The Raid: Redemption

[baumer]

You know what to do.

[Plain Old Tele]

Reposting from my crowd reports post:

Holy shit, what amazing action! Anyone who remotely likes action films (especially Jackie Chan or Jet Li movies) should find a way to see this. There's almost no plot: basically there's an evil drug lord holed up in an apartment building that he owns, and a squad of cops are sent in to capture him or take him out. So they have to fight their way up, story by story.

The action is brutal and insanely inventive. It starts off with tons of heavy gunfire, and then, as people run out of ammo and/or get killed, the combatants fall back on pistols, then knives and machetes, and finally their fists and whatever else they can get their hands on: bits of furniture, smashed doors, etc.

The fighting is choreographed extremely well and it's just insane to watch people this well-trained go at each other. Highly entertaining, with great sound design and a booming soundtrack. It loses a few points because, really, there's almost no story or character development, but still, a damn good action flick that puts most bigger-budget studio films to shame.

B+

[baumer]

I'm probably going to sound like a little kid here but holy fucking shit! Everything you have heard about this film is absolutely true. The fighting choreography in this is unlike anything I have ever seen. Now I might screw up some of the characters and their names here, but that's only because they are relatively unknown. Iko Uwais is the main actor in this and according to his bio on imdb, he is a Taiwanese Silat champion and has been studying it since 10. It shows. His skill is eye popping, truly incredible. And then there's the main villain in the film, who I think is Mad Dog. He's played by some dude named Yahan Ruhian. He is just as impressive, if not more than Uwais. Another martial artist named Doni Alamsyah makes up a trifecta of gifted martial artists. The last battle is a three way as Uwais and Alamsyah team up to fight Ruhian. It truly left me breathless and I clapped in the empty theater when it was done. I don't know how they did it, but if you think you have seen incredible martial arts battles before, this one will put it to shame.The story? Who cares. Crimelords in Jakarta trap a bunch of SWAT team members in a building and all fucking hell breaks loose. That's all that really has to be said because it is the choreography in the film that takes center stage and it's one of the best I've ever seen.9/10

[Plain Old Tele]

Yahan Ruhian and Iko Uwais also were the fight choreographers. Really, really impressive stuff.Go see this movie, people! You won't regret seeing it on the big screen.

[baumer]

Yahan Ruhian and Iko Uwais also were the fight choreographers. Really, really impressive stuff.Go see this movie, people! You won't regret seeing it on the big screen.

So is it Yahan that plays the guy they fight at the end? He's incredible.

[Plain Old Tele]

So is it Yahan that plays the guy they fight at the end? He's incredible.

Yeah, he was Mad Dog.

[baumer]

Yeah, he was Mad Dog.

All three of them were incredible, but he was unreal. The choreography in this must have taken months to perfect.

[ravon80]

Amazing film. The action was wall-to-wall and mind-blogging in how they accomplished some of it. Never have I seen choreography so impressive.The use of sound was also freaking brilliant. The drones, the beats, even the silence. Expertly done.I will be buying this movie on day one. It felt like an instant action classic. It makes Die Hard seem like a slow-burn movie now. Just wow.PLUS the crowd I saw it with was amazing. It was like a sporting event or something. The amount of cheers, applause, and "OHH!" that-had-to-hurt reactions were so great to participate in and be around. It really elevated the experience.Pure entertainment. Glorious action cinema. A+

[Plain Old Tele]

I wish I had seen it in a packed theater. There were 6 people for my showing.

[baumer]

6 in mine as well.

[ravon80]

Well, it was only playing at one theatre in my city (and I live in a city of over a million), and I went on opening night (Friday) to a prime showing @ 8:10, so I guess it makes sense that I had more people.Still, the crowd was great. What an experience.

[FTF]

Oh hell yeah!! This finally came to theaters by me and I saw it Friday night with a few friends and holy shit was it awesome! I'm always skeptical when I read reviews like best (action) movie in years and some of the best choreographed fight scenes you'll ever see, etc. but by god they were right! The main fights in the hallways, the meth lab brawl, the flyin backwards neck into broken door move (I loved that!) and the 3-way finale fight...I just can't say enough awesome things about that 3-way battle with mad dog at the end...it's simply one of the best fight scenes I've ever seen. And I even have to give props to the story, acting and directing. Normally I could give two shits about the story in some of my recent favorite action/martial arts movies (what's that Tony Jaa, someone took your elephant? I don't give a shit just go break some more bones, kick some more people's asses and put some more stunt doubles in the hospital please!), but with this it actually builds a decent story up in the beginning and the initial raid of the building with the suspense of the spotters and lights out shotgun blast was done well and was suspenseful...as was the scene when they were hiding in the wall.Anyway, I definitely plan on catching it again in theaters (probably with another group of friends as I spread the word) but for anyone who likes action movies go see this right now!A-, 9/10

Edited April 10, 2012 by FTF

[baumer]

You nailed it FTF. The action sequences in this were crazy good. I will be seeing this for sure again.

[Crusader]

Here's my problem As a fan of martial arts films and a fan of Asian movies in general I ma naturally dying to see a 800K budgeted Indonesian flick where 24 cops go into a building and all hell breaks loose However it might not be released for months over here that is if it gets released in the first place So my problem is the following ... hope to see it on the big screen in like 2-4 months ( which is not guaranteed at all ... more likely a 50 % chance ) or watch it online and jerk off to its awesomeness in my home ?

[Plain Old Tele]

It will play much, much better on the big screen. If your area doesn't get it in 2-4 months, then get the DVD or something.

[shii405]

Hey guys, calling out all fans of "The Raid" to join the forum: http://z13.invisionfree.com/TheRaidFansZoneLet's discuss more about the movie in details!

[RichWS]

This movie left me exhausted in the best possible way.

[SchumacherFTW]

This was just utterly insane and unbelievably awesome! The story was simplistic, and the performance were servicable, but my god it was epic. Just. Amazing. It was so god damn cool! I wanna see it again now!!!!!!

[baumer]

Sly should be getting these three bad asses to be the villians in the next Expendables movie.

[MagnetMan]

I am dying to see this movie. The action sequences I've seen online are unbelievable. Any news on Blu-ray release date?