DRAGONWOLF – The Blu Review

What’s more fun than playing Pong with a blind man? Watching DRAGONWOLF, one the most bizarre, surreal, and silliest martial arts films I’ve seen. The latest Blu-ray release from Well-Go USA, takes place in a fictional Thailand city dubbed ‘The Devil’s Cauldron’ and focuses on two hit men who are led astray by the beauty of a mysterious, but shag-happy, young woman. The two young men possess the intellect and ferocity to flourish, carve a name for themselves as the most efficient and unstoppable hit men. Side by side, these two brothers are the deadliest killers, feared by even the most evil criminals. But when a woman of rare beauty mysteriously enters the brother’s lives she blinds them with her sweet promises and turns them against each other, resulting in an epic battle that threatens to bring the Devil’s Cauldron to the brink of destruction.

The details aren’t important, since the plot doesn’t matter. All it really does is serve as an excuse to get the characters into locations where they can beat the hell out of each other. DRAGONWOLF was made for an obviously low budget and the endless shoot-outs and martial arts mayhem seem to take place in the same abandoned, derelict buildings. The kung fu mayhem is decently choreographed (by star Kazu Tang) but director Raimund Huber’s film goes on for an excruciating 122 minutes, wearing out its welcome quickly. DRAGONWOLF has the most stomach-churning, ear bleeding, life-questioning dubbing jobs I’ve seen (or heard, to be more precise). I always watch Asian DVDs with the English dub when possible (yet I never do that with European films). This time I was tempted to switch to subs and Thai sound but wasn’t given the option! On the plus side, DRAGONWOLF features plentiful nudity and sex with Russian (?) actress Macha Polivka particularly easy on the eyes. DRAGONWOLF is brainless and painless entertainment.

Well-Go USA’s DRAGONWOLF Blu-ray hits the streets July 29^th with a somewhat consistent 1080p/VC-1 encoded image with a 1:1.85 aspect ratio. The film offers something of a stylized look that doesn’t stand out as too odd or distracting, but it also doesn’t lend itself very well to top-flight high definition eye candy, either. DRAGONWOLF is a very dark movie which lends a unique, but very cinematic, look and feel to the film. Primary colors, in which the film is bathed, are stable but sometimes veer towards being a bit too bright. The dark nights on the Bangkok (standing in for ‘The Devil’s Cauldron’) streets are punctuated nicely by spots of neon color that offer the best bit of vibrancy throughout the image. Poor dubbing aside, the soundtrack creates a nice subtle atmosphere in many scenes, bringing various places and events to life. Extras are nonexistent.

DRAGONWOLF is a lot of fun but recommended mostly  to undemanding fans of martials arts, blood, and boobs.

Visit Well Go USA’s site HERE

http://www.wellgousa.com/