toddly6666

This looks pretty interesting. Any word of a DVD or blu-ray with English subs? I have no idea if that photo above is an official Brazilian dvd or not. It does say anamorphic, English subs, and Portoguese DD 5.1. All I know is that there will be a German 3D blu-ray of this film (with English dub not sure yet).


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toddly6666

Actually, the Brazilian dvd is for sale on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Besouro-A%C3%A...0440711&sr=8-2
http://www.amazon.com/Besouro-Ailton...0441241&sr=1-1

flixtime

I got a kick out of that second Amazon link you listed...one seller shipping from Brasil is asking $30, while the only other seller - shipping from New York - is asking $163!!!

For prospective international buyers, you can also buy it from Brasil-based e-tailer cdpoint.com.br.

toddly6666

There's always that one or two Amazon sellers that just try that. I wonder if anyone has ever chosen the more expensive route just because it was the first one they click on...crazy!

flixtime

BUMP


Looks like this was some sort of unofficial "Brazil week" for home video releases. BESOURO was released on U.S. DVD this past Tuesday; they gave it a different title though, so search for it under THE ASSAILANT.

flixtime

This movie was quite okay for what it was meant to be - a sort of "mystical biopic" - of this Besouro (meaning: Beetle) guy who seems to have some sort of legendary status in the martial art of capoeira. The first ten minutes were impressive and then it levels off but is still interesting/enjoyable. About midway, it loses momentum and you begin to realize the story is going to be rather a small scale effort, with not much new remaining to be seen over the second half. It does pick up over the last quarter where you finally get to see a little capoeira action in an actual fight scene...this two-to-three minute scene occurs pre-climax and is the highlight of the film as the final action scenes can be seen as a significant letdown in comparison. If you go into this expecting a martial arts film, you will come away disappointed. There are a few earlier scenes devoted to capoeira but they are of the non-contact/non-combative practice/performance-art variety. There isn't a whole lot of actual fighting/action and what there is is pretty standard fighting and/or rather brief...a kick or punch, etc. Also, as seen in the trailer, there is a strong wuxia-type influence with Besouro flying and leaping about but most of it again doesn't involve him in combat...though some of this Hong Kong-style wirework is certainly incorporated here and there in the brief fight scenes. For this type of movie and a sub-90-minute runtime the pace is a little on the slower side...but maybe it suits the "mystical" quality of the tale...the main character spends most of the time off in the woods by himself where he also experiences some sort of vision quest thus providing a rationale for the wuxia/wirework type material in the film. Again, the movie was fine for what it was and I'd say the director was successful in what he wanted to do, especially given the low-budget nature of the film. They certainly did a nice enough job with the wirework and there is also some impressive smoothly gliding camerawork employed in the film. Yeah, the story and characters could have been stronger, and it is sort of a "detached interesting" viewing experience versus something else that might pull you in more or be more entertaining. So if you are considering this movie from an action/martial arts perspective then I wouldn't recommend it. But if you look at this as a fantasy (versus "historical") biopic that was made to bring the story of this mythic/legendary character to a wider audience then I think the film succeeded - maybe not to an optimal measure (if nothing else they could have trimmed off some fat in the runtime) - but it succeeded well enough.

Tarantino

Looks like its available on Netflix now.