THE WARRIOR AND THE BLIND SWORDSMAN (1983)
+ THE WARRIOR AND THE NINJA (1985)
THE WARRIOR AND THE BLIND SWORDSMAN (1983)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duation: 92 Minutes 36 Seconds
Audio: English and Indonesian
DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with English subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Directors: Dasri Yacob, H. Tjut Djalil
Cast: Barry Prima, Advent Bangun, Gudi Sintara, W.D. Mochtar, Syamsuddin Syafei, Gino Makasutji
In this sequel to The Warrior, Jaka Sembung (Barry Prima) is back, and still offering resistance to the Dutch colonialist army in West Java, however, tiring of suffering defeats to Jaka and his rebels the Dutch commander organizes a martial arts tournament to find warrior to defeat Jaka Sembung. After a fun tournament with plenty of carnage is held the victor emerges , a blind warrior named Si Buta (Advent Bangun, Jungle Heat) from a place called Devil’s Mountain. He and small troop of Dutch soldiers head into the mountains looking for the rebel, and find him. After a brief battle Sin Buta emerges victorious, severing Jaka's neck and then ripping his head off, returning to the Dutch base he presents the commander with his severed head, who then impales it stake as a warning to would-rebels. For his show of strength the blind warrior is given a chest full of coins by the Dutch, but is betrayed and left for dead but he is saved by from death by the seductive evil sorceress Dewi Magi (Gudi Sintara, Escape from Hellhole), a former lover, who complicates matters, as does the arrival of her malevolent master (W.D. Mochtar, The Warrior). It turns out that out hero is not actually dead, with the Dutch commander disappointed to learn that the rebel leaders severed head is actually an illusion, and what he has staked in front of the fort is a goat's head! Overstuffed with ropey martial arts moves and canned sound effects, this slice of Indonesian mystical weirdness offers punched-of limbs and heads, the Dutch cannoballing a small village, wizard throwing fireballs, snake pits and female warriors galore. This is a bit more fantasy oriented tan the first film, and the gore never reaches the heights of the first entry either, but it's totally bonkers and if you enjoyed the first film this is a worthy sequel with no shortage of Indonesian exploitation WTF-ery. My biggest beef with it is that the "Blind Swordsman" never once pick up a blade, but he is pretty bad-ass with a wooden staff! As usual star Barry Prima is magnetic on screen with his arsenal of good looks, sweet martial arts moves and collection of colored headbands. Not unexpectedly eventually our hero Jaka and the blind guy team up to defeat the evil mystics and the Dutch colonizers, with a finale that is dizzying and a bit of a headscratcher, but totally entertaining as well.
THE WARRIOR AND THE NINJA (1985)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duation: 98 Minutes 37 Seconds
Audio: English and Indonesian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Directors: Dasri Yacob, H. Tjut Djalil
Cast: Barry Prima, Advent Bangun, Gudi Sintara, W.D. Mochtar, Syamsuddin Syafei, Gino Makasutji
This final entry in Rapi Films’ Warrior Trilogy was The Warrior and the Ninja (1985), directed by H. Tjut Djalil (Mystics From Bali), this time around rebel freedom fighter Jaka Sembung (Barry Prima) teams up with a female freedom fighter known as The Black Squirrel (Rita Zahara, Jungle Virgin Force), who steals from the corrupt wealthy and redistributes the wealth tot he commoners in need. The baddies this time, well, the Dutch colonizers of course, and the iron-skinned Balung Wesi who sides with the Dutch oppressors, who during the film's sort of impressive looking volcanic eruption complete with apocalyptic miniature sets, emerges from the volcano, burning victims to death with his molten-metal touch! I enjoyed this quite a bit more than the previous film, we get molten-metal skin man, fleet-footed ninja moves, more ropey martial arts actions, a disaster epic worthy volcano scene, and some fun bit of violence and gore, including a face-peeling scene that brought a smile to my face. Not quite as good as the first film, but a pretty close second place for me, and a very satisfying close for the Rapi's original The Warrior Trilogy.
Audio/Video: Both films arrives on region-free Blu-ray from mondo Macabro, presented in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The image looks solid, while they can dip a bit soft, the Dutch soldiers blue and red uniforms occasionally looking faded, but overall colors generally look good, the greens of the jungles and the blood looking nicely red, and the sources are in great shape. Audio for both comes by way of Indonesian or English-dub in DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono. They're not perfect, three's some slight muffling of dialogue in spots, but generally sound fine, if a bit limited range wise.
There are no extras for either film. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring some cool artwork by Jolyon Yates.
Special Features:
- 10-Page Illustrated Color Booklet featuring 'The Significance of Jaka Sembung' by Ekky Imanjaya
Buy it!
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