Cut to ten years later. The now grown-up lads gained powers beyond those of mere mortal men. Wind commands the wind (not THAT wind, but the kind that inflates sails!), Cloud controls water (something as useful as Zan's powers from the Super Friends cartoon, judging by a later sequence), and a third boy, Frost (Michael Tse), freezes his enemies with punches. Cool! But naughty Mud Buddha conveniently lets out the second part of the prophecy - you know, the BAD part - and hauls ass before Conquer finds out he was duped. Prophecy says that when Wind and Cloud unite for the same goal (so far, they've spent all the movie bickering), Conquer's ass will be grass. Obviously bad news, but powermad Conquer thinks he can control his own destiny. Poor sap. Since both boys have the hots for Charity, Lordy arranges her marriage with one of 'em. And just like in any chapter of "Days of Our Lives", that's not a good move - but Conquer is counting on that.

BTW, for a girl named "Charity", Conquers' daughter is very giving indeed. She likes both stepbrothers, but we know who we're rooting for. Wind, the romantic one, takes Charity on "Superman: The Movie"-like fancy flights, poetry readings, firefly-watching and other sissy stuff. Cloud, the tempestous one, just storms Charity's bedroom and fucks her silly. Atta boy!

So far, we're barely over the first hour. There's plenty more to come, including self-mutilation, grave robbery and a cool fire monster, but I don't wanna spoil the surprises. Let's talk about the cast instead. Kwok and Cheng are China's answer to Justin Timberlake, and they do a fairly decent job as leading lords (well, Cheng does; Kowk isn't that talented, but he tries). Sonny Chiba, as expected, puts the movie in the breast pocket and runs with it; his performance is operistic and kabuki-like, a perfect choice for a comic book villain. The guy was 59, but look at his muscles when he rips off his shirt; rrowwrrr! Yu Rong Guang shines on his cameo as Cloud's dad, omnipresent Anthony Wong has a (very) small but striking part, and soft-porn starlet Shu Qi repeats the same schlap-schtick from Jackie Chan's lamest film, "Gorgeous". Granted, she's cute, but her character is more annoying than Scrappy-Doo. A Valley Girl in medieval China? Sorry, me no buy it.

About the flick: eat your heart out, Goku! Run and hide, Vegita! Super Sayan, schmuper shmayan! Wind, Cloud, Frost and Conquer are the real deal! Thanks to lots of computer wizardry, our heroes fly around, move faster than a Keystone Cop, shine from inside with pretty colours and exchange body parts at will. All this insanity came from the minds of director Andrew Lau (Wai Keung Lau, NOT Andy Lau Tak-wah) and Ma Wing Ping, creator of the comic book used as basis for the screenplay (some critics label the comic as Manga, but aren't Manga supposed to be japanese?). All the sound of fury made this the Hong Kong blockbuster of 1998, and deservedly so. The Storm Riders may have an uneven story, but is pretty exciting when watched with the right frame of mind - meaning "check your brain at the door".

The reviewed DVD is the Brazilian edition by China Video, with the same transfer and extras from Tai Seng's version. There are portuguese subtitles on the making of (Tai Seng's has none), so if you have a friend who speaks spanish, that can help cuz both languages have similarities. Also included are non-subtitled trailers for Running Out of Time (dubbed in english), A Man Called Hero, The Storm Raiders (dubbed in portuguese), The Duel, Double Tap, Once Upon a Time in China and America (dubbed in english), High Risk (dubbed in english and full frame - eeep!!!) and Full Contact.

To be sure, the entertainment value of the film rivals any I've seen. In combination, the story and the action (though not necessarily the fight scenes) deliver a fantastic landscape of mood and texture.

Sure, it's easy to knit-pick a film, and to compartmentalize it's faults (whether apparent or subjective), but take THE STORM RIDERS at face value and you've got yourself a film worth watching again and again.

Oh, and just a note: If you begin viewing a film with the intention of being either impressed or disappointed, then the value of your opinion is limited to the scope of your pre-disposition. Try opening your mind before you open your eyes: you'd be surprised at what you might find redeeming.

As the prophecy foretold, Conquer’s empire flourishes for the next ten years. As the boys grow up, helping their master to expand his reach, they both fall in love with Charity. She returns the love of both and is torn between the two but one day Conquer makes the decision for them, not aware of the love triangle.

He wants Wind to marry Charity, much to the dismay of Cloud who interrupts the wedding ceremony and attempts to spirit Charity away from his brother. Wind and Conquer are determined not to let the impulsive Cloud get away with this.

This is the way a comic book movie should be done. Strom Riders is so friggin' impressive. Even at its 2 hour length, you don't even notice fly by.

At one point, I said "I wonder how long I've been watching this?" and then the movie ended. I was amazed how enthralled I was.

Sometimes the CGI looks really bad though, it always does, no matter how well you do the effects it never looks flawless.

My one beef is that they used too much CGI in the fight sequences, they didn't enhance the scenes with it, they used CGI to make the scenes.

The movie also ended pretty suddenly, they looks like there might be a sequel which would be very, very cool. I think any one who plans one making a comic book film should watch Storm Riders and see how to make a really good one.