Rama's Screen

Let’s forget that 12 Rounds, Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li, Dragon Ball Evolution, and worse yet Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen ever existed shall we?! Goes to show that not all kung fu fighting, explosives, VFX, and high speed chase always work. Action movies require more than that, it takes more to be badass. The choreography needs to be creative and stylized, it needs to be impressive. Some action movies don’t require a solid story but in some cases, a story can make or break an action movie. Here’s my list of 10 Best Action Movies Of 2009, in order of awesomeness, after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

The master of Asian Action flick, John Woo is back and as fierce as ever! RED CLIFF is a compliment to the art of war. It’s cunning, clever, merciless, stylized and entertaining. Don’t expect Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this is not an Ang Lee presentation, nobody is walking on trees… Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to check out that epic period piece RED CLIFF this fall and see what the buzz is all about but frankly, I want director John Woo to return to pure fire power hardcore action. At point, there were rumors about THE KILLER, the original version was bloody awesome, and then there’s that CALIBER adaptation that was announced last year but nothing has gone into production since.
Talking to Movieline, Woo revealed 2 passion projects that he wants to do next and they’ll be his first English language films since Paycheck (2004)

“I still have two projects that I like very much,” Woo said. “One is trying to remake a French classic called Le Samouraï.” That news may surprise Woo fans, since the director already mounted a near-remake of Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 crime drama with his Chow Yun-Fat starrer The Killer. However, twenty years have passed since the release of The Killer, and as Woo explained, “I want to make it into a modern film.”

As for the second project, it has something in common with Red Cliff, said Woo. “The other is also a historical period film: Marco Polo.” He laughed as he revealed that while the ancient Chinese story of the Battle of Red Cliff has long dominated his thoughts, he’s been just as interested in the tales of explorer Marco Polo and his relationship with Kublai Khan. “It’s one of my favorite stories,” he said.

The original 1967 Frech film Le Samourai is about a perfectionist Assassin who never gets caught. He lives in solitary with no friends. But one night, when he shoots an owner of a nightclub, a eyewitness sees him in the act. Things get more complicated when his employer tries to have him killed and the police is actively tracking him down.
This will be a good Woo movie, this could be a good reunion with John Travolta (Broken Arrow, Face/Off)

* Here’s the old trailer for Le Samourai

If you wanna see several awesome cinematic set pieces, then check out this new official domestic trailer for RED CLIFF, released by Magnet, via Apple. The epic action/drama movie, initially titled Chi Bi, actually already opened in Asia last year but it will finally reach VOD and theaters this fall. To me, John Woo’s best movie ever has always been The Killer (1989) but could RED CLIFF be his masterpiece?

Legendary action cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic HARD BOILED with this epic historical drama set based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. RED CLIFF opens with power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeking permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush two troublesome warlords that stand in his way, Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). As the expedition gets under way, Cao Cao’s troops rain destruction on Liu Bei’s army, forcing the latter to retreat. Liu Bei’s military strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) knows that their only hope for survival is to form an alliance with rival warlord Sun Quan, and reaches out to Sun Quan’s trusted advisor, war hero Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s fast approaching, brutal army, the rebel warlords band together to mount a heroic campaign unrivalled in history that changes the face of China forever. A massive hit in Asia and the most expensive Asian film production of all time, RED CLIFF is a breathtaking war epic that marks the triumphant return of John Woo.

RED CLIFF is the third film in Magnet Releasing’s “Six Shooter Film Series V2,” a series of six films focusing specifically on action cinema, featuring some of the most exciting action films available today from around the globe. RED CLIFF will be preceded by ONG BAK 2: THE BEGINNING and BRONSON, with three other films to follow over the coming months including DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM and THE WARLORDS.

RED CLIFF will premiere on VOD, XBOX Live and Amazon Oct. 22nd and opens in theatres November 20th.

The Following Info Is From Magnet Releasing:

Magnet Announces SIX SHOOTER FILM SERIES V2

Second Volume of Series to include ONG BAK 2: THE BEGINNING, BRONSON, RED CLIFF, DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM and THE WARLORDS

New York – September 24, 2009 – The Wagner/Cuban Companies’ Magnet Releasing announced today that it is kicking off a second volume of its popular SIX SHOOTER FILM SERIES with ONG BAK 2: THE BEGINNING, available this Friday on VOD systems nationwide.

Where the first SIX SHOOTER FILM SERIES took a broad look at smart international genre fare, serving as a launching pad for such critical favorites as… Read the rest of this entry »