The Raid [Blu-ray]

As soon as I saw the red-band trailer, I knew I had to see this movie, and got tickets for the first ever UK screening at Glasgow FrightFest. It was the last film of the day - so every seat in the cinema was already occupied by film fans and journalists who'd been sitting there all day, watching film after film. We squeezed into the last remaining seats in the back row, expecting the audience to be too tired to respond enthusiastically to a late-night action movie.

We couldn't have been more wrong.

THE RAID got half a dozen spontaneous rounds of applause, and a standing ovation at the end. Well deserved.

I've now seen it four times on the big screen, and bought the DVD on the day of release.

THE RAID, is a smart, lean, tightly-controlled thrill machine, perfectly calibrated to create maximum tension and adrenaline, without any of the dumbed-down compromises we've been conditioned to expect from Hollywood. This is, quite simply, the kind of action movie they just don't make any more. Imagine early-80s John Carpenter tension, fused with mid-80s John Woo Hong Kong action (but without Woo's cheesiness), and you're in the right ballpark. It's fast, dense, gritty, uncompromising, and utterly gripping, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with such action classics as DIE HARD, THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS and HARD BOILED.

Director Gareth Evans is going to be a major force in Hollywood. Get in on the ground floor.

I'm unsure whether I'm reviewing the seller or the film here! So I'll do both...

The seller was spot on. Bluray was in perfect condition and arrived promptly.

I'm a fan of action films but not usually that bothered about films with subtitles or films with martial arts...however...this film had everything! Drama, emotion, suspense, action, horror...there were explosions, guns, knives, machetes and then raw fighting. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and watching the making of the film afterwards just heightened my enjoyment of it. Very entertaining. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys being on the edge of their seat or who doesn't mind a film where everyone is kicking two shades out of each other.

Ok, bold title and a few caveats. The plot is SWAT team tries to get a drug baron in a block of flats...and that's it for plot and locations. The dialogue is in Indonesian so the translation may lose some nuance (but I doubt it) and overall it's every action cliche rolled into one script.

So why the title and 5 stars? Because everything is executed perfectly. The sweaty tension raising intro, the bombastic gunfights and most of all the incredibly brutal, fast and efficient martial arts.

I saw this on a Wednesday evening in a half full cinema- and yet there were spontaneous rounds of applause and cries of "oh god!" as you saw audacious action scene after visceral fistfight. It is a constant thrill with enough "plot" to allow you to recover before the next shot of adrenaline cinema kicks in. It reminds Hollywood it's not about money or how much blows up but how it blows up and two men fighting in a kitchen can be more exciting than watching a city being trashed by giant robots.

A must see for any fan of action movies.

Spoiler alert!!
Firstly this film is definitely overhyped, that's not to say it's bad. You cannot criticise the filmmakers for the film doing well sale wise, let's remember that this is an Indonesian film on a budget.
STORY --
Starting off with the story I have to say critically that there basically isn't one and you could say well it only needs to be sparse.. but personally I got a little confused of what had happened with the guy with the white hair (he looks like a bad hannibal from the A-Team back in the 80's)and the deception and also why the hero's brother was in the tower block in the first place on the other side of the law? there's no explanation at all. I have to say though that I watched the film late at night and only once so my attention span wasn't fully there.
ACTION --
The important bit!! - I watched the dvd version as I picked it up cheap, so I fully understand that the Blu Ray version is the uncut version but i've heard not that much is cut from this print. Being something of an Asian/action film enthusiast I was satisfied with the action more often than not. I felt in some scenes I was impressed with the scenes but in others, such as some of the corridor fights, the fight director could have shown a bit more power on screen. When i mean power I mean the way the impact is filmed or cut, one of the best at this art is Sammo Hung, but hey this is low budget so they've done really well. Some of the impacts/death scenes are brutal and I was quite impressed in the manor they had been done. I thought the lead actor was pretty decent in the action role, I heard that this guy is an ex-security guard.
THE HYPE --
I enjoyed the film as my expectations were lowered. I'd say the action is on par with something like Ong Bak, the latter being a superior film.... As for being the best action film of the last twenty years then i'd definitely question that. I think that if you enjoy this then definitely you need to be checking out Bruce Lee, Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao etc etc, all those golden age HK films starting with Lee's films in the 70's. All those films are better than this one, but this is ok. I'd definitely watch it again no doubt but see it as a little prince to those classics. Hong Kong doesn't seem to be producing Martial Arts films as often these days so the likes of Korea and Thailand have been coming forward. If this film raises the profile of Indonesian film and other Asian cinema then it's done it's job. NOT a classic of the genre but enjoyable... don't expect something it's not! Read more ›

A team of SWATs attempt to raid a tower block full of bad guys, and prove they aren't all that good at doing their homework after all, as the baddies soon become aware of their unwanted presence in two seconds flat and try to kill them all off, using everything in their considerable arsenal. Fortunately for the cops, they have one or two resourceful chaps in their ranks that can handle themselves in dangerous situations...
Almost no story whatsoever, ludicrous action, silly dialogue and rather unbelievable characters..
Who cares?
Not me!
As what this does do, is provide the viewer with an almost non~stop barrage of over the top violent action and macho bloodshed escapism. That's right folks, as our eyeballs are smarted by the visual display of gratuitous gore (sadly quite a bit is cgi) and punch ups, with the goodies attempting to survive their way to the top, using guns, knives, machetes and a lunch~box full of good old knuckle butties to bring Mr Big to justice.
Now, I have to say that some of the action is a bit samey, which is kind of understandable due to the amount, and I thought the soundtrack could've been a little more pumped, but generally speaking, if you like your movies thick and fast, then you will enjoy this no question.
If on the other hand you value character development, female leads and clever narrative, it probably wont impress you that much.
I'm gonna award this 4.25/5 against its peers, for the reasons I've given.
Finally, I dread to think how many times I thought to myself 'I'll bet that hurt' whilst watching the fight choreography in this!