FHaggis

Anyone here think that they'll give him a somewhat decent part this time around? He'll be starring in this flick alongside Kelly Hu as supporting actors while Jet Li and DMX will have the main roles.

Personally, I think that his talents were utterly wasted in Le Pacte des Loups... Sanctuary was a highly underrated flick, but it's (imo) one of the best movies out there that reveal his leading man potential. The Crow tv series were quasi-intriguing at best too, but everything about it seemed bland... so the attempts to make Eric Draven a "well-rounded/well-traveled man of anguish" flittered and eventually died. It didn't even bother putting together his martial arts and acting abilities in a coherent fashion! I can't make myself watch the live action of Crying Freeman tho--the manga is usually better than anything live action. As "Catscratch" in Wing Commander IV, he was pretty damn good... memorable to say the least considering the role. Pardon the rambling, but I'm not particularly lucid and thinking aloud once again.

A point? Well, perhaps I'm just waiting for a flick/series (much like Sanctuary) that'll best remove the dichotomy of the actor and martial artist and not squander either one.

BlackBeauty92

co-starring with DMX?
he must be deperate

kian69

I really enjoy Mark Dacascos, I could really see him as becoming a much bigger action star with time. He really does have the Brandon Lee style charisma (God bless him and is father ). Is Cradle 2 the Grave going to be his much deserved break? Perhaps, perhaps not, we'll see. But just glad that I'll get to see more of him on the silverscreen.

FHaggis

Haha, what's so bad about DMX? If Ice-T can show up and do a half decent job on Law and Order: SVU and if PDiddy "I like guns" Combs can appear in Made and Monster's Ball... it's all about adding to the flavor imo.

tofu

At least he's not doing Double Dragon movies anymore with Scott Wolf.

Geofferson

word.

minguy

i love this guy. he's a lot of fun to watch.

if you watch the theatrical trailer for Cradle 2 The Grave, it looks like Dacascos has the final climactic fight with jet li. That'll be a good match. Probably better than Russell Wong's fight in Romeo must die. Nothing against Wong, but Dacascos has some real martial arts skills.

Corvin

I've seen most of his movies. The only one that actually impressed me with his fighting was the movie called Drive.

Definitely one of the better martial arts movie of the latter-half of the 90's. And get this...it featured some wire-fu before The Matrix. Whoa, how creative, I know....

Till again.

UKingdom

He's a charismatic cool actor, I think he's pretty good. DMX though looks terrible in this movie.

Jet Li has made some terrible decisions in his last few films. He is going the route of Steven Seagal, crappy action movies where he's a cop paired with a hip hop artist. The formula hasn't worked well in the past, I don't see it changing this time either.

Nevertheless, I'll still be watching this in the theaters at some point, lol.

ipkevin

What was Sanctuary like? How are the gunfights?

PolloDiablo

I have a bit of a policy about movies like this,I refuse to see anything that has a rapper in a leading role. Call it shallow if you like, but it has served me well in the past. Some people should stick to what they know, just because you have some musical talent (which is saying alot for some of these guys) doesn't mean you're going to be a good actor.

FHaggis

I actually haven't seen "Sanctuary" in about... five? years and am currently attempting to obtain a DVD copy. I was an action flick aficionado then and am still one now, but I recall that the movie didn't particularly showcase his martial art skills as much as it did his--as I said before--"leading man potential". To be truthful, it was a B-movie, but quite an enjoyable one at that.

I've heard the same remarks about "Drive" being an impressive flick although I can't seem to get a hold of it at the rental stores.

I usually try not to dismiss any (perceived) "flawed movie" right off the bat UNLESS I'm being asked to shell out an inordinate amount of money to watch it. Hell, I even try not to *judge* anything without knowing as much about it (or movie) as possible beforehand. Sometimes, a surprisingly decent plotline, intriguing dialogue, or breathtaking cinematography can be the saving grace of an otherwise "crap movie".

joelgee

Sadly, Drive -- arguably the best American-made martial arts film -- is not readily available in R1. The only way I saw it the first time was renting it from Netflix, and that's the cut version.
When I got my CH-500, it was one of the first HKL DVDs I got, along with The Killer and OUATIC as I'd been wanting to see the uncut version for a couple years.
In fact, I just watched Drive last night and I kept thinking that Dascoscos should've been in Matrix.
J

Corvin

Luckily I got my DVD version about two years ago through Amazon.com.

I haven't bothered to look for it since, but I'm definitely glad I picked it up.

There must be VHS editions floating around though. . .

minguy

the region 1 dvd is OOP. But isn't it pan and scan? The film deserves so much more...

I have a pal transfer vhs of the director's cut. Not the best quality but widescreen and unedited with the original music, so it'll do for now.



If anyone's interested, here's the synopsis for Cradle 2 the Grave:

When his daughter is kidnapped and held in exchange for priceless diamonds, the leader of a crew of highly skilled urban thieves (DMX) forges an unlikely alliance with a Taiwanese Intelligence officer (Jet Li) to rescue her. Their race against the clock to find the precious stones ultimately unravels a plot to distribute a deadly new weapon of war.

Can't wait.

iskandam

Get the UK r2 release of Drive by Hong Kong Legends. Excellent anamorphic transfer, original soundtrack and tons of extras including commentary by the director and the main characters

ipkevin

R1 was non-anamorphic widescreen + 5.1.

Corvin

It's true.

FHaggis

I don't get it... why is it that R2 DVDs tend to have so much more than the R1s? I'd love to see a lot of the cooler low-b action film DVDs with loads of goodies. Actor interviews would be great too, or bloopers. My DVD of Kiss of the Dragon has a lot of goodies, but they are more or less redundant and not wholly insightful.

Hell yeah! Haha, if there's a third installation coming out--or perhaps the Animatrix?--people should definitely petition for it.

BTW, anyone check out his official site? I went there years ago and (initially) thought it was quite hilarious. However, the more I read about him, the more respect I had for his dedication and approach to things.

minguy

my mistake.

yes, i've heard about the R2 release. Makes me wish I had an all region dvd player. Isn't this also true of Crying Freeman as well? Dacascos fans lament.

ipkevin

Maybe they'll revoke my film nerd credentials for saying this, but I actually like the US version of the film more than the UK director's cut. They made a big deal about the director's version restoring the original musical score. Unfortunately, the original score is a low rent symphonic by way of synthesizers piece that really doesn't sell the action that well. And the director's cut may restore some dialogue/character scenes, but that doesn't mean they were good ones. The US version has an urgent rock/techno fusion thing that works for the film (at times amazingly well) and they leave just enough of the character/humour in to make the film fun without slowing it down.

minguy

you make a strong argument. i'm not familiar enough with the film to judge the difference. I just assumed the US cut was inferior after hearing about the international cut. Phrases like "director's cut," "original music" and "unedited" are easy to fall for. Almost like the film was tainted by the changes. Now I'm open to either cut. Too bad there's no decent Region 1 release of either.

Nickyct

Wasn't he the lead in "Brotherhood of the wolf" or something like that in the French movie. He didn't say much in the whole movie but there was some fighting in there.

vu_quy

Yeah...he was great in it...too bad they didn't do "more" w/ him in that role...what a wasted potential...

slymer

I thought he was awesome in "Brotherhood of the Wolf". He didn't talk, just fought.