The Stormriders

I heard how great this Hong Kong flick, so I was really happy to find a copy of it at my video store. Unfortunately, at the time of my rental, I didn't know that the U.S. video/DVD distributor hacked out about THIRTY MINUTES from the original running time! What a mess! The movie made absolutely no sense!

Still, I could see enough in this butchered print to indicate that the full uncut version must be fabulous (and make a heck of a lot more sense!) So I think it's safe for me to recommend you see it - though ONLY if you can see the uncut version!

Stormriders was a movie that was not highly publicised. After a friend recommended it I popped it into my player with no real expectations.

From the opening credits it grabbed my attention. The music was excellent and it had a hi-tech appearance that belayed my fears that it was yet another low budget Hong Kong B-grade martial arts flick.

The story progressed rather well and I became entranced in the subtleties of the plot. It flowed well from start to finish and had very little confusion that I find occurs a lot in HK movies. The action scenes while very 'Fantasy', were well balanced and not cheap. In general, Stormriders possesses a fantastic mix of stunts, CGA and musical score and will please.

I have seen both the 128 min version in Chinese with subtitles, and the 91 min English dubbed version. The only serious critical comment I have with the 128 min Chinese version is that the subtitles were a little small.

However watch the 91 min version at your peril!! Its missing so many scenes that it becomes so watered down that it becomes farcical. The main characters English dubbed voices don't suit the chars: Striding Cloud (Aaron Kwok)loses his essential moodiness, Jestor becomes a real on screen joke and Mud-Buddha loses his credibility as the all seeing prophet. In general you miss out on so many lovely little tidbits especially from Qi Shu (Muse) and the plot suffers terribly as you are forever fighting to catch up on what the heck is going on. You'll find yourself saying 'Hang on..!!', 'How the heck...', 'Woah, why is that..' etc.

When comparing 'Stormriders'(128min version) with 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', there is no comparison. It made me wonder why the latter received so much publicity and awards and Stormriders received nothing. It is seriously like comparing 'chalk and cheese'.

However, the 91min version of Stormriders I would rate 3/10 and that is being 'very' generous. Seriously - 128min version or nothing.

To this day, Stormriders (128 min)is up there with my very favourite all time action/martial arts movies. See it, I bet it will endear to you too:)

I heard about in Kung Fu/Qigong magazine and finally got to see it in 2000. It fully lives up to the hype that surrounded it. Watching this makes you wonder what the Street Fighter movie would've looked like if it were done right. For those of you who prefer American action films because "the special effects aren't cool enough" no longer have a reason to "b & moan" anymore. My main problem is the same as others who've watched this film: sometimes the effects overshadow the fighting. But don't let that stop you from seeing this one. Plus it's nice to see Sonny Chiba again. I wonder if that means there'll be more Jademan Comics adaptations in the future.

I really liked this movie,and both leads were perfect in there roles.

this is a action fantasy with lots of cool but hoky special effects and almost non stop action.

Great fighting scenes and decent special effects.your 12 to 15 year olds will love it as will most si-fi/fantasy/kung-fu buffs.

This was very entertaining to watch. The special effects are great as fight scenes giving the characters super powers. The story is not hard to follow and the whole concept of fate is key. Conquer (played by Sonny Chiba) is the antagonist who's someone you do NOT mess with. I think it's his deep voice though that gives him that real evil aura. I really didn't find myself disliking his character which, again, is credit to Sonny. He's just a really cool baddie.

Wind and Cloud are really cool to watch. Their powers are amazing to see and they can deal a lot of damage. Interesting triangle involved too. One thing that films like this do is focus too much on the effects and disregard the acting. Storm Riders gives you two great warriors: Wind is strong, but kind hearted and caring. Cloud is unpredictable and has a tough demeanor. Give credit to Aaron Kwok who gives a great performance. His blank look stare totally defines his character. Hey, add Kristy Yang and Shu Qi, you can't lose!!

Definitely one worth watching.