That is about all there is. On the character side of the coin we first meet our hero, Rama (Iko Uwais), leaving his pregnant wife and going off to work. There is also a vow to bring someone home. Finally, the guy in charge of the raid might know more than he is letting on.
All right, with the story bits out of the way, sit back and enjoy some great fights and large amounts of violence. Now, it is hard to discuss this without using words that can get you all excited for it, and the last thing I want to do is hype it up too much for you. I know what overhype can do to expectations.
Let's just say that once the guns run out of bullets, there is a steady stream of inventively choreographed fights. There are some really hardcore fights and it does not look like anyone is pulling any punches. There are gauntlet style fights on hallways, one on one duels, two on one fights, and other permutations. Something to remember, while the fights are great, there are other inventive bits to see, this includes a variety of ways to get between floors that do not include stairs and avoiding detection after being cut through a wall. It is an action packed, visual feast.
The martial arts style in the movie is called Silat, an Indonesian style that reminded me of Muay Thai. It is a brutal looking style with lot so kicks and elbows and skilled use of bladed weapons. This was my first exposure to the style and hopefully not my last
Audio/Video. The DVD is presents the film it is original ratio of 1.78:1. It is an all right looking transfer but a far cry from the best I have seen. I cannot say I saw anything in the way of compression issues or other digital artifacts. The film lacks a lot of fine detail and what detail there is is lost in a lot of dark sequences. Much of it feels a bit muddy, bland, and lifeless. Some of the issue is likely the source as it was a low budget affair, but I would have liked it to look a little sharper.
Audio is represented by a 5.1 Dolby Digital track in the original Indonesion/Bahasa language. It is a solid track that puts the dialogue clearly in the center and fills everything else with plenty of gunfire, crunching fists and thunderous kicks. It is a solid track that does well to convey the action. There is also an English dub and it is not good. The dialogue is flat and the rest of the audio seems muffled. There is not a lot of dialogue so there is no real need for it.
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Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Yup. If you love Action/Martial Arts flicks then this is a must see. Very much reminded me of "A Rumble in the Bronx" without the comic relief. Granted, you are correct about the shallow story line,but,the acting was a grade above most films like these. Well done!