Search - Contour on DVD

The greatest american made martial arts movie you have never

Take a Louie at Texas | Texas | 05/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Does you like soup????? Does you like fight?????

Over the past few years, a category of filmmaking has come about referred to often as 'zero budget filmmaking.' I don't know if there are rules to how much (or little) you can spend and still make this category. I have seen them called 'zero budget' up to about $15k. Drama films have been easy to come by in this category, as they don't have to cost too much to make. And with the introduction of the great movie, Primer (done for $7k), sci fi film had its voice. But no one had tried the action film at a high level.....

Enter the Stunt People. A group of stunt persons and fight choreographers located in California that make short films in their spare time and post them online. Contour represents their first broad release full length movie attempt. And what an attempt it is!!!!

The acting is bad, but has its own charm. The director wrote in part for the actors based on things they do/say in real life. And it comes off funny. There are good laughs, both intentional, and not so intentional. I personally like fighters who can't act, but don't try to hard either. Nothing ruins a film more than to have the lead role who is a great action star look into the camera and say 'we have to save the president!' and not have a clue how he is supposed to act. It ruins it for me.

But the fights..... wow the fights.... largely Hapkido, with some Wushu and Escrima mixed in, the fights are amazing. They are literally beating the crap out of each other. I think they said their philosophy was 'hit at 50%, react to the hit at 200%.' There is a lot of chop shot, but with excellent editing, and three respectable long shots during the film. It's really hard to pick a favorite fight amongst them. It has probably the best fight scene with two guys in suits I have ever seen.

The plot is fairly conventional, and serves to really just connect the fights. Then there's the ending..... well, it's an ending.... the director said he was paying homage to Pink Panther movie endings, and I guess on that level, it works.

In short, even though now this is a little pricier under re-release, it's hard to go wrong. It's an incredible representation of what can be done for little to no money. It puts the blockbusters of the same genre to shame. See if you can't find the original release (blue cover), because it was cheaper. If you like this kind of stuff, check out stuntpeople.com for their shorts, and Kwoon as well. Although, of all I have seen so far, Contour is the pinnacle.

(This review was adapted from my review of the original release).
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BUY THIS MOVIE

J. Couche | 04/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I cannot even begin to express how awesome this movie is. If you're a fan of Hong Kong cinema's glory days (commonly referred to as the 80s) then this movie is worth every penny.

The fight scenes and stunts are amazing and it's hard to believe that these guys aren't industry professionals. The action builds until the films 20 MINUTE FINALE which features four fights going at the same time.

The acting isn't exactly oscar worthy but the performances get the message across. Contour has a generally fun loving tone to it and the comedy ensures that the movie never gets too heavy. It's kinda like a good Jackie Chan movie in that it's exciting but still light and entertaining. There's even an outtake reel that plays after the movie, showing just how much effort went into making this small masterpiece of an actioner.

[...]

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A must have for all fight fans

morgoth | omaha, NE | 07/03/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The fighting in Contour is truly amazing. Real contact and blazingly fast choreography. What it lacks in story it more than makes up for in fights. The movie is almost nonstop fighting, and all of the fights are so good it's really hard to choose a favorite. If you are a fan of fight choreography and have not seen this, you need to get it today. No excuses.

4/5

Special features on the Indican DVD are plentiful. There's a 30 minute making of, blooper reel, deleted scene, Tae Pho instructional video, practice videos for the movie, a stunt demo and trailers."