Synopsis:

Lord Conquer (Sonny Chiba) is a martial arts master and evil warlord of many provinces. In consulting with "Mud Buddha" a prominent soothsayer, Conquer learns that if he can locate and train the two boys whose "star charts" bear certain telling signs, his "Conquer Clan" will be invincible for the next ten years. Conquer , obsessed with nothing but power, eagerly seeks out his new pupils. Having one of the boys' father killed and beating the other child's in battle, Lord Conquer assembles his new found "family" and begins training his children "Wind" and "Cloud" for the tasks ahead. As the boys grow, so does their strength and power and indeed the prophecy rings true as the Conquer Clan stands alone as the most powerful clan in all the world! These warriors have no idea of their true identity. Believing themselves orphaned and raised by Conquer, they believe they owe him their lives. Charity (Daughter of Conquer) grew up with the boys and now as an adult finds them both very attractive and worthy of her affections. Where Wind finds her exceptionally beautiful and enjoys a kiss or two from her here and there,Cloud has fallen in love with Charity and believes Charity to be his alone. When Conquer announces that Charity will marry Wind, all hell breaks loose and the bond between the two "brothers" seems broken. The ten year prophecy fulfilled, Conquer's reign begins to teeter as ordained, and Cloud and Wind unite to war with the one the once called father! Storm Riders is an intensely beautiful production that benefits from a very cool storyline and some absolutely incredible special effects and fight sequences.

Audio/Video:

The audio is a very active DD5.1 Mandarin language track that absolutely rocks! Every speaker in your HT will be put to use as the events onscreen are translated into a very intense aural presentation. The dialogue is clear and easily understood. An additional treat is the inclusion of the Dolby Digital "Helicopter" sequence (where the helicopter buzzes through the cityscape and ends up at the movie theater) which is an extremely active presentation and quite a nice bit of ear candy! The video is just as stunningly beautiful as the audio segment. The colors are rich and vibrant, the blacks are deep and true and the fleshtones are accurate. There is no bleeding of any colors and this widescreen transfer is spotless! Crystal clear presentation!

Extras:

There are none.

Overall:

Storm Riders is a very entertaining film that relies heavily on fantasy-style martial arts. Wire work and copious amounts of eye candy, all make up what amounts to an exciting two hours on the couch! Based upon an immensely popular Hong Kong cartoon, (Fung Won) Storm Riders boasts some of the coolest fights and visuals I have ever seen in a Hong Kong martial arts film! If you are looking for a more traditional martial arts movie say on the order of "Enter the Dragon", you may not find this to be your cup of tea. However if you enjoy a liberal dose of the fanciful and imaginary with your martial arts, you'll find very little displeasing with Storm Riders! At the time of this review, DVDTalk.com and HKFlix offered a promotional featuring Storm Riders and The Sword for a relatively low price! I took them up on the deal without having seen either title and I have to say that I am more than pleased with each movie! Should you get the chance to check these out, I Cannot recommend them enough!