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How is this for a change of pace - a martial arts flick from Vietnam! Johnny Nguyen (TOM YUM GOONG) stars as a Lieutenant enforcer for the French occupiers in the 1920s. He ends up sympathizing with the indigenous rebels and helping their cause when he falls for the leader's daughter (Thanh Van Ngo). This is a really entertaining film because it balances fantastic martial arts sequences (choreographed by lead Nguyen) against some good drama. The real standout here is former 21 JUMP STREET-er Dustin Nguyen as the main bad guy. He has a real Simon Yam-like presence and appears to do a lot of his own fighting. My only complaint would be the film does tend to drag during the middle section set in a work camp.

The Rebel is a slam-bang martial arts romp that has pretty much everything you want in a cinematic experience. Excitement, romance, escapes, betrayals and much much more all jammed into just over an hour and a half of breakneck pacing. Set in the seldom used backdrop of France's colonization of Vietnam, the film starts off almost immediately with a chaotic assassination setpiece and doesn't let up from there. The characters are believable and I held a rooting interest for them throughout the running time of the film. Some of the action is so fast-paced and so well-choreographed that you'd swear these crazy guys were fighting for realsies. If you're looking for your daily fix of action, look no further than The Rebel.

I'm half Vietnamese and a fan of Johnny Nguyen. I was looking for a really good Vietnamese movie and I found out about "The Rebel". I was blown away. Johnny Nguyen gave an excellent performance in this movie, as well as Ngo Thanh Van, and showed his true abilities as both an actor and a martial artist. Between fast paced action sequences (which specialize in the Vietnamese martial art of "Vovinam") and the powerful emotional scenes depicting the struggles of Vietnam during the French Colonial rule, this movie definitely delivers a punch.

(Fun Fact: Johnny Nguyen, Dustin Nguyen, and Ngo Thanh Van all dubbed their own voices in English on the 2-Disc DVD.)

The most expensive Vietnamese film ever (it cost USD3 million to make - probably the lunch budget of Stallone's Rambo) is a rousing action/romance expertly directed by the Vietnamese/American filmmaker Charlie Nguyen. The old-fashioned story is about the 1922 rebellion against French colonialists and follows a familiar but pleasing path. However, if you are a martial arts fan, the film will be of particular interest for its excellent action scenes featuring little known Vietnamese martial art, Vo Thuat. Originally based on Northern Chinese Wushu (Chinese were the first superpower to invade this luckless land), Vietnamese martial arts system has developed incorporating the elements from the fighting styles of neigbouring countries. For many centuries it was the main form of defense for these people because their invaders (Chinese, French, Japanese) stripped them of all weapons. Both leads Johnnie Nguyen and the gorgeous actor/singer/model Vo Thanh Thuy are accomplished practitioners of the style and their prowess is obvious in the film. Dustin Nguyen (no relation, every second person is called Nguyen in Vietnam) makes a worthy villain with his own expertise in various Asian styles.

A must for martial arts fans. It will also be enjoyed by those who like a rousing action/romance.

I'm totally impressed and surprised. To be honest I hadn't seen any good Vietnamese action movie at all in my entire life until I watched this one. The story gets more and more interesting as it goes toward the end. The martial art is awesome, gravity realistic unlike those Hong Kong suedo martial art movies where you can always feel the "invisible" wire on the actor's back. The actors in this movie are so beautiful and sexy; especially Ngo Thanh Van, she got the best look ever. Hopefully more movies like this will come out. I wanna learn more about Vietnamese history.

When this movie is on DVD?