The Movie: Silat Warriors: Deed of Death
The Director: Areel Abu Bakar
The Cast: Namron, Khoharullah Majid, Feiyna Tajudin, Fad Anuar, Taiyuddin Bakar, Megat Shahrizal, Azlan Komeng
The Story: When a reckless young gambler’s wild lifestyle of illegal betting, drag racing, and brutal street fights pits him against a ruthless criminal enterprise, his luck finally runs out.
The Review:
If you're familiar with movies like The Raid: Redemption, Chocolate, and the Ong Bak series, you'll have a fair idea of what to expect from this movie. Silat is a term for the brutal Southeast Asian martial arts styles popularized by The Raid movies and, when choregraphed properly, it looks great on screen so I was really looking forward to seeing what this movie had to offer. The fight scenes are all really well done with lots of variety and all kinds of different locations are used so none of it ever feels too long or drawn out.
I will say that the story is pretty basic although it's just interesting enough to get through to the next set of fights scenes without losing your attention and that's really all it needs to do. Dominic Toretto would be proud of the emphasis on family and traditions and maintaining a moral standard. There are several references to integrity being an integral part of holding the family together and, when put into practice, will always defeat those who are more focused on greed and obtaining wealth through underhanded means.
From a technical standpoint, there is a lot to be desired when it comes to the acting, the editing, and the camerawork during the non fight scenes specifically. It was almost like this movie was made by two different sets of filmmakers because I thought the fight scenes were very well done with great choreography and top notch cinematography which was a huge contrast to the rest of the movie. There is one sequence where three separate fights are taking place with each one easily standing on its own and yet, the way they are layered together made these moments even more compelling.
Since I'm reviewing the home video release, I will say that the Blu-ray is pretty basic with the movie itself, scene selections, trailer, and other previews being the only features included. No behind the scenes featurettes or anything else about the movie so, unless you are a physical media collector, you might be better off buying or renting it digitally from your favorite outlet. I will say the packaging for the Blu-ray does look really nice and my copy did come with the slip case which is always a quality touch.
The Verdict:
Silat Warriors: Deed of Death is the most brutal after school special I have ever seen. The story teaches life lessons but it's really all about the action and, for martial arts movie fans, the payoff is definitely worth the investment.
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