DVD
REVIEW: DRAGON WARS
12/30/07
FILM REVIEW: Dragon
wars is a fantasy- action film written and directed by
Korean director Shim Hyung Rae about a legendary Korean
creature called the Omoogi. It was release in theaters in
august 2007, and it is the most expensive movie produce in
Korea. For a foreign produced movie D-Wars has the
peculiarity that most of its cast is American. As most
fantasy-action movies such as Star Wars and Godzilla, D-Wars
tells the never ending battle between good an evil, it is
packed with modern aged sound and special effects, and it
tells us a delightful story while mixing eastern with
western culture. Unfortunately the Movie lacks delivery and
aside the special effects it disappoints. D-Wars will be
realease on its DVD Format on January 8 2008.
About 500 years ago in eastern Asia, a good Imoogui (Big
Serpent) was chosen to become a dragon and to ascend to
heaven, but an evil Imoogui named Buraki wanted the power of
the dragon for himself so he defied heaven. Heaven then hide
the power of the dragon in a young girl and send his most
trusted warriors to protect her for 20 years, when she would
become one with the Imoogui. Harim, one of heaven warriors,
while training the young girl falls in love with her. By her
twentieth birthday Buraki finds out the location of the girl
and attacks her village with his army. Harim and his master
protected the girl from Buraki’s army and escaped to the
sacred place where the sacrifice must take place, but the
love between Harim and the girl is stronger, and they killed
themselves, without giving up the power to any of the
Imoogies, and promise to reunite in another live leaving the
prophesy unfulfilled.
In the city of Los Angeles, an antique dealer by the name of
Jack (Robert Forster) saw a young boy by the name of Ethan
(Jason Behr) get hit by a force emanating from a chest while
being in his shop. Once Jack see this he bequeaths a medal
to the boy and tell him of the story between the Imoogi and
Baraki. Jack also tells him that he is the reincarnation of
Harim, and that he should finished his task. 20 years later,
Ethan now a reporter is called on to investigate an ancient
legend about giant monsters destroying the planet. As Ethan
delves into the case, he discovers that the story he heard
isn't just a legend. Once he see the image he know he must
look for the incarnated woman who bares a mark like a dragon
tattoo on her shoulder and who is close to reaching her 20th
birthday. The woman that he is looking for name is Sarah
Daniels (Amanda Brooks) but it isn't long before the Buraki
serpent and all of his enormous minions resurface and decide
to lay waste to the City of Los Angeles. Now it is up to
Ethan to save Sarah and fulfill his destiny.
The idea of having dragons fighting in one of the United
Sates major cities is intriguing and persuasive, but the
idea fell short. The movie promise more of what it delivers,
with a good introduction and an interesting first 30 minutes
Dragon wars fall into a predictable sequence of events that
only will make the audience wish for the end. In my opinion,
Director Hyung Rae tried to put to much stuff in this movie,
and he fails in joining it together, for example there is a
third party of characters introduced ,the FBI Paranormal
agents, kind of an X-files type agents, that do nothing for
the movie. The dialogue of the movie although kept simple
becomes predictable and boring. The main characters are
total clichés and the audience will not feel sympathy for
them, some of them are based more in a western type
characters than in an Asian type, like the evil army, and I
think the director made a mistake not giving the good
Imoogui more play time. Robert Forster (as Jack in the
movie) did a pretty good job. Even though you didn't see him
much in the movie the parts where he comes out are pretty
good. Jason Behr could have acted better than what he did in
the movie. As I watched him acted in some scenes it looked
like he was trying to hard. I'm not saying that he's a
horrible actor but for this movie he needed to improve a
little more. For Amanda Brooks I think she did well but just
like the rest of the actors it could have been better.
Special effect and sound wise the movie is above average,
the dragons looked and sound amazing along with the other
creatures, and there is a couple of scenes that visual wise
are marvelous like the destruction of the village, the fight
in LA, and the last scene.
Dragon Wars is like those old Asian monster movies: with a
weak plot, regular acting, and a major city destruction.
Director Hyung Rae Shim did an astonishing job with the
special and sound effects. The idea was good and
interesting, but it was not well written. In my opinion the
movie would have been better if it took place in its
original time. The movie will be appreciated by kids and
Sci-fi fans only. It is a shame that D-Wars fails in joining
the beautiful Korean legend into a remarkable movie.
VIDEO:
2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Fullscreen
AUDIO:
English
5.1 French 5.1 (Dolby Surround).
Subtitles -
English, French, Chinese,
Spanish, and Korean
SPECIAL FEATURES: The
DVD version of the movie is very well design. The case and
the cover are as good as the special effects nonetheless,
the special features are as good as the movie itself: They
disappoint. It only comes with three features and a bunch of
previews.
5000 years in the Making:
This is a presentation by Director Hyung Rae Shim telling us
the process of D-Wars. How he came out with the idea, the
cast and the reason of doing it in LA and in English.
(18:00)
Story Board Comparison: 5
Different scenes that shows the different process from
scratch, to computer animation until final draft.
(Approximately 11: min)
Conceptual Art Gallery:
About 50 different beautiful sketches of dragons, monks, and
villains from the movie as well as computerized graphics.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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