The Storm Riders

Infobox Film
name = The Storm Riders


caption =
imdb_rating =
director = Andrew Lau
producer = Manfred Wong
writers =
starring = Aaron Kwok
Ekin Cheng
Sonny Chiba
Kristy Yang
Shu Qi
music = Chan Kwong-Wing
cinematography = Andrew Lau
editing = Marco Mak
Danny Pang
distributor = Golden Harvest Pictures (China) Ltd.
released = flagicon|Hong Kong 18 July, 1998
flagicon|Thailand 28 August, 1998
runtime = 126 min.
country = Hong Kong S.A.R. (P.R.C)
language = Cantonese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = "The Storm Warriors"
mpaa_rating =
tv_rating =
amg_id = 1:168217
imdb_id = 0165499

"The Storm Riders" (zh-t|t=風雲之雄霸天下) is a 1998 Hong Kong film directed by Andrew Lau. It is based on a comic book called "Fung Wan" (or "Tin Ha"). It stars Ekin Cheng as Wind and Aaron Kwok as Cloud. The plot involves two children, Whispering Wind and Striding Cloud, who become powerful warriors under the evil warlord Conquer's tutelage.

While the film was released in an 'official' form in the United States, it was so heavily edited that many had trouble following the events. As a result, it is still often sold in pirated formats with the original cut.Fact|date=May 2008

An upcoming sequel to the film titled "The Storm Warriors" and directed by the Pang Brothers is set for a 2009 release in Hong Kong.

Plot

The evil Lord Conquer, head of Conqueror's Clan, is given a prophecy from a prophet named Mud Buddha. It is said that if Conquer finds two young children by the name of Wind and Cloud he will have good fortune. Mud Buddha tells Conquer to look for him 10 years later so that he can tell the rest of Conqueror's fortune. Conquer issues an order that every boy with a birth chart matching Wind's or Cloud's must become a disciple of the Conqueror's Clan. Both Wind and Cloud are found, and Lord Conquer's servants murder their respective parents.

Ten years pass, and Wind and Cloud are now both fully-grown and highly-skilled martial artists. Lord Conquer raised them as his own children. He is angered by the disappearance of Mud Buddha and sends his men to find him. After Mud Buddha is found, he reveals that his two disciples will either join or destroy Conquer.

Seeing that Wind and Cloud can lead to misfortune, Lord Conquer uses his daughter, Charity, to cause Wind and Cloud to fight each other. There was a love triangle involving Wind, Cloud, and Charity. Lord Conquer tried to kill Wind and Cloud in their duel, but killed his own daughter instead when she tried to protect Wind and Cloud. Cloud and Wind's relationship with Lord Conquer sours, after Cloud loses an arm to Conquer in combat and Wind is poisoned by Conquer's minions. Fortunately, Cloud is found by helpful villagers, one of which whom donates his arm to replace Cloud's loss.

Wind and Cloud then work together to destroy Lord Conquer. Together, they defeat the evil warlord, finally exacting their revenge and fulfilling Mud Buddha's prophecy.

Cast

*Whispering Wind - Ekin Cheng
*Striding Cloud - Aaron Kwok
*Lord Conquer - Sonny Chiba
*Charity - Kristy Yeung
*Frost - Michael Tse
*Sword Saint - Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
*Mud Buddha - Lai Yiu-Cheung
*Jester - Lawrence Cheng
*Whispering Prince - Alex Fong Chung-Sun
*Striding Sky - Yu Rong-Guang
*Muse - Shu Qi
*Summit Yu - Wan Yeung-Ming
*Shaolin Monk - Roy Cheung
*Ming - Jason Chu
*Ying - Christine Ng
*Hawk - Dion Lam
*Bat - Ng Chi-Hung
*Seedy Sword - Elvis Tsui
*Dragon - Lee Siu-Kei

Differences from the original comic

It was argued that the film adaptation and all the other television based adaptations of Fung Wan lacked the full plot of original story as written by Ma Wing Shing in the comics. It was agreed that the full plot in the comics was too much to squeeze into the 130 minutes film. The few examples of the omitted parts of the story from the comic is as follows:

*Hung Ba fought with both Wind and Cloud after both of them heard of the second half of his fate and before they obtain their weapons and martial arts skills for them to defeat Hung Ba in the end of the story. This part of the story is also when Wind lost his left eye to Hung Ba's attack when he tried to shield Cloud from that attack.

*Mou Ming did not appear in the film to tutor Wind and Cloud the Mo Hor Mou Leong which allowed them to combine their techniques into one attack that helped them defeat Hung Ba ultimately as in the comics. Mou Ming's disciple Kin Sum also did not appear anywhere in the film

*Yau Yok, Hung Ba's daughter was absent from the film. She was accidentally killed by Cloud in the end when he was looking to kill Hung Ba for revenge. It also led to Hung Ba committing suicide by throwing himself into Cloud's sword after being too devastated at his daughter's death. Kung Ti was originally one of Hung Ba's maids and not his actual daughter.

*It was not mentioned of what happened to Cloud's vow to go back to free Kung Ti after he defeated Hung Ba. Also, the place where Cloud laid Kung Ti's corpse to rest in peace was virtually indestructible by any means due to it being built for the Imperial burials. Hung Ba could not have easily broken the stone seal to escape from the inside.

*In the original storyline in the comic, Wind never actually had any romantic attachment to Kung Ti. He merely thought of her as a sister and respected her as his sister-in-law as his martial brother Frost's wife.

*The part where Cloud was tasked in robbing the Peerless sword from Du Gu Yat Fong, Sword Saint's brother from the Peerless city was actually tasked to Wind when he was 17 years old in the storyline, which is arbitrarily seven years from the event which happened in the film. On the other hand, the part when Wind and Frost were tasked in bringing Mud Buddha to Hung Ba was originally in the comics tasked to Cloud and Frost.

*The person who Nip Yan Wong (Wind's father) fought in the bamboo forest was actually Po Kuan and not Hung Ba, who also took away Wind's mother. The person whom he was challenged at the top of the mountain in the beginning was Duen Sui, Duen Long's father and not Hung Ba. Hung Ba intervention in Wind's past only began when he recruited Wind as his third disciple after Cloud. This also explains why the original Wind was not as vengeful on Hung Ba as Cloud was, which was also depicted in the film. On a side note, Nip Yan Wong did not die in his capture by the Kirin Beast but managed to survive in the cavern with Duen Sui until further parts of the comic's storyline.

*Wind's mother did not appear in the comics during his father's fight at the mountain top in the beginning of the film. She was 'traded' by Po Kuan to Juet Mo Shan, who appeared only after the defeat of Hung Ba in the storyline for the Sat Po Long martial stance. She survived until much later in the Fung Wan storyline.

*Wind did not fight with the Kirin Beast when he went back to look for his father in the caverns. Also he was supposed to stumble across his family's sabre technique in the caverns and obtain the Snow Drinking Sabre from outside of the caverns near the ocean. It was unexplained how Wind came to know how to fight with the sabre in the film. The same thing also happened with Cloud as he was supposed to have uncovered Sword Saint's hidden manual for his previous sword technique which he utilised in the fight with Hung Ba.

*The Kim Zhong (Sword Cemetery) is not part of Tin Ha Wui as illustrated in the film. It was owned by Mou Ming's martial teacher and Po Kuan's father. The ultimate sword was never buried in there also. It was forged not by Cloud's father but the Bai family under a plan which was formulated by Wind's ancestor Nip Ying to create a sword out of a supernatural metal which can calm down his Kirin Blood, which the Bai family failed to achieve in his life time and thus the blood was inherited by all succeeding Nip family members. Cloud then infiltrated the Bai family after hearing of a sword that would be superior to any other weapon.

*Wind's inheritance of the Kirin Blood (which is also part of which shaped Cloud's Kirin arm) is not mentioned in the film any where. It was the source of power which allowed Wind to infiltrate and kill Du Gu Yat Fong for the Peerless sword.

*Cloud's Striking Palm Stance usage is independent of any presence of liquid and thus he would not need to utilise fluid for his attacks. His left arm was also torn off by Hung Ba in the comics after the later severed it beyond recovery.

New Storm Riders Sequel Announced

It was announced that Ekin Cheng and Aaron Kwok would return 10 years after the original "Storm Riders" for a new film titled "The Storm Warriors", reprising their respective roles as Wind and Cloud. It was confirmed that the film will be helmed by The Pang Brothers and will follow the Japanese Invasion story of the manhua.

They will be joined by newcomers to the franchise HK Cantopop stars Nicholas Tse, Charlene Choi (of Twins fame), newcomer Tiffany T. Ma, and veteran actor Simon Yam who is set to be the new villain. Tse will portray the villain Juet Sum while Yam portrays his father Juet Mou San (Lord Godless).

Release in October or late 2009.

External links

* [http://www.lovehkfilm.com/reviews/storm_riders.htm Love HK Film - "The Storm Riders"]

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165499/ IMDb - The Storm Riders (1998)]