Legend Of The Tsunami Warrior (2008/MagNet/Magnolia Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B Extras: C+ Film: B-
After
endless costumed Asian epics with some action and martial arts, the big
surprise of Nonzee Mimibutr’s Legend Of
The Tsunami Warrior (2008) is that it is a throwback to the older fantasy
films whose fantasy was an aside to a solid, energetic action/quest plot like
the older Sinbad films and not the
lightweight fantasy of recent decades where we are supposed to sit in our seats
and act like airheads supposedly feeling good and warm in our hearts because
some magic is going to save us and in a shallow way at that.
Pirates
intend to invade three lands run by three queens, but they band together to
battle the invaders and the only think missing are stop-motion effects by Ray
Harryhausen. Minus the pretension of the
Spielberg/Lucas era by way of Disney and Lords
Of The Rings, the storyline can stick to the characters and that is where
the energy goes. That does not make this
groundbreaking, but everyone seems to be having fun making this and there are
the kinds of ins and outs we used to get in this genre all the time down to the
trusty black magic magician, strange ancient gadgets and other devices.
The
Fantasy genre is the most played out of any in recent decades, but Legend Of The Tsunami Warrior proves it
still has some life left in it when treated with intelligence instead of
sappiness and the audience is treated like they can handle darker material.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is not bad, but is also softer than it
should be throughout and may be at least in part an HD shoot. Still, it has a consistent look to it and the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Thai 5.1 lossless mix is even better with a solid
soundfield, interesting sound effects and decent dialogue recording. The English dub DTS-MA is also not bad, but
the Thai sounds more realistic. Extras
include Behind The Scenes footage and a Making
Of featurette.
- Nicholas Sheffo
