![]() ![]() Still, Lau brings visual elan to much of the pic, and both Kwok and Cheng, with their flashing-eyed looks, long hair and designer leather duds, impressively incarnate the spirit of the manga heroes. It’s a common problem in adapting sprawling Chinese swordplay yarns, and one not solved here by Wong. The doctor and his daughter are suddenly introduced an hour in, an interesting early character (Mud Buddha) is abandoned, Sword Saint is almost completely unbackgrounded, and many others hover vaguely on the sidelines. planned his death.įaced with a manga that’s been running for nine years, with no conclusion in sight, scripter Manfred Wong adapted only the first third, but still has problems fully fleshing out many of the participants. dispatches Wind to get some magical stones, guarded by a CG fire wolf, to help him in his imminent duel with the Sword Saint (Anthony Wong). Luckily, the wounded Cloud is cared for by Muse (Taiwanese nymphette Shu Qi), tomboy daughter of an herbalist doctor who generously gives Cloud his own left arm so Cloud can fight another day. In a duel between the two guys, Charity is accidentally killed, and Cloud later loses his arm in a fight with L.C. pairs the grown Wind (Cheng) off with his daughter, Charity (Kristy Yang), much to the chagrin of Cloud (Aaron Kwok, with electric blue hair), who actually slept with her first. promptly kidnaps the kids, and a decade later, the real story begins.įollowing some nonsense involving a quest for a magical sword forged by Cloud’s father (Yu Rongguang), L.C. They will help him, 10 years hence, in a duel with his only remaining threat, the Sword Saint. ![]() Opening 20 minutes pack in a lot of plot, with martial arts king Lord Conqueror (Japanese vet Sonny Chiba) informed by cringing acolytes that he can remain invincible for the first half of his life by adopting two young disciples, Wind and Cloud, currently young kids. Unfortunately, as the film progresses, the f/x become more conventionally centered on showing the characters’ magic powers. Initial reels hew closely to the story’s comic-book origins, with some striking dissolves between computer-generated images and real actors and sets, creating a unique world somewhere between manga and cinema. Shooting on “Riders” began in May 1997 in Sichuan province, China subsequent CGI work was undertaken by H.K. Film’s look has none of the hand-held looseness of the street-punk series. After cranking out six “Young and Dangerous” pics in less than three years, “Riders” reps a change of pace for cinematographer-turned-director Lau, even though “Y&D” was also drawn from a manga and the present movie re-teams him with “Y&D” star Ekin Cheng. ![]()
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