of cartoons for quality action set pieces is to be deemed a "new dimension", then I suppose he is correct.Rating = 1/5 stars

Lea Greenall Stormriders was a movie that was not highly publicised. After a friend recommended it I popped it into my player with no real expectations.From the opening credits it grabbed my attention. The music was excellent and it had a hi-tech appearance that belayed my fears that it was yet another low budget Hong Kong B-grade martial arts flick.The story progressed rather well and I became entranced in the subtleties of the plot. It flowed well from start to finish and had very little confusion that I find occurs a lot in HK movies. The action scenes while very 'Fantasy', were well balanced and not cheap. In general, Stormriders possesses a fantastic mix of stunts, CGA and musical score and will please.I have seen both the 128 min version in Chinese with subtitles, and the 91 min English dubbed version. The only serious critical comment I have with the 128 min Chinese version is that the subtitles were a little small.However watch the 91 min version at your peril!! Its missing so many scenes that it becomes so watered down that it becomes farcical. The main characters English dubbed voices don't suit the chars: Striding Cloud (Aaron Kwok)loses his essential moodiness, Jestor becomes a real on screen joke and Mud-Buddha loses his credibility as the all seeing prophet. In general you miss out on so many lovely little tidbits especially from Qi Shu (Muse) and the plot suffers terribly as you are forever fighting to catch up on what the heck is going on. You'll find yourself saying 'Hang on..!!', 'How the heck...', 'Woah, why is that..' etc.When comparing 'Stormriders'(128min version) with 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', there is no comparison. It made me wonder why the latter received so much publicity and awards and Stormriders received nothing. It is seriously like comparing 'chalk and cheese'.However, the 91min version of Stormriders I would rate 3/10 and that is being 'very' generous. Seriously - 128min version or nothing.To this day, Stormriders (128 min)is up there with my very favourite all time action/martial arts movies. See it, I bet it will endear to you too:)

peter-856 I bought a DVD of this from a second hand shop because it referred to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon on the box. This is just as lush looking, but the story is from another planet. It's all well acted and brilliantly directed and all that, and the settings are epic and beautiful, but the script has the shudder inducing obviousness of an internet fantasy parody. The fight sequences are strangely detached, and some nice special effects (such as a bamboo walkway rising up and attacking a character) are almost lost in the twitchy editing. Even more distracting is the fact that the character Cloud has a nineteen eighties hair colouring job that kills any sense of exoticism. Actually, as I write this it occurs to me that this might be aimed at children and the UK DVD has been clumsily packaged for an adult market. Anyhow, despite all this criticism, it is a fun DVD for idle minds. Try watching this with vodka, and making farting noises every time someone says "Wind" (it's the name of one of the characters). For the full effect, I recommend the director's cut. My DVD includes this and the international version, which besides being a great deal shorter, is dubbed, which kills it. Deranged, but joyous.

nickthegun I had heard a lot of good things about this movie, so when I saw the double DVD version for a tenner I couldn't help but purchase the merchandise.After a good study of the pack I couldn't help wonder why they bothered releasing it as a double because, quite frankly, disk two isn't worth watching. Disk one contains the original 2hr+ release, in original language plus subtitles, widescreen format and a few decent goodies. Disk 2 contains the dubbed version, a pretty poor pan and scan (it cant do justice to the explosive visuals) and no extras. The only time it ever comes in handy is with mates (or my girlfriend) who cant watch subtitles at any cost. But watching this version leaves them just as confused as many plot points and fight scenes are hacked out. It is more than a little annoying that the disk one version doesn't allow you to change the aspect ratio or choose between dub or subs. If you had these options you could do away with the second disk entirely.As far as the film is concerned (the full version not the butchered edit), I cant remember a more enjoyable film. It really is a spectacle at times, people fly around and summon balls of energy and the sword saint showdown is ingenious. The story is coherent, and mostly makes sense. It bounces along at a fair pace and never really gets boring. The main players are decent enough. Cloud is the better of the two leads, his brooding performance really lends well to the character, whereas Wind comes off as a bit of a wimp (although he is anything but). Sonny Chiba is kick arse as Lord Conquer, giving real menacing performance of the strongest martial arts master in the world.The special effects are amazing, a real visual treat. The actors are quite convincing when they interact with the CGI. The score is also pretty good. The traditional music of the genre is replaced with something a bit more up tempo as befits a film of this speed and modernity. And the 5.1 sound is pretty good to. It gives the old sub a right rattling and the effects fly around all over the shop.Overall, I really enjoyed 'The Stormriders'. Shakespeare it aint, obviously, but it is so fast paced and visually enthralling that you cant help but succumb to its charms. The extras are pretty good, a FX documentary and a making of, both of which are entertaining and fairly informative. Like I say, stick with disk one As far as the Wu Xia Pan genre is concerned this is right up there.