Member cultlabs Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 It makes sense if you want to get your DVD in Tesco! Basically, if you're a member of this forum, you probably know your martial arts films at the very least and many members will also involved in some kind of martial arts activity themselves. You are the converted and don't need any pointers to find your favourite movies. You know your stuff and have an informed opinion on action cinema. However, most people are casual buyers and a great many mainstream punters are iffy about subtitles and world cinema in general. Adding the word warrior basically smoothes these worries over and makes it easier to get titles into the mainstream retailers A few very powerful companies have the lions share of the UK market and DVD distributors sometimes have to make a minor compromise in order to get the title on shelves. The only way to keep these DVDs coming in an increasingly squeezed market is to appeal outside the niche market. Merantau is a great cross over movie. It's accessable and shockingly violent, two very easy selling points. so that's why it's had the name change, in order to increase it's appeal I'm guessing the Warrior is a reference to Warrior King. Outside of Kung Fu Cinema circles, most people won't be well versed with the genre, but they'll know Tony Jaa unless they've been living under a rock. His films and style are nominally similar to Merantau (to the untrained eye) so what better way of associating the movie with something familiar. It's classic exploitation movie marketing in a way. The Italian horror film makers of the 70s and 80s constantly swapped their titles about, with many movies being retitled in the States in order to ride the coat tails of a successful hit. This is a less outrageous example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tantheman Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 Hi blueskies, do you know where I can buy or download broken path? It sounds amazing. I really liked Merantau, some of the camerawork like the 360 degrees shots were great, and the guy has talent. I don't think people should be too eager to call him a Tony Jaa clone, the fighting style and choreography is very different I think. Like there are quite intricate exchanges which you don't get so much with Tony Jaa. The bloody westerners were shite though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 I've seen poorer acting from Westerners in Eastern movies. Japanese zombie movie Junk was the worst offender for me. The Japanese actors reading phonetic cards held up behind the cameras were more convincing than the American they had in that film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 I've got a load of Merantau behind the scenes video blogs that I've added to Youtube. Here's the first three: BEGINNINGS CAMERA CHOREOGRAPHY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BLfan Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 Cutlabs - Is there still plans to release this on Blu Ray or is it going to be a DVD only release in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 I've got a load of Merantau behind the scenes video blogs that I've added to Youtube. Here's the first three: BEGINNINGS CAMERA CHOREOGRAPHY cult labs, are these extras on the DVD ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member VenomsFan Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 That stuff has been on youtube for over a year now. There is an official youtube channel for Merantau check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted May 19, 2010 Member Share Posted May 19, 2010 That stuff has been on youtube for over a year now. There is an official youtube channel for Merantau check it out. I'll wait and see what extras are on the DVD. It would be nice if all the promotional material available on the internet is on the DVD. I find it highly disappointing when DVDs don't have the disc full of extras when there's been tons made and released on the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted May 21, 2010 Member Share Posted May 21, 2010 Extra Features on the Merantau Warrior disc... Over 60 minutes of exclusive extras: Deleted Scenes Behind the Scenes Making of Feature Theatrical Trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted May 21, 2010 Member Share Posted May 21, 2010 That stuff has been on youtube for over a year now. There is an official youtube channel for Merantau check it out. I know, I just need all the promo materials I can lay my hands on! In most places I'm telling people about the film for the first time, so those video blogs are really handy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted May 21, 2010 Member Share Posted May 21, 2010 It's a vanilla disc I'm afraid That is hugely disappointing especially with so much material available. I'm going to have to decide whether to cancel my pre-order and maybe wait for the region 1. Do you know why distributors chose to leave them off? Does anyone know of any other English subtitles version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member dragonfist Posted May 21, 2010 Member Share Posted May 21, 2010 I checked out a fair amount of this film. Like a lot of people have said, the fights have next to no impact or brutal force behind them. More like an incredible theater display. I'm definitely going to watch the whole thing though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted May 24, 2010 Member Share Posted May 24, 2010 That is hugely disappointing especially with so much material available. I'm going to have to decide whether to cancel my pre-order and maybe wait for the region 1. Do you know why distributors chose to leave them off? Does anyone know of any other English subtitles version DVD extras info ammended: Over 60 minutes of exclusive extras: Deleted Scenes Behind the Scenes Making of Feature Theatrical Trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member blue_skies Posted May 24, 2010 Member Share Posted May 24, 2010 DVD extras info ammended: Over 60 minutes of exclusive extras: Deleted Scenes Behind the Scenes Making of Feature Theatrical Trailer That's good news cult labs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted May 25, 2010 Member Share Posted May 25, 2010 Indeed! I posted a few more of the Production Diary videos: http://cult-labs.com/a/Warrior-blogs2 On the Cult Labs Myspace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Improvisation Posted May 25, 2010 Member Share Posted May 25, 2010 I saw the trailer for this a while back and noticed that it looked like it was trying really, really, really hard to be Ong-Bak. (There have been tons of comparisons made between the two). I just hope it can shed those comparisons and turn this new silat guy into a superstar in his own right. There are too many one-hit wonders in this genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member BaronK Posted May 25, 2010 Member Share Posted May 25, 2010 " Like a lot of people have said, the fights have next to no impact or brutal force behind them." So you're looking for movies to be full of brutal force? While on the surface it looks like an OB type movie, I found the action to be done in more of Jack's style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted June 3, 2010 Member Share Posted June 3, 2010 Latest MERANTAU WARRIOR review and a fight scene clip HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted June 4, 2010 Member Share Posted June 4, 2010 As I was promoting Bodyguards and Assassins in another thread, I gave away a prize copy to one of the contributors at random. I'll do the same here (UK only though sorry). So any thoughts on the movie, add them and, as long as you don't mind giving me a postal address, I'll mail out a DVD to one lucky member at the end of release week (the movies out 7th June). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kingofkungfu2002 Posted June 4, 2010 Member Share Posted June 4, 2010 I've already got mine ordered from HMV on Monday, so it'd be pointless putting my name in the hat for that giveaway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ben Posted June 7, 2010 Member Share Posted June 7, 2010 The setting of the film is similar to "Ong Bak" but otherwise, apart from a slight facial resemblance, it could just be one of any other number of martial arts films.. Iko Uwais does have skills though and does okay with the drama as far as a martial arts actor is concerned Consider though that this is his first film, and, unlike Tony Jaa, I'm not even sure how much film work Iko has done before, if any even.. from what I heard he's starting working towards a new movie now, so in time we'll see what he is capable of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted June 9, 2010 Member Share Posted June 9, 2010 MERANTAU WARRIOR is out this week. Free copy for someone on Sunday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted June 24, 2010 Member Share Posted June 24, 2010 Woefully late, Apologies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cultlabs Posted June 24, 2010 Member Share Posted June 24, 2010 Hello BLfan! If you want a free copy of the DVD, drop me a PM. I've got a copy to give away so I picked you out from the people who've contributed to this thread. Completely random choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OpiumKungFuCracker Posted June 25, 2010 Member Share Posted June 25, 2010 Hello BLfan! If you want a free copy of the DVD, drop me a PM. I've got a copy to give away so I picked you out from the people who've contributed to this thread. Completely random choice. Sent you a PM!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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