THE WARRIOR (1981)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 36 Seconds
Audio: English and Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 with English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Sisworo Gautama Putra
Cast: Barry Prima, Eva Arnaz, W.D. Mochtar, Dana Christina
The Warrior (1981) is an Indonesian fantasy-action/horror flick that stars Indonesian action hero Barry Prima (The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman), who portrays Jaka Sembung, a bad-ass Allah-loving freedom-fighter who is the leader of a rebellion against the oppressive Dutch colonialists, who are lead by the diabolical Capt. Van Shramm (Dicky Zulkarnaen, Virgins from Hell). When Jaka proves to be a continual thorn in the side of the Dutch occupiers they bring in some muscle by way of the gigantic Kobar (S. Parya, Satan's Slaves) who we see wrestle a bull with his bare hands, but who proves to be no match for the fleet-footed Jaka. The colonizer eventually resort to enlisting a voodoo priest (H.I.M. Damsyik, Escape from Hellhole) who resurrects Jako's dead nemesis, the evil-mystic Kieten (W.D. Mochtar), who is now imbued with the power to re-attach severed limbs, including his head! The evil Kieten ends up being more than a match for Jaka, our hero is later captured and tortured in a dungeon, his eyes are plucked out, and he is left for dead. But he escapes and returns even more powerful than before, with the help of a local shaman (Syamsuddin Syafei) he is now imbued with new mystical powers. Now super-charged with mystical power he faces off against both Van Schramm and the Kieten in a fierce fight to the death.
The special effects in this one one are over-the-top, gory and action-packed, a fight scene with Kieten has Prima's Jaka severing arms. legs and his head, only for him to repeatedly reassemble himself, until our hero learns a secret about his ability and how to thwart it, leading to a gobsmacking finale that always brings the house down when I watch it with company. Prima is quite a stoic and somewhat charismatic figure, even earning the sympathies of Van Schramm's lovely daughter Dana Maria (Christina Maria, Revenge of the Ninja), but for me it's the gory and somewhat ropey special effects of Indonesian SFX maestro EL Badrun that win me over with this one, Prima's fine, a bit flat for my tastes, but those effects, oh man, they are bonkers.
Audio/Video: The Warrior (1981) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro, presented in 1080p HD widescreen (2.35:1), sourced from the the 35mm OCN. There's some damage to the source but it's pretty small potatoes, generally the source looks terrific with nice looking grain structures, good texture and detail, and colors look terrific. Audio comes by way of both Indonesian and English-dub DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with newly translated English subtitles. Both tracks sounds great, though I would give the edge to the English dub which sounded a bit fuller and more dynamic.
Mondo Macabro offer some new interviews for the film;s Blu-ray debut, among them is a 37-min Interview with film maker Joko Anwar (director of the Satan's Slave remake) who talks about the film's influence on him, his love of star Barry Prima and plenty of talk about the Indonesian film industry through the years; we also get a 23-min Interview with SFX maestro EL Badrun wherein he talks about is early love of film and his experiences doing effects on various Indonesian films for Rapi and how certain effects were achieved; 21-min Interview with writer/assistant director Imam Tantowi. Archival extras carried over from the previous Mondo Macabro DVD come by way of a 10-min Archival Interview with Imam Tantowi; and a 12-min Interview with producer Gope Samtani. We also get Trailers for The Warrior, The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman, and The Warrior and the Ninja. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork, featuring an illustration by artists Jolyon Yates. Inside there's a 12-Page Booklet, which is limited to the first 1000 copies.
Special Features:
- Anamorphic transfer from film negative.
- New Interview with film maker Joko Anwar (37:03)
- New Interview with SFX maestro EL Badrun (22:51)
- New Interview with writer/assistant director Imam Tantowi (21:03)
- Archive interview with Imam Tantowi (9:43)
- Interview with producer Gope Samtani (11:58)
- Trailers for The Warrior (4:15), The Warrior and the Blind Swordsman (2:53), The Warrior and the Ninja (3:21)
- 12 -Page Booklet (First 1000 copies).
Buy it!
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