toddly6666

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Oh how nice it is to count on the negative reviews of Indian movie critics. Indian movie critics just don't like anything different than their usual masala Bollywood lovey-dovey shmaltz. I have no understanding why they have no interest at all in bizarre, wierd, and/or fantasy/sci-fi flicks. This is what DRONA is - it's one of the best directed/edited Bollywood films to date, it's wierd, it's bizarre, it's action-packed with great choreography, it's got the hottest Bollywood actress, Priyanka Chopra, kicking ass, and it's got the charm of a fresh 1980s fantasy flick a la Highlander, Conan, or Excalibur without forcing it into awkward badness (Scorpion King 2 or Uwe Boll films).

DRONA is currently one of the most expensive Bollywood films and you can tell - the special effects, as well as the production, in this film are top-notch. Not an original story, we've seen it all before, but this time it's based around Indian mythology, and Drona is a superhero that doesn't quite know his powers yet. He goes on a journey to discover he's "the one" (Neo) and has to stop evil in the process.

The positives in the film:
- excellent creative directing/editing (the previous movie I saw was the awfully filmed new James Bond film, which makes this Drona movie seem so much better than it probably is)
- the musical score was not the usual Bollywood-type music
- exciting car chase
- exciting Sikh martial arts, choreographed by the dude who worked on Troy, The Last Legion, The Dark Knight, Stardust, and the Golden Compass
- amazing, crazy set designs
- just two locations - Prague and a desert
- good acting
- a nice pace (critics call it boring, I call it "not being filmed" like an MTV quick-cut James Bond film)

I see this movie as the equivalent of Japan's CASSHERN. I think that DRONA is the better film, but I see them as similar-type films, where they were overhyped, huge expensive epic flicks, but disappointing. I can understand why people would be disappointed, but I'm totally not disappointed by DRONA though. It's a great fantasy B-movie. What do people expect from this genre? I thought that Stardust was a piece of crap, but for some reasons critics loved it. That's the thing with fantasy films - you can't fault them for not being Oscar material....If you like fantasy films of the 1980s, then I highly recommend DRONA.


The EROS NTSC REGION FREE DVD is of pretty decent quality. The anamorphic video is very good, considering Eros' poor quality past, and the DD 5.1 Hindi is awesome. The English subtitles are pretty good as well, not too many mistakes. For extras, there is a bunch of making of film clips running around a half hour total, and some trailers...

FILM: 7.5
DVD VIDEO: 8
DVD AUDIO: 9
EXTRAS: 6


You can see the trailer here (the movie is a lot better than the trailer): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHLIM4XYxe0
You can buy the DVD here: http://store.nehaflix.com/drona-dvd.html

nitin77

"I see this movie as the equivalent of Japan's CASSHERN"

heh, you have no idea how much that has put me off this movie I think Casshern is the only film I have ever given a 0.

toddly6666

Drona is ten times more exciting and entertaining than Casshern! I just thought the hype and expectations were comparable between the two flicks...

BuddhaWake

same here. I had to watch it in 10 minute increments to finish it. so if its 10 times better is still a zero right. 10*0

just busting your chops todd.