The Warrior's Way

[GeneChing]

The first one is worth clicking thru just to see Kate's red dress. :p

Jang Dong Gun is the Laundry Warrior (http://www.allkpop.com/index.php/full_story/jang_dong_gun_is_the_laundry_warrior/)
27 CommentsEunice C in Media | 29 Jan 2009 - 12:31 PM

Jang Dong Gun, famous for movies like Chingoo (Friend), Taeguki, and Typhoon, will make his Hollywood debut alongside Kate Bosworth and Geoffery Rush.

I'm not too sure about the Premise. The Premise sounds like a mix between the Postman and Appaloosa. It's a fantasy action film about a warrior/assassin who is forced to hide in a western town and runs into the town drunkard, Geoffrey Rush, and a circus knife thrower played by Kate Bosworth.

He's probably an offstandish quiet Asian man with a murderous dark past who "ever so conveniently" hides in a LAUNDRY store and just wants to be left alone but somehow is forced to form a totally random crime-fighting gang to defend his little town against villainous encroachers.

Impressively, it's produced by Barrie Osborne who also produced Lord of the Rings. (Poor Barrie, don't worry, DAEBAK ee-yah~~!)

Production started on November 12, 2007 and wrapped on February 28, 2008 in Auckland and the movie is set to release in March of this year. Just a couple of months to go... let's all get in line for this! Can't Wait!

And old Variety article...not sure how this one got by me for so long...


'Rings' producer on 'Laundry' list (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117975020.html?categoryid=13&cs=1)
Osborne sets schedule for fantasy film

"Lord of the Rings" producer Barrie Osborne will return to New Zealand next month to produce fantasy actioner "Laundry Warrior."

The English-language heroic tale begins lensing Nov. 12 in Auckland with a cast headed by Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth and Korean star Jang Dong-gun .

Helmed and written by Sngmoo Lee, pic has a $45 million budget through Sad Flutes, a company set up by Osborne, Michael Peyser ("Speed 2," "Imagining Argentina") and Lee Joo-ick ("Seven Swords").

Story sees a fugitive Asian warrior (Jang) hide out in the American badlands, where he encounters the town drunk (Rush) and a beautiful, but troubled woman.

Lee, who has taught for five years at the New York Film School, will make his helming debut.

Production will employ extensive green screen techniques, and post-production will involve the use of effects houses including Weta Digital in New Zealand and others in Korea, India and the U.S.

"We draw on two great milieux, the Samurai movie and the Western," Peyser said. "We will deliver a stylized, partly anime feel, with the techniques of '300,' but a look that is brighter."

Pic's coin has come from private investors on both sides of the Pacific. Starting from today's American Film Market, Kathy Morgan Intl. will rep the rights in most international territories. North America is being handled personally by Osborne and Peyser.

KMI and Lee Joo-ick will jointly handle Japan and Jang's home territory, South Korea, where pic has already attracted strong interest from the local majors.

Jang is the star of many of Korea's biggest grossing movies including "Typhoon," "Taegukgi" and "Friend."

Cast also includes Tony Cox ("Bad Santa").

"Barrie and I are looking to make non-Amerocentric, world-scale movies," Peyser said. "With 15 set-piece action sequences and use of every kind of weapon from swords and machine guns to dynamite, plus 50 carnival tricks, 'Laundry Warrior' lends itself perfectly to the downloading and gaming environments."

[Shaolinlueb]

looks interesting. another korean western. the good the bad the weird is suppossed to be another good one.

[GeneChing]

Suddenly, this looks very interesting. I retitled the thread from Laundry Warrior (stupid name) to The Warrior's Way.

Check out the trailer. (http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/06/09/must-watch-awesome-promo-trailer-for-the-warriors-way/)

[GeneChing]

But another has risen to take it's place. Dec 3rd. Looks like it'll get a fairly big release, perhaps as big as Ninja Assassin (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52743).

Follow the link below:

It’s Spaghetti Western Kung-Fu In The New ‘Warrior’s Way’ Trailer (http://theflickcast.com/2010/10/01/its-spaghetti-western-kung-fu-in-the-new-warriors-way-trailer/)
by Matt Raub, Oct 1 2010 // 8:00 AM

So it may have been tried before Sukiyaki Western Django and The Good, The Bad and the Weird, but this time, the genre mashup is making it’s way to the big screen via Rogue Pictures. Also, if you’re still a bit weary, you can expect to see some familiar faces in the film as well.

Geoffrey Rush, Kate Bosworth, and Danny Huston (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) join the cast in what looks to be an incredible film. Here’s the official synopsis.

The Warrior’s Way, a visually-stunning modern martial arts western starring Korean actor Dong-gun Jang who plays an Asian warrior assassin forced to hide in a small town in the American Badlands.

The film turned enough heads that Lord of the Rings producer Barrie M. Osborne helped bring this film to plenty of screens across the country this December.

Check out the first official trailer for the film after the jump and catch Warrior’s Way in theaters everywhere on December 3rd.


The Warrior's Way R (http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/thewarriorsway/)

The Warrior's Way, a visually-stunning modern martial arts western starring Korean actor Dong-gun Jang who plays an Asian warrior assassin forced to hide in a small town in the American Badlands. Rounding out the ensemble cast are Kate Bosworth (Superman Returns), Oscar(R)-winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine), Danny Huston (The Kingdom), and Tony Cox (The Hustle).The fantasy action film was written and directed by newcomer Sngmoo Lee, and is being produced by Barrie M. Osborne (Lord of the Rings), Jooick Lee (Seven Swords) and Michael Peyser (Hackers).

[sanjuro_ronin]

http://static.allkpop.com/wp-content/uploads/old/2009_stories/20090128_LeeDongGun.jpg

[GeneChing]

Four new character posters and two new images from The Warrior’s Way (http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2010/11/01/character-posters-images-warriors/)
Published on November 1, 2010 by Paul Heath

Relativity Media have scored with this bunch of character posters and two new stills from their December 3rd (US) release of THE WARRIOR’S WAY.

The new posters feature Geoffrey Rush, Danny Huston, Kate Bosworth and Dong Gun Jang. The film is about an Asian warrior assassin who finds peace, contentment and perhaps love in a forgotten western town on the edge of the desert but is then faced with…? — That’s all I’ve got (courtesy of the IMDb), but the posters and pics are super-cool, especially that last one of Ms. Bosworth.

http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Danny-Huston.jpg
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Geoffrey-Rush.jpg
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Jang-Dong-Gun.jpg
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Kate-BosworthV2.jpg
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/M-094_lw47_14393rv4.jpg
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/M-052_7840rv1.jpg
Looks like this will be our martial arts treat for the holidaze 2010...

[Dragonzbane76]

actually saw this preview a while back and kinda been wanting to see it. heard good and bad things about it.

[Sardinkahnikov]

that trailer made me cringe. why there aren't good westerns like the good the bad and the ugly anymore

[GeneChing]

This film looks like 'Ninjas vs. Cowboys' to me, which is really funny when you consider we've already discussed Alien vs. Ninja (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55686), and now there's a new flick coming out in 2011 called Cowboys and Aliens.

Cowboys and Aliens Trailer HD 2011- Jon Favreau - Daniel Craig - Harrison Ford (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBKU9WU_wLo)

[GeneChing]

I'll have a review up here in a few hours. I will say this - it's all about Kate. ;)

Actress Kate Bosworth grabs a sword and gets grungy in new martial arts film (http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/dec/03/woman-warrior-actress-kate-bosworth-grabs-a-and/)
Woman 'Warrior'
* By Angela Dawson
Entertainment News Wire
* Ventura County Star
* Posted December 3, 2010 at 12:01 a.m

http://media.vcstar.com/media/img/photos/2010/12/01/20101201-162816-pic-386896374_t607.jpg
Relativity Media
Jang Dong Gun and Kate Bosworth star in “The Warrior’s Way,” for which she learned sword fighting, as did their co-star Danny Huston.

Kate Bosworth arrives for an interview looking model-perfect in a ruche violet mini-dress and bright red high heels. It’s a sharp contrast to her dusty, weather-beaten appearance in the Western/martial-arts hybrid, “The Warrior’s Way.”

“I love fashion, but I also like to kick off my shoes and go barefoot,” explained the blond beauty, warning she may do just that sometime during the interview.

Bosworth, 27, fought for her scruffy look in the arty action drama from Korean writer-director Sngmoo Lee. She thought the look would work for her character, Lynne, one of the few remaining residents of a once-thriving California gold rush town.

In the film, which opens today but wasn’t screened in advance for critics, Lynne is hell-bent on avenging her parents’ murders, committed by a ruthless colonel (played by Danny Huston). One day, she meets a drifter who claims to be looking for a safe place to raise his child. The drifter, Yang (Korean heartthrob Jang Dong Gun), is a former professional assassin who is now a target himself. To stay alive, he must keep a low profile in this small Western town. Inevitably, events arise that require him to take up the sword again.

Bosworth, last seen in 2008’s Vegas heist drama “21,” said the script intrigued her. “To get something this original, thoughtful, profound, beautiful and poetic — I didn’t see how I could say no,” she said.

Just as she learned to surf for “Blue Crush,” Bosworth learned to use a sword for “The Warrior’s Way.”

“They really kept us on our toes,” she said. “We had to trust each other quite a bit, especially Danny and I.”

“I had a stunt girl I was practicing the sword fights with, and Kate had a stunt man she worked with,” recalled Huston, son of acclaimed filmmaker John Huston. “But practically the first time we worked on the scenes together, Kate and I, was on the set.”

Huston, who like Bosworth learned sword fighting for the film, said he would look over his shoulder just before swinging to make sure the actress was aware of what he was doing so she could react.

Bosworth said the fight choreography was like learning a dance routine. “It felt so much more like it would have helped to have a dance or ballet background, because it was so specific with the footwork and balance,” she said.

Yet she and her co-stars muddled through, rehearsing and rehearsing until they got the fight sequences just right.

As for her character’s grungy appearance, that was Bosworth’s idea. “I was constantly asking for more dirt and dust,” she recalls. “I feel as the girl I get the short end of the stick for that. They’re like, ‘You need to be pretty.’ And I was like, ‘Ugh, I want to be covered in dirt and look grimy and real.’”

Bosworth can be quite persistent in articulating her viewpoint on set, and eventually she convinced Lee to do it her way. “I was very into making sure the fingernails and teeth were very dirty,” she said with a grin. “I was constantly telling them to put more yellow on my teeth.”

Her outspokenness contrasted with the quiet reserve of her handsome co-star, who makes his Hollywood debut with “The Warrior’s Way.”

“Dong Gun is so lovely,” Bosworth said. “There was just an ease between us from the beginning. Their relationship was well-formed on the page.”

Bosworth next stars in a remake of Sam Peckinpah’s classic “Straw Dogs,” playing the Susan George role. Instead of rural England, writer-director Rod Lurie has set the drama in the rural South, where a woman and her screenwriter husband find themselves increasingly harassed by the locals.

“You know, I’d never seen the original,” she said. “I read the script and was like, ‘Gosh, this is going to be quite a journey.’”

The thriller is slated for release next year.

“A certain amount of fear is a good thing,” she said with a smile.Actually, it drops today.

[GeneChing]

THE WARRIOR'S WAY (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=935) by Greg Lynch Jr.

[GeneChing]

A few weeks ago, I went with my family to see Harry Potter and they noticed the poster for this. They said it looked like my long lost brother. I made some flippant comment that all Asian martial arts hunks with long hair look alike, a comment that the Mrs. scoffed at.

So last night I went to the screener with our copy editor, Gary Shockley (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56820). It was fun.

Be warned with this review - I love ninja flicks. WW is very comic book with tongue firmly planted in cheek, which allows me to forgive many story arc transgressions. It has these garish super-imposed backdrops, which work well to accentuate the comic book quality. Jang Dong-Jun is the stoic awesome swordsman, a tad too stoic actually. Kate Bosworth is the cowboy gal set on vengeance, and the center point of the plot. It's really her story, but I was too distracted by her two-color eyes to notice if her performance was any good. Geoffrey Rush, who can do camp as in Pirates of the Caribbean, was sorely underused. The carnies could have been developed more too - a lot more. That could have put this film over the top. Actually many things could have put this film over the top, but I was happy with Kate's blood red dress and brown and blue eyes, and of course, my ninjas. Danny Huston has to wear a cowboy phantom-of-the-opera mask through most of it, but gets off a great last line. But the real star was Ti Lung, one of my favorite actors from the golden days of Shaw Brothers, the gentleman swordsman, now in his sixties and still swinging his sword. It was great to see him on screen again. In this way, WW was a lot like Ninja Assassin (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52743) - a Korean pop star lead ninja goes rogue, has to fight a lot of other ninjas, has flashbacks to his traumatic childhood training, and there's a final duel with his master, played by a veteran of the genre. WW is NA crossed with Sergio Leone, right down to the Ennio Morricone homage soundtrack, with some Baby Cart from Hell/Lone Wolf and Cub (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5085) tossed in for good measure.

The fights are stylish, relying on a lot of CGI and slo-mo, yet enjoyable. They are bloody, yet not as bloody as Baby Cart from Hell. I confess, they would have worked better for me if they were bloodier. It's more about the cinematography than the choreography.

On exiting the theater, a cute Asian girl came up to me. She said "Excuse me. Are you the master from the movie?" For that reason alone, I love this film. She was with her boyfriend, so I said "no" but then said loudly to Gary "I told you they'd recognize me here!" He laughed and said that there were moments when Jang reminded him of me too. I retorted that I hoped she was referring to Jang as the master and not the 60+ Ti Lung. On the drive home, I thought I totally could have played Jang's role. He could have done that stoicism, done all of those fight sequences (with more panache even) and snogged Kate. Yeah. I could have snogged Kate. I also thought I'd recant his comment about Ti Lung. I would be honored to be mistaken for one of his heroes, even at 60+

I should stand outside of movie theaters and collect donations for taking photos with me.

[Jimbo]

I plan to see this hopefully by Monday, at least. It looks like it will be pretty entertaining. When I first heard that Ti Lung is in it, I knew I HAD to see the movie.

[mickey]

Greetings,

Anything, I mean, any MOVIE that causes Gene to have a few moments of joyful delusion has to be good.

mickey

[enoajnin]

I thought his life was one long series of delusions, joyful or otherwise.

[GeneChing]

Chop off a few heads, splatter some blood, and I'm happy. It would have been grand to see this on Sunday for International Day of the Ninja (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1064730#post1064730)... in ninja garb (http://www.martialartsmart.com/ninja-styles.html). Dayum, I could have cashed out with that.

In retrospect, it really bothered me that when Jang did a chiburi (the final sword flick to shake the blood of the blade) the blade was still bloody. Granted, chiburi is tough. I've tried it when I used to practice iaido. We experimented just with water, and that's pretty hard. Blood would be even harder as it's stickier. But Jang was supposed to be the best swordsman ever, so you'd think he'd be able to do it. I know there was at least one scene, maybe more, where Jang does a chiburi and then the blade is shown immediately after still dripping with blood. It was a classic example of filmmakers observing some martial behavior and not understanding it fully.

[Jimbo]

After seeing it, I'm not sure what to think. I enjoyed some things about it, but thought the effects looked cheap. More like a videogame than a movie. I could accept that it occurs in some alternate universe where the greatest swordsman comes from a country that is indeterminate. China? Japan? Korea? None of the above?

Kate Bosworth's character practically makes the movie. Her, the baby, and the (Union Soldier?) villain. Jang Dong Gun's character, of course, is supposed to be emotionally removed, but that makes him wooden and boring. His character has zero personality, and probably speaks about one paragraph's worth of dialogue in the entire film. Some actors can communicate a lot onscreen in scenes with or without any dialogue (Shintaro Katsu, Gordon Liu, etc.), but IMO Jang isn't one of them.

I was really glad to see Ti Lung in a new film. I only wish he had gotten to show more than a few seconds of action onscreen, but at least they put him in the movie, and it looks like he can still 'do the stuff' onscreen.

So I enjoyed that they tried something unique in a movie, but I'm not at all surprised that it's tanking at the box office.

[Lucas]

thanks for reviewing. question: how are the action scenes. in the prieview i saw there wasnt any actual action really, more just murder...lol which is fine, but im wondering how the actual duels/fights play out visually. how clear is the action?

[GeneChing]

It's very 'comic book' so if you're hoping for fantastic martial arts, you'll be disappointed. It's more about the style of it than the martial arts. There's some fun stuff if you compare it to comic book fights like Spiderman and such. I thought it echoed V for Vendetta with the slo-mo fights. The Ti Lung fight, well, this is a SPOILER* is straight out of Shogun Assassin (LW&C/BCfH) and you could totally see it coming once the silent flute name is explained.


*highlight to read.

[Jimbo]

What Gene said. There is a lot of jumping and mid-air posing exactly like a Spider-man comic book. A lot of slow-mo with bits of normal speed interspersed, and lots of CGI arterial spray.

Since comparisons between this movie and Ninja Assassins are inevitable, IMO, the fight scenes in NA were better.