{"id":2249,"date":"2010-12-19T11:58:20","date_gmt":"2010-12-19T16:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=2249"},"modified":"2011-01-24T14:03:11","modified_gmt":"2011-01-24T19:03:11","slug":"dvd-flashback-zu-warriors-aka-the-legend-of-zu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scifisaturdaynight.com\/?p=2249","title":{"rendered":"DVD Flashback: ZU WARRIORS (aka THE LEGEND OF ZU)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Title:\u00a0 ZU WARRIROS (aka THE LEGEND OF ZU)<\/p>\n

(2001)<\/p>\n

Produced and Directed by:\u00a0 Tsui Hark<\/p>\n

Ever been to the fair?\u00a0 A carnival?\u00a0 The circus?\u00a0 You\u2019re treated to a dazzling spectacle, but you don\u2019t exactly get to know the performers.\u00a0 Same thing goes for ZU WARRIORS, a film by Tsui Hark, often described as the \u201cDavid Lynch of Asian Cinema\u201d.\u00a0 More like the Blue Man Group of Asia, unless there\u2019s an even longer version of DUNE out there that Alan Smithee wouldn\u2019t put his name on. \u00a0 ZU WARRIORS is — surprise! — an ancient legend describing yet another ultimate battle of good versus evil.\u00a0 The good guys have a stereotypical wizened old man named White Eyebrows (who could really use a trimmer), along with a generic hero type and beautiful woman for the hero to love.\u00a0 They all fly around with swords and live for centuries, spending eternity honing their martial skills and looking enigmatically at each other.\u00a0 The bad guys consist of WETA\u2019s leftover special effects, including a \u201cblood monster\u201d who looks like Willy Wonka\u2019s chocolate river on a bad day, and Insomnia, a giant floaty skull made up of Stephen King\u2019s Langoliers and that talks — eerily — like a very young child.\u00a0 Now this demon has potential!\u00a0 However, you don\u2019t get to know anything about Insomnia, or anyone else, in this flick, and if there\u2019s one thing that Joss Whedon has taught us, it\u2019s that it\u2019s all about character development, baby.<\/p>\n

I believe in my heart that there is a plot buried somewhere in this film; perhaps you will be the lucky one to find it. \u00a0 ZU WARRIORS is cinematic cotton candy — heavy on the digital effects and fight scenes; not so much on the compelling characters or weighty script.\u00a0 If that\u2019s what you\u2019re in the mood for, then this is the flick for you!<\/p>\n

DVD available from our fine friends at Another Heaven<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Share this:<\/h3>