Thursday, August 30, 2012
Katori Shinto Ryu with Risuke Otake
I think I might have posted something like this before, but if you haven't seen this series of videos, then you really need to have a seat and do so. A must see for fans of the sword arts!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
The Raid: Redemption
Now that the Olympics are over, it's time to get back to action in the movies. It wasn't too long ago that I first heard about the The Raid: Redemption, but the more I learned about it, the more I wanted to see it. This little gem comes from Indonesia and is brought to us by the same folks that made Merantau. Now if you didn't see Merantau, then you missed an incredible martial arts movie.
Now both films are a bit on the dark side when it comes to thematic tone and subject matter. I must also say that they are two of the most violent movies that I have seen in recent memory. So violent in fact, that I am not sure how they filmed some of the scenes without actually killing some of their stunt crew!
The Raid starts off with a SWAT team attacking a 30 story apartment building that is owned by a local crime lord in Jakarta. The problem is that this particular crime lord gives refuge to anyone who needs to lay low and avoid the police. Thus he has a small army of people willing to defend this hide-away. There are a few people who have nothing to do with the drug dealers, manufacturers, and weapons dealers that live there, presumably because they lived there before all this and couldn't afford to leave.
It doesn't take long for the action to heat up once they get inside the building. The tension gets high as they start to meet various thugs in the halls. Alas, this is where it is best to say you need to see what happens for yourself. There are certain dynamics that occur between the characters that, if I were to go on, would give away certain plot points to the movie. And yes, it does have a story.
While they may not find that they have to fight through all 30 levels, they do have to fight through a lot. I will say that I enjoyed both the tactical thinking of the group and their use of weapons, as well as the hand-to-hand combat sequences, but in the end it's those martial arts sequences that steal the show every time. You couldn't ask for a better movie night than this!
Now both films are a bit on the dark side when it comes to thematic tone and subject matter. I must also say that they are two of the most violent movies that I have seen in recent memory. So violent in fact, that I am not sure how they filmed some of the scenes without actually killing some of their stunt crew!
The Raid starts off with a SWAT team attacking a 30 story apartment building that is owned by a local crime lord in Jakarta. The problem is that this particular crime lord gives refuge to anyone who needs to lay low and avoid the police. Thus he has a small army of people willing to defend this hide-away. There are a few people who have nothing to do with the drug dealers, manufacturers, and weapons dealers that live there, presumably because they lived there before all this and couldn't afford to leave.
It doesn't take long for the action to heat up once they get inside the building. The tension gets high as they start to meet various thugs in the halls. Alas, this is where it is best to say you need to see what happens for yourself. There are certain dynamics that occur between the characters that, if I were to go on, would give away certain plot points to the movie. And yes, it does have a story.
While they may not find that they have to fight through all 30 levels, they do have to fight through a lot. I will say that I enjoyed both the tactical thinking of the group and their use of weapons, as well as the hand-to-hand combat sequences, but in the end it's those martial arts sequences that steal the show every time. You couldn't ask for a better movie night than this!
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