Member ToryK Posted December 18, 2014 Member Share Posted December 18, 2014 Isn't Snowpiercer a 2013 flick (though it may have been released in 2014 in some markets) ? Personally, I put The Raid 2 among my top flicks of the year as well - not sure of the order though. It was released in Korea in 2013, yeah. But the States didn't get their hands on it until this year, so I'm chucking it in there as a 2014 movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member SamSeed Posted December 18, 2014 Member Share Posted December 18, 2014 Not a bad list, wouldn't have put Interstellaer at 1 though, Boyhood deserves that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted January 3, 2015 Member Share Posted January 3, 2015 As usual, I'm a bit late with non-Japanese films The Raid 2: Berandal (Indonedia, 2014) [DCP] - 4/5 The bastards edited this down for R15 in Japan (just like last year Maniac was censored because the distributor wanted to target teenage girls) but I was thankfully able to catch it uncut in Tokyo (limited R18 release). It's a fine film, as has been stated by nearly everyone, so I don't need to repeat the praise, rather I will point out the few small gripes I had with the film. 1) It's a good storyline for an action film, but to call this a truly great gangster film like some have? Nah, as a gangster story it's merely functional, hardly original (e.g. the scene in the snow, and what precedes it, is clichéd beyond belief). 2) Why edit the baseball/hammer/assassin fight all into one scene? That's three fine scenes losing some of their impact when they are served in hectic fast food style instead of allowing them to stand on their own feet. 3) The CGI blood is better than usual here, but it still looks pretty CGI... 4) As far as the visuals and soundtrack goes, the film is again functional, but certainly not masterclass. 5) They could have done a bit more with the Japanese yakuza gang. If they went through the trouble of hiring Japanese actors to play Japanese yakuza, they could have written some more yakuza-specific twists to the storyline to make the gang more original and given them more than 5 minutes of screentime. But yeah, small gripes aside, it's a fine film and I liked it slightly better than the first movie. Theatre ad for the R15 version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted May 29, 2015 Moderator Share Posted May 29, 2015 For anyone who criminally hasn't picked these up yet - the Korean Blu-ray releases will be hitting shelves on May 28th - and kimchidvd has some exclusive limited editions which, in terms of goodies and pretty packaging, look like they're going to be hard to beat - The Raid: Redemption - Steelbook Lenticular Limited Edtion Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20624 The Raid: Redemption - Steelbook Fullslip Black Version Limited Edition Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20625 The Raid 2: Berandal - Steelbook Lenticular Limited Edition Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20626 The Raid 2: Berandal - Steelbook Fullslip Black Version Limited Edition Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20627 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted May 30, 2015 Member Share Posted May 30, 2015 For anyone who criminally hasn't picked these up yet - the Korean Blu-ray releases will be hitting shelves on May 28th - and kimchidvd has some exclusive limited editions which, in terms of goodies and pretty packaging, look like they're going to be hard to beat - The Raid: Redemption - Steelbook Lenticular Limited Edtion Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20624 The Raid: Redemption - Steelbook Fullslip Black Version Limited Edition Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20625 The Raid 2: Berandal - Steelbook Lenticular Limited Edition Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20626 The Raid 2: Berandal - Steelbook Fullslip Black Version Limited Edition Blu-ray - http://www.kimchidvd.com/en/good/goods.jsp?good_seq=20627 This is amazing!!! I've already owned several copies of these two movies. I'm going to double dipped on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted May 30, 2015 Member Share Posted May 30, 2015 Now those are some nice releases. I personally think this film should have used this tune: y7qEmQOnHas I mean... The lyrics would fit Hammer Girl perfectly, since they deal with a hammer-wielding, murdering psycho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted June 22, 2015 Member Share Posted June 22, 2015 nevermind, they responded back with clarity, lolololol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheGrimReaper Posted June 23, 2015 Member Share Posted June 23, 2015 I revisit both movies on Blu Ray last night - I wait until I got them both in my hands to have a quality time after a stressful day at work - aside from a bit dodgy picture on the first one, all else was simply a symphony of punches and kicks with great impact over my martial arts movies fan living inside me Now that I begun to re-shape my DVD collection into a Blu Ray I rediscover so many different angles to a movies I saw already nearly hundreds of times (after the 65th time of watching Project A I lost count) that I enjoy myself immencely while viewing a familiar scene after familiar scene and I simply can't take my eyes off the screen. I got the UK release of both The Raid movies and I am glad that I add them to my collection which is growing bigger and better (once I have some spare time I'll update my album here). All the best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member FightingFool Posted February 10, 2022 Member Share Posted February 10, 2022 Saw it first time ~6 years ago and while remember liking it then probably did not fully appreciate before revisit some days ago. Cop going undercover and infiltrating into crime family does not win any originality awards but movie is so fascinating even at 2,5 hours wish it would have been double that. Action is incredible while main focus is (lightning fast) strikes there is at times few kicks thrown. And lots weapons..machete, baseballs,pipes,bottles... 2 Standout scenes are girl in subway armed with 2 hammers tackle ~dozen bodyguards with knives. And hitman who has served family over 30 years before killers appears understands he has been betrayed. That moment is superb film making.. I really can`t think better martial arts movie set in modern day. 5/5. Hopefully Raid 3 will be made eventually. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member WangYu Posted February 10, 2022 Member Share Posted February 10, 2022 I saw the raid 2 twice in 2 days when it show3d up on my local streaming service about 7 years ago. I thought the plot was confusing and I remember being disappointed about it as the action was stellar. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member FightingFool Posted February 10, 2022 Member Share Posted February 10, 2022 3 hours ago, WangYu said: I saw the raid 2 twice in 2 days when it show3d up on my local streaming service about 7 years ago. I thought the plot was confusing and I remember being disappointed about it as the action was stellar. I thought plot was otherwise clear but thing when supervisor of Rama said mission is now to catch rogue cops that was left unresolved. Or not if their leader in the end was in same table with crippled one and Uco...still that was confusing..Pity gangwar shootout was deleted scene, good stuff. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member DiP Posted August 4, 2022 Member Share Posted August 4, 2022 (edited) Rewatched it for the first time since its' release. What draws me into the movie is simply how the story is set up and pulled off. Evans really knows how to enhance scenes in his movies with his extreme attention-to-detail aspect of filming, and cinematic tricks to intensify tension. That's the biggest asset of his movies: His overall directing skills. The story may be clichéd and is compiled by various classic movie references but it gives off great effect and stands out in the long run. The movie was created with a much bigger budget too, which is easy to spot with how things were economical in the first movie. Here, they went on spending the budget making the movie look lavish and refined. Simply put, Evans hit the jackpot. Considering how people still talk and hype the action almost 10 years later... I still find it something of a mixed bag overall. I applaud the Indonesian action-style with the infusion of brutality, viscerality and gore in the fight scenes. That's one trait that was and still is missing in action movies back then and even today. But the ACTUAL fight choreography, for the most part, is repetitive. There was a need of certain vital, distinct details that would leave good impressions while the time runs. The camerawork and editing is spot on but it's pointless if you only stick with the same moves and tricks from set-piece to set-piece. Which leads me to my point: The performers. Some impresses, others don't. Yayan Ruhian, Very Tri Yulisman, and Julie Estelle truly shine as performers in the movie. I have no problem with everyone else (kudos to Iko Uwais and Cecep Arif Rahman for that final fight scene but it's overrated) but the aforementioned names stole the spotlight for me. A sequel that tops its' predecessor in pretty much every aspect of film-making but as a martial arts action movie, still leaves me less impressed than I would want to. Edited August 4, 2022 by DiP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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