Learning the Mystical Power of Du-lum
The Legend was released in Thailand during the summer of 2008 and was directed by Nonzee Nimibutr. Ananda Everingham is the lead role as Pari. Other actors include Asian action star Dan Chupong, Sorapong Chatree, Winai Kraibutr. I won’t pretend like I’ve heard of these actors before, but, they all turn in great performances in their respective roles.
The story centers around a war between an incumbent nation and invaders. The port city of Langkasuka lost its king and now, three princesses are ‘lined up’ for the throne. Currently, Princess Raja Hijau rules, but the surrounding nations ally with brutal pirates to take Langkasuka over. The army of Langkasuka is strong, but not strong enough to turn back this continuing assault from the invaders. They need help, and ultimately, they need two massive cannons that have lay still at the bottom of the ocean floor for centuries. It’s known that the only way to retrieve these cannons from the ocean is through the power of Du-lum, a sort of magic or martial art, in which someone can control the ocean and its inhabitants.
Black Raven and White Ray are two experts in Du-lum. Black Raven is aligned with the pirates, and uses his abilities for evil, while White Ray keeps himself secluded in a remote island. He will need to teach Pari the ways of the Du-lum if the people of Langkasuka have a chance to save their land.
The two hour film has plenty of action, including some excellent close quarters fight scenes involving ninja-like assassins and swords. There are also several large scale battles at sea that are visually impressive and well directed. The action (and fantasy) are nicely padded with slower paced scenes that develop the characters or contain some drama between stars. Overall the film goes at a smooth and
enjoyable pace, although it doesn’t carry with it a great deal of replay value.
The Blu-ray
Two extra features and a very good, but not quite great, presentation await you on the Blu-ray version. I found the image quality to be strong, and largely free of any technical ‘issues’ — and certainly the locales are pretty. The CG used for the large base on the island was pretty cheesy looking though, as were the scenes with the whales near the end of the film. Additionally, at brief points throughout the film, there are bouts of less than par image quality. But overall, the image quality is very good, just not quite great.
The same goes for the audio, presented in a DTS-HD track. The dubbed voices were well done and the subtitles were good, too. The variety of scenes in the film — explosive action, sneaking, quiet discussion — gave the audio track a chance to shine and I thought it did very well for itself.
The two extra features I mentioned earlier are:
-Making of (9m, SD) – Director Nonzee Nimibutr does most of the talking in this extra feature which is a quick, but enjoyable watch. In it he explains how Tsunami Warrior is unique in Thai cinema and explains the story and other thoughts on the merits of the film. A couple of the actors have a brief spotlight as well, and scenes from production are shown while they talk.
-Behind the Scenes (5m, SD) – A relatively quick look at some behind the scenes and production footage of the film. Not bad, but quite brief.
To the summary…
