WAR
Starring:
Jet Li, Jason Statham, John Lone, Devon Aoki, Sung Kang, Mathew St. Patrick,
Nadine Velazquez and Luis Guzman
Director:
Philip G. Atwell
Running Time:
103 mins
Out to buy on DVD/Blu-Ray 04/02/08
"You'll start a war"
After losing his partner to an Asian assassin, Special Agent Jack Crawford (Statham) has become obsessed in tracking down the man simple known as Rogue (Li). As a war between the Chinese Triads and Japanese Yakuza brews, Rogue reappears after his trademark titanium shells with depleted uranium slugs. As Crawford investigates he discovers that Rogue is working for both sides, playing the two mafia forces against each other but is he positioning himself to take over or for them to destroy themselves.
The coming together of the West and the East's current best action stars should make action fans take notice but will they be going to War?
After appearing together in 'The One' in 2001, Jet Li and Jason Statham clash again this time with even more explosive results. While we never had Stallone, Segal, Van Damme or Schwarzenegger fight Jackie Chan and even though Bruce Lee fought Chuck Norris, this is really an East vs. West confrontation that we hoped for decades and for the most part, it delivers.
Jet Li's Hollywood career has never really took off or come anyway near his astonishing Hong Kong career. One of the best martial artists ever to grace the screen, as talented as Jackie Chan and as powerful as Bruce Lee, Jet Li has starred in some excellent Hong Kong period pictures but his Hollywood movies like 'The One', 'Cradle 2 the Grave', 'Unleashed', 'Kiss of the Dragon', 'Romeo Must Die' and even 'Lethal Weapon 4' have never really had that much on an impact with critics or at the box office. When you compare these to 'Hero' and his 'Once Upon a Time in China' movies, you can easily make the conclusion that Hollywood isn't using him to the best of his ability. 'War' gives him the change to address this but it still doesn't really push the Hong Kong superstar.
British actor Jason Statham has forged a career for himself as an unlikely action hero. After making his name as a cheeky Londoner in 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' and 'Snatch', producer Luc Besson transformed him into a martial arts machine in 'The Transporter' back in 2002. With 'Crank', 'The Italian Job' and 'Transporter 2' he cemented his place as Britain's biggest action star. 'War' gives him the chance to show what he can do against one of the best Asia has to offer and he steps up to the plate.
A story of revenge, 'War' tries its best to be an Asian mafia/police drama with a few twists and turns and a lot of action throw in for good measure. While it will never reach the heady heights of 'The Departed' or the 'Infernal Affairs' trilogy, the story is quite a good one for a traditional Hollywood action flick. An American confrontation between the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads forms the backdrop of a revenge movie with the Rogue character making each mafia group fight amongst themselves, manipulating them to his ultimate end game. This isn't the most complicated of plots but it works better than a lot of martial arts movies of a similar ilk.
'War' is a good piece of East vs. West chopsocky with a decent effort at a plot. While it might not be the epic that Jet Li fans expect from their Hong Kong superstar or as over the top as Jason Statham fans love, this is still good action entertainment and it is a joy to see two martial arts heavy weights fighting it out.
PICTURE & SOUND
Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.
BONUS FEATURES
Audio Commentary with director
Philip Atwell
The man at the helm provides an informative commentary about the production
of 'War'. With behind the scenes stories and revealing all the details
of the platitude of action sequences, this is a track that fans of the
action film should enjoy.
Audio Commentary with writers
Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory Bradley
The screenwriters talk passionately about the screenplay that they wrote
for Jet Li. They talk about the evolution of the script, Jason Statham
coming on board and the input from director Philip Atwell. This is another
good commentary from two very chatty friends.
Audio Trivia Track
Watch the movie with audio snippets from behind the scenes stories, production
details and contributions from Jet Li and Jason Statham.
The Action of War
Director Philip G. Atwell, screenwriters Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory
J. Bradley and stars Jet Li and Jason Statham take you behind the scenes
of the key action scenes from 'War'. Split into sections entitled 'Opening
sequence', 'Rogue reappears/Club carnage', 'Crawford/Rogue foot chase',
'Yakuza/Triad motorcycle brawl', 'Treehouse massacre', 'Crawford/Rogue
car chase', 'Rogue/Triad final showdown', 'Rogue/Yakuza final showdown'
and 'Crawford vs. Rogue', the featurette covers the story behind the scene,
the stunts and the characters.
Gag Reel (1.59 mins)
Watch Jet Li and Luis Guzman have fun on the set of 'War'
Deleted/Extended Scenes
Entitled 'Shadow of a doubt', 'Candle for Mr Shaw' and 'Thinks he's done',
these deleted and extended scenes suffer from the lack of a commentary
track or introduction to reveal why they were cut.
Scoring War (8.36 mins)
Director Philip G. Atwell and composer Brian Tyler take you through the
creative process of creating the score for 'War'.
Trailers
Previews of '3:10 to Yuma', 'In the Hand of the Gods', 'Good Luck Chuck'
and 'Earth'
OVERALL
The DVD treatment for 'War' is one that fans should enjoy. With two good commentaries and featurettes that cover most aspects of the film's production, this is a DVD package that fans will really enjoy.
DVD
The Transporter
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