I had a GC to Media Play from Christmas. With there high prices and picked over selection I had a tough time finding a title I wanted. I settled on Art of War with Wesley Snipes but have'nt heard anything about it. Any comments before I open it would be appreciated.

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Mitsubishi 55907, Yamaha 595a, Def Tech BP 2004's, plus center channel and surrounds, Toshiba 5109, Pioneer LD
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Mostly boring and possibly borderline offensive to Asians, but there's some nice cinematography and bursts of decent action. But I stress these aren't great and the movie goes on far too long. The climatic showdown inexplicably makes use of Matrix bullet-time effects.

Definitely a rental not a buy. There are a lot of other great titles coming out between now and March that are more worth of your money.

I disagree I could easily see this as having been a HK production. If you like near-mindless action movies this is a good one. It was much better than I thought it would be with lots of little plot twists (some easy to see others not as easy) and a good amount of action. Whoever flimed/designed the fight scenes though has a lot to learn IMHO about how to film hand-to-hand combat.

I thought it was going to be a rental but after seeing it I decided to pick it up. If you liked Blade and other Snipes movies you'll probably like this one.

BTW ipkevin what did you think was offensive to Asians? Personally I don't think it was anywhere close to offensive as LW4 or Shanghai Noon wrt Asians or AmerIs (resp.). Just curious...

I was disappointed and bored with this movie. I give it 2 stars(out of 4), and if I think about it I may lower it to 1 1/2.

If you hadn't bought it, I would have recommended against it. But since you have it, you may want to watch it and decide for yourself. Unless you are considering exchanging it for another title, then that would be my recommendation.

Andrew

Maybe I was expected too much, as the director's (Christian Duguay) previous movie, The Assignment, was excellent. It was an international espionage action thriller about the capture of Carlos the Jackal starring Aidan Quinn, Ben Kingsley, and Donald Sutherland. Really interesting, overlooked film with stylish visuals.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by nemein:
BTW ipkevin what did you think was offensive to Asians? Personally I don't think it was anywhere close to offensive as LW4 or Shanghai Noon wrt Asians or AmerIs (resp.). Just curious...<HR>

I haven't seen it since its theatrical release, so I don't remember all the details. It just seemed to me that all the Asian villains were particularly brutal and repugnant. eg, the fat general being "serviced" by the young girls under the table (and he wasn't even a villain technically!); the goons taking delight in beating the **** out of the female agent. There's probably more, but I don't remember them. And, not really offensive but a pet peeve nonetheless,

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**** The mastermind/brains behind the operation is, per usual, not Asian.


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Lethal Weapon 4 didn't seem that offensive to me. I don't have a problem with there being Asian bad guys, it's just that Art of War made them particularly odious and also bunglers. In LW4, they're rather cool, actually. Granted, Mel Gibson's "Flied Lice" line in LW4 was surprising (FU Mel), but at least Uncle Benny turned it around on him. Regarding Shanghai Noon, yes there's major stereotyping, but they're still portrayed in a positive way.

I should add that it was largely the mediocre action and bad pacing which made me dislike Art of War. The offensiveness to Asians side of it wasn't that notable.

Thanks for the views. I guess I should also add that I just finished my last batch of HK imports right before seeing Art of War so that might have effect my opinion as well. First off the selection in that batch wasn't the best so I ended up with some real dogs of movies [Next time I need to do a little more research before ordering.] I guess the repugnance of the villians didn't really sink in wrt specific races for me. If I remember I'll let you know how I feel about it after watching it again when/if (see the walmart/PO box thread in the Store forum) I get it.

WRT LW4 I'll have to watch it again (maybe) but the impression that stuck with me was Asians were simplistic and 2nd class people. The same goes for SN. JMO

Thanks guys. I think it's certainly worth a watch, then I'll trade or eBay it if it's not a keeper

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Mitsubishi 55907, Yamaha 595a, Def Tech BP 2004's, plus center channel and surrounds, Toshiba 5109, Pioneer LD
Widescreen Presentation
Jim's DVD's

Haven’t' seen the film, but seems like Wesley Snipes is now only interested in action/tough guy roles, he was very good in 'Jungle Fever', a interracial love story by Spike Lee.

Decided to crack open the seal and check it out for my self last night. I would rate it a 2/4. Decent but enjoyed Murder at 1600 better. The opening characters were pretty characaturish or cartoonish. A few decent fights, a few plot twists, but much of it has been done before and done better. I saw the Michael Biehn angle coming a mile away. I had a feeling about Anne Archers character but wasn't sure what was up with her and Donald Sutherland. Did they both look really old in this movie?

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Mitsubishi 55907, Yamaha 595a, Def Tech BP 2004's, plus center channel and surrounds, Toshiba 5109, Pioneer LD
Widescreen Presentation
Jim's DVD's

personally I liked this one.. the story was enough to keep me interested and there was nice action throughout. A lot of foks say it was boring, but I don't think so.

I do think the acting could have been better by a few.. the main asian girl, the UN boss lady.. both of them were kinda sucky and seemed to read their lines out loud more than act em

It's worth a rental though, maybe buy after you see it if it's on sale or something, and you but i can tell it's gonna be another one of those movies you see on HBO every other day

1 word:

*YAWN*

It wasn't worth the $ to see it in the show, and I sure as he77 wouldn't pay good $ for the DVD.

Actually, if someone gave the DVD to me, I'd take it back to exchange it for anything else.

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-V.K. {Gold Trader}

"I hope we never lose sight of one thing, that this was all started by a mouse."
-Walt Disney
The reason my DVD player was the "most expensive" gift I've ever received.

Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel

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Mitsubishi 55907, Yamaha 595a, Def Tech BP 2004's, plus center channel and surrounds, Toshiba 5109, Pioneer LD
Widescreen Presentation
Jim's DVD's