I bought Heroic Trio because it was recommended (rather highly) on the IMDb front page, and because it is not released on DVD in the UK so I couldn't rent it.
I was completely disappointed.
Supposedly, Heroic Trio has a story. It must be hidden very well, for the film made little sense to me. (Something along the lines of: Demon trains girls to become action heros, but fires two of them before they grow up. Then decides he wants a male baby to conquer the world for him and has 18 of them kidnapped from hospitals by his last remaining female disciple. There's also an invisibility cloak, some police officers and other nonsense in there, but on the whole the idea of "story" seems quite tertiary compared to "action") So, story: Rubbish, confused, and created by combining various stereotypes.
But action movies can entertain even without stories (see The Warrior King - one of the worst scripts ever, but also fantastic action). Heroic Trio, however, can't. It has dated badly: Seeing thick wires carry the heroes desperately calls for some digital retouching. In some scenes, you can even see a giant circular plate above them from which the wires are suspended, making them look like marionettes. So, wire-fu may have been pioneering, but is outdated and quite terrible. Fine. What about martial arts action? Mostly, it consists of people standing about 4 metres apart and making quick movements with their hands and feet. Somehow, the illusion that the actors were fighting was rather unconvincing - it looked more like a video game or a dance, certainly nothing where any kind of contact might ever have occurred.
Bad story... bad action... and, to top it off, ridiculous special effects. (By the time you see a very flimsy puppet and later a rubber backpack used for a monster, you realise, this film could be bettered by student productions).
Oh, and the "heroes" get away with kidnapping and accidentally killing babies, without a second thought. It's probably the only innovative thing about it, but it seems too much like an afterthought inserted for a five second moment of fake poignancy in the middle, rather than a well thought out plot element.
Basically, watch this film drunk, with friends, if you want to laugh at something terrible (ideally with sarcastic commentary). Don't watch it for a good story, good action, good FX or any quality apart from being so bad it's funny.
Heroic Trio - Attack of the Killertomatoes for martial arts films.
I was completely disappointed.
Supposedly, Heroic Trio has a story. It must be hidden very well, for the film made little sense to me. (Something along the lines of: Demon trains girls to become action heros, but fires two of them before they grow up. Then decides he wants a male baby to conquer the world for him and has 18 of them kidnapped from hospitals by his last remaining female disciple. There's also an invisibility cloak, some police officers and other nonsense in there, but on the whole the idea of "story" seems quite tertiary compared to "action") So, story: Rubbish, confused, and created by combining various stereotypes.
But action movies can entertain even without stories (see The Warrior King - one of the worst scripts ever, but also fantastic action). Heroic Trio, however, can't. It has dated badly: Seeing thick wires carry the heroes desperately calls for some digital retouching. In some scenes, you can even see a giant circular plate above them from which the wires are suspended, making them look like marionettes. So, wire-fu may have been pioneering, but is outdated and quite terrible. Fine. What about martial arts action? Mostly, it consists of people standing about 4 metres apart and making quick movements with their hands and feet. Somehow, the illusion that the actors were fighting was rather unconvincing - it looked more like a video game or a dance, certainly nothing where any kind of contact might ever have occurred.
Bad story... bad action... and, to top it off, ridiculous special effects. (By the time you see a very flimsy puppet and later a rubber backpack used for a monster, you realise, this film could be bettered by student productions).
Oh, and the "heroes" get away with kidnapping and accidentally killing babies, without a second thought. It's probably the only innovative thing about it, but it seems too much like an afterthought inserted for a five second moment of fake poignancy in the middle, rather than a well thought out plot element.
Basically, watch this film drunk, with friends, if you want to laugh at something terrible (ideally with sarcastic commentary). Don't watch it for a good story, good action, good FX or any quality apart from being so bad it's funny.
Heroic Trio - Attack of the Killertomatoes for martial arts films.