BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (Isaac Florentine, 1999)

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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 28 Aug 2010, 16:32

Dolph wants to direct an historical war movie, this was more fantasy / action à la Rambo meets Robin Hood / meets Mad Max almost, weird combination. The final movie is also very different from what he had signed on. He and the director were pissed when they got on location with the producers waiting for them a new, more simplified script in hand. Dolph likes more realistic stuff, he's not really into supernatural-type or fantasy stuff. What I could see him doing that more up his alley is maybe something more in the vein of MEN OF WAR maybe.

For me BOD is not one of his highlights, it's a guilty pleasure but it's very cheap and cheesy, not so impressed by the fights either (not a big fan of Florentine's style, weird close-ups and Power Rangers-like stuff and sound effects) which I know are a reason why so many people actually like the film...
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Nathan on 28 Aug 2010, 17:09

Dolph doing a Men of War type movie would be great, it's always had some of his best action from the 90's, especially the last half an hour which is a standout action scene from his career. I also have the same problem with Bridge of Dragons. I love it and I've seen it tonnes of times but only because it's got so much action and Dolph doing some of his best fighting and using some cool guns. Other than that the very cheesy and out of place fight sounds and slightly over the top fight moves spoil it for me also. I don't understand how directors cannot look at their work and say, "that's fucking cheesy" and realise what garbage they are making at the time? Although actually with some tighter editing and better sounds, the original footage before editing is not that bad. The cheesyness is partly due to editing choices.
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 28 Aug 2010, 17:19

Nathan wrote:I don't understand how directors cannot look at their work and say, "that's fucking cheesy" and realise what garbage they are making at the time?

Sometimes (more often than we think) they do, but can't do any better for various factors and circumstances, or they don't have a choice, are imposed certain things by the producers etc. In the end, it's also a job, you can't just do what you want for the sake of art (especially in Hollywood for which this is an industry like any other) so like anybody sometimes you have to do things you don't necessarily approve... In the case of Florentine, for instance he was not happy with the shooting script because the original screenplay was supposed to be great, and this was the first movie shot by Nu Image in Bulgaria with an unexperienced crew and that made him encounter many issues for that reason. Florentine (great guy, very nice and good karateka, I met him) sadly admitted BOD was in his worst movie (by 2003) but when I see some of his other work I think he also can be very undemanding or has low standards regarding certain aspects, so it's a mix of everything.
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Nathan on 28 Aug 2010, 19:36

Jox wrote:
Nathan wrote:I don't understand how directors cannot look at their work and say, "that's fucking cheesy" and realise what garbage they are making at the time?

Sometimes (more often than we think) they do, but can't do any better for various factors and circumstances, or they don't have a choice, are imposed certain things by the producers etc. In the end, it's also a job, you can't just do what you want for the sake of art (especially in Hollywood for which this is an industry like any other) so like anybody sometimes you have to do things you don't necessarily approve... In the case of Florentine, for instance he was not happy with the shooting script because the original screenplay was supposed to be great, and this was the first movie shot by Nu Image in Bulgaria with an unexperienced crew and that made him encounter many issues for that reason. Florentine (great guy, very nice and good karateka, I met him) sadly admitted BOD was in his worst movie (by 2003) but when I see some of his other work I think he also can be very undemanding or has low standards regarding certain aspects, so it's a mix of everything.


I agree mate, sometimes it's totally outwith the directors control. I think that Issac should set his heights higher, no disrespect but he's better than the DTV's he's been making with Scott Adkins. He's pretty awful at directing drama or just general acting but with a bigger budget could be great with more complex action. It'd be good if he angled for 2nd Unit jobs on bigger movies, where he'd likely have even less control but at least theatrical movies are usually more polished and less cheesy than some DTV drek we see.
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Warchild on 28 Aug 2010, 20:03

Jox do u have any clue as to how big the budget was for this movie and how many days of shooting it took, at imdb it shows a 4 million budget but much what is posted in imdb is false and i don't trust the numbers.

I think Isaac souldn't be too ashamed about this movie, im pretty sure alot of people like this movie and don't mind the cheesy sound effects and some of the cheesy action, but there are alot of good moments during action scenes and stunts.

i mean look at what came after bridge of dragons,

Storm Catcher
jill the ripper
the last patrol
Agent Red
Hidden Agenda
Detention
Retrograde
Direct Action

movies that i like way less than Bridge of Dragons.
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 28 Aug 2010, 20:14

Yeah some of the info is false on IMDB especially when it comes to budgets (partly due to trades and production companies giving false numbers, higher than what they are, especially in low budget world), some is accurate. The budget was a little less than 4 million dollars according to re-writer Clint Lien and Isaac. I don't know how many shooting days they had but it was roughly 4 weeks)
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 07 Sep 2010, 10:10

Killcount
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby savagesketch on 20 Sep 2010, 06:44

Bridge of Dragons is an odd one in that it had all the makings for what was to be a really cool flick... Cool cast, great location, etc. I'm assuming because of budgetary reasons, things had to be cut. It's set in this bizarre time period where there's a princess amidst some military soldiers... I dunno. Could have worked much better as a period piece, but then again, the budget probably wouldn't have allowed for this.
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 01 Nov 2010, 18:03

Chinese cover
Image
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby leigh1975 on 06 Dec 2010, 08:03

The BBFC reports that Bridge Of Dragons has been submitted for a UK release through Lionsgate, and it's going to have a Widescreen transfer;

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/BVV158665
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 06 Dec 2010, 11:00

Now that would be sweet! BOD is none of the few that isn't available in widescreen at all. 8) Given the timecode it seems this could be for a Blu-ray release and I'm not too surprised Lionsgate is jumping on the opportunity to revive consolidate and revive their Lundgren catalog...
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby leigh1975 on 06 Dec 2010, 13:42

Was it ever aimed for the big screen? I always assumed it was created for video and shot as such
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 06 Dec 2010, 14:03

It was never meant for the big screen (although it was released theatrically in Pakistan, Croatia and maybe a few other small territories) but like all Nu Image movies it was shot on 35mm in 1.85 aspect ratio (but home video companies most of the time didn't care to release them in full screen pan and scan 1.33)
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Re: BRIDGE OF DRAGONS (1999)

Postby Jox on 04 Feb 2011, 16:43

I hear that BRIDGE OF DRAGONS is available to watch or download in HD on the PlayStation Network, very likely in WIDESCREEN (!). Not sure but it might be for the UK only...
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