Reaction & Review | Red Hawk: Weapon Of Death

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be covering an animated movie from 1995. That movie is "Red Hawk: Weapon Of Death".

And unfortunately, I don't really have a whole lot of information that I can give out to you guys about this movie. The one thing I can say is that this was movie was made in South Korea. But beyond that, I don't really have any kind of trivia notes, or any kind of background information that would be worth noting, because I wasn't able to find much of anything in regards to this movie. I will say, though, that the title of this movie sounds very cheesy, yet kinda awesome at the same. So, at least, I can say that much. Now, I know that interesting titles don't always make for good movies, but this title interested me just enough to warrant covering for this series.

As for what I know about the plot, from what little I read about it, is about some sort of evil martial arts gang that has taken over some distant land, and our main character has to fight them off and defeat them in order to take the land back. Beyond that, I don't really know much else about the story. I remember reading a comment somewhere, which I believe might've been from Amazon (not totally sure), saying that this movie is like a fuse of "Dragon Ball" and "Fist Of The North Star". Mostly because, both of those series are about martial arts and fighting. Now, I don't really know if that's gonna be a good thing or not, considering that I'm not that big a fan of the "Dragon Ball" series, nor have I seen anything involving "Fist Of The North Star". So, this movie could go either way for me.

But regardless, I am still curious to see if this movie is gonna be worth checking out. I don't know if it's gonna be any good or not, but the only way I'm gonna find out if it is worth watching at all, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "Red Hawk: Weapon Of Death".

12 minutes later

You know, guys, how I mentioned that this movie was something like "Dragon Ball"? Well, this green-haired lady just did a kamehameha in a similar fashion much like Goku and Vegeta. Mind you, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. In fact, I will say it was pretty cool. I am kinda curious to get to know more about her as the film rolls on, but so far, I've kinda taken to liking to her already.

9 minutes later

So, let me if I understand this. 4 years ago, Red Hawk saved Yunglung from getting her ass kicked when she went to prove her martial arts skills against these elite martial arts fighters known as the Five Dragons. And the only thing Red Hawk did was just stand there while an actual red hawk flew over them, which was, apparently, enough to scare them away into full retreat mode. I guess, perhaps, maybe I'm just being picky here, but I'm sorta hoping that we get to see this guy in action pretty soon. Otherwise, I'm gonna be a bit disappointed.

5 minutes later

So...not only can Yunglung do a kamehameha wave, but apparently, so can Red Hawk. And it was strong enough to send this guy flying back, to a point where he actually SKIPPED water, like some people would use to skip water with a stone. I'm beginning to wonder if that's just, like, a common thing in this universe to where if you become a martial arts fighter, you can also learn to do a kamehameha yourself? I'm really curious about that, and I hope we get some kind of explanation as to how they can get these sorts of powers. I strongly doubt it, but it is leaving me curious.

9 minutes later

OK, I know this is a very stupid point that I'm gonna be bringing up here, but this dude who's commanding these ninjas, I guess, just referred to his weapon as a sword...despite the fact that the weapon itself is clearly a spear. I'm sorry, but anybody with a pair of functioning eyes and has any basic knowledge of weaponry could tell you that's a fucking spear! I'm sorry, guys, but that kinda bugged me a little bit.

5 minutes later

So not only can Red Hawk also magically levitate, but he can also jack his muscles up to where it rips his shirt off and goes into a "Fighting Transformation Mode" to get stronger. Guys, I know I should be dropping this subject, but it's starting to become difficult in which it's hard NOT to compare this thing with "Dragon Ball". Mind you now, the movie isn't bad (at least so far anyway), but the more that I continue watching this movie, the more it's becoming difficult to not make those comparisons. I will try to review this movie as it's own thing whenever I eventually get to that point, but I can't really promise that.

20 minutes later

So now the villains can also do a "Fighting Transformation Mode" as well...you know what, at this point, I'm just gonna stop trying to compare this thing with "Dragon Ball", because all I would be doing at this point is just beating a dead horse. I'll just save that for later when I eventually review this movie.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "Red Hawk: Weapon Of Death". Let me go ahead and shut the film off...all right. So, um...I guess I should start by saying that, prior to going into this movie, I didn't really know what to expect from it. And while I'll still say that the movie isn't really that bad, it's also not great, either.

So, let's just get into all this by talking about the movie itself. And I have to start this off with the obvious topic, which would be the writing. Well, not only is it obvious, because I usually start a lot of my reviews off with the writing, but it's also obvious because of what this film was trying to be. It's obvious that the filmmakers of this movie were heavily influenced by the "Dragon Ball" series. Most of it has to do with it's fight scenes. In which the characters have these "Fighting Transfomation Modes" in which they grow bigger and stronger, they can levitate, and they also have other ridiculous powers, such as Red Hawk, who can do the kamehameha wave. And a bit of a spoiler, Red Hawk also has something resembling a Super Saiyan form towards the very end of the movie. So yes, this movie's subtly is very well hidden, as you can clearly tell. Now, I am not against the idea of this thing trying to be a knock-off of a different franchise. Hell, I remembered last year when I covered "Munchies", in which that movie was clearly a knock-off of "Gremlins", and I kinda liked that movie. So if this movie's intention was to be something like a knock-off of "Dragon Ball", well, it certainly did accomplish that. In which, you have all of the ridiculous fight scenes and powers that the "Dragon Ball" series was definitely known for. So, on that end, this movie was able to accomplish that much.

That being said, though, the comparisons with the "Dragon Ball" series don't end there. It also is sprinkled in with our characters, specifically our protagonists. Our main character, Jan Chung, is obviously suppose to be Goku. In which, he has most of Goku's powers that's suppose to make him super strong. We then have Honglyung, who reminds me of a lot Chi-Chi. Which, for those who don't know, is Goku's wife. And she plays up as the love interest for Jan Chung. Then there's Mounja, who's basically this movie's version of Yamcha, in which he's suppose to be Jan Chung's friend and is fucking worthless to the overall story. And then there's Yunglung, who reminds me of Bulma. Except in this movie, Yunglung can actually kinda hold her own in a fight, while Bulma was mostly a supporting character from behind the fighting that goes in the "Dragon Ball" series. Now aside from Honglyung and Mounja, the other two characters do have something resembling a backstory, and they do get some time to flesh out their characters. So I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that their characters are lifted directly from the "Dragon Ball" franchise, even if there are some similarities between the characters. Now for anyone who has no knowledge of "Dragon Ball" and have never seen anything related to that franchise, then those people are not gonna have too much of a problem getting into this movie. But for people who have, though, it's gonna be very hard not to notice these kinds of comparisons when watching this movie. The best I can say to that is you would have to shut your brain off and not do what I just did when I watched it.

Our story here is probably one of the only things that's original that doesn't have much of any similarities to "Dragon Ball". The only real problem with it is that it feels rather episodic. It starts off with Honglyung's father being murdered, so Jan Chung accompanies her, along with their companions, as they go on a journey together to find out what the cause of his death was. And from there, the main plot is sorta put on the back burner for smaller conflicts that happen in the movie. It's not until after Honglyung gets kidnapped in which we finally focus back on the main plot of the film. Now, it's not a huge issue overall, but it is something that could be rather noticeable to some people. One thing I want to comment on, and this is me going back to the "Dragon Ball" comparison one more time, is about Red Hawk himself. As I mentioned earlier, the "Dragon Ball" series was mostly known for it's fight scenes, while the storytelling aspect of it was more on the weaker side. But one of the things that was mostly consistent about that series was Goku's journey on wanting to get stronger. You got to see him develop and grow as he gained his abilities throughout the series, from the abilities of the Kaio-ken, to his Super Saiyan form, through all the way to which he gets his blue hair from "Dragon Ball Super". I've not seen anything beyond Super, so I don't know if he gets another out of the blue form after that or not. But anyway, my point is that you got to see him develop his powers and how he's able to use them. But in the case of this movie, we don't get to see how Red Hawk was able to obtain any of his powers. The only thing that we're given is when he's given his mask, he's told to live freely and that he'll become the Red Hawk that won't become shackled by anyone with a corrupted heart. But as to how he gets his powers is beyond me. My guess is that he probably got his powers once he put on the mask, but that would be me just stretching that theory entirely.

Now, this is where I think this movie could benefit from a remake. In which they could give this movie a one season series, and would be able to flesh out more about how Red Hawk was able to get his powers. Now granted, I don't think that's ever going to happen, but it was something that was kinda on my mind if this movie were to ever be remade in some fashion. But beyond all that, the movie is still decent for what it is, regardless if this movie was trying to be subtle on the fact that it was totally not trying to be a knock-off of the "Dragon Ball" series. Now with that said, let's delve right into the acting. And I have to go off by the English dub that I watched off YouTube, because that was the only version that was available to me. The dub here is actually halfway decent. What I'm more surprised by is our main lead, who is voiced by Steve Blum. I have often stated that I'm not a huge fan of Steve Blum, mostly because his acting is very limited due to his vocal work, and he mostly just phones in the same lifeless showings he's been giving out for many years now. Well, in this movie, he ACTUALLY turns in a pretty good showing. And I'm thankful that he did turn in a good performance here, because when I found out that he was voicing the main character for this movie, I was feeling a ton of dread going in because I know the guy can barely act. Well, he actually proved me wrong here in which he CAN act when he's given a decent script. So, I gotta give props to you, Blum. You actually did a pretty good job here. The acting from the rest of the cast is also halfway decent, too. So overall, I can say that the dub here is halfway decent, with Steve Blum, surprisingly, giving out a pretty decent performance here, too.

Animation in this movie is not too bad for something that was made in the mid-90's. Now admittedly, I haven't really seen a whole lot of anime from South Korea, aside from "Tai Chi Chasers", which was a Korean anime. But I can say that the movie still looks pretty good here for it's time. The art-style and the color pallets look pretty good, as well as the backgrounds looking beautifully painted, too. The animation itself is decent, and there's very little usage of recycled animation, aside from a couple of running movements during battle scenes. But since they're mostly minor scenes, I'm not going to harp on those scenes too much, because I'm sure that the studio that made this movie were still limited with what they had to work with. And I will say that, when compared to a couple of other anime projects from the 90's, at least this movie looks a little bit better than those. Granted, it may not be saying very much, because, again, I haven't seen very much Korean anime, but regardless, I still liked the look of this anime that came out in 1995. So yes, the animation looks fine here for what it is.

Sound-mix here is also mixed fine. The score here is actually pretty good, and it's sorta upbeat, too. I may actually have to see if I can find the OST for this movie somewhere on YouTube, if there is one. Because I do remember liking the music for this movie.

Ultimately, guys, when all is said and done, can I recommend "Red Hawk: Weapon Of Death"? Kind of, yes. If you're able to look past the fact that this movie could be seen as a knock-off of the "Dragon Ball" series, then you might actually really like this movie. However, if you are a die-hard fan of the "Dragon Ball" franchise, and you don't want to see anything that tries to be somewhat of a blatant knock-off, then you might want to skip out on this, because, like I said many times in this review already, the comparisons would be too hard not to notice for any fan of that franchise. Like I said earlier, if you decide to shut your brain off, and enjoy it as some cheesy martial arts movie, then you may actually end up really enjoying it. I, personally, don't really know if I would end up watching this movie a second time, but it might still be good to watch, at least, once. And who knows? Maybe you might find some decent riffing material out of this movie, if you ever want to riff on it with some friends. As for myself, like I said, I don't know if this is something I would watch again, or even add to my DVD collection, but I still had a little bit of fun with it, despite my complaints that I had with it. And again, I'm not a huge fan of the "Dragon Ball" series, but this movie's subtlety made it too easy for me to make those comparisons. So anyway, guys, if you're curious, you can find a copy of this move on YouTube for free. Hell, I may even provide a link in the description for you guys to watch, in case you have about 90 minutes to spare. But as for myself, I'm gonna go and watch a different martial arts movie. I think I'll go and rewatch my copy of "City Hunter", AKA the live-action movie starring Jackie Chan. It's been a little while since I last watched it, so I'm gonna go and give that another watch after I'm done putting this review together.

Anyway, guys, with that, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all later. Peace.