GARUDA

Directed by Monthon Arayangkoon
Cast: Ken Streutker, Sarah Legge, Daniel Fraser, Sonram Teppinat & Peeya Wantayon

2004/110 mins/Color/DTS
1.85:1 anamorphic/Thai/Thailand/PAL Region 0

Review from the RS Films DVD

80 thousand years ago, giant winged creatures ruled the world. They lived in peace... until one of them, a renegade, tried to kill them all and spread blood all over the world. It was later captured by the others and imprisoned in the earth... forever. Present time, a construction team is digging a huge subway tunnel in Bangkok and awakens the beast. Soon enough the dropdead gorgeous Leena, the daughter of Dr. Pierre -- a scientist who first discovered proof of the creatures back in the 70's, and her paleontologist/geologist friend Tim are on hand to make the discovery of a lifetime. But a special team of military have another plan... to destroy the Garuda.

From there what we get is your typical giant monster on the loose movie. The creature was created mostly via cg and it shows. Only seven person worked on the special fx so its understandable. Bear in mind that the budget of GARUDA was maybe 1/10th of the American GODZILLA, but unlike the atrocity that was that North American remake, GARUDA is lotta fun Saturday morning style.

The film's monster was once worship as a God in Thailand, so its only natural that it upset many people on how the creature was used and portrayed in the film. When it hit theater, GARUDA became a huge success in Thailand, breaking most records! With movies like ONG BANK, THE BODYGUARD and this one, Thailand is soon becoming a country to look for when it comes to quality movie making and an alternative to Hollywood.

The film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is enhanced for 16x9 television. The colors are nicely saturated, skin tones are well rendered but there is some compression from time to time especially during the darker scenes which can be a little annoying. We get the option of two Thai audio track, one in DTS and the other in 5.1 Dolby Digital. Both of them are loud and clear and make great use of the directional sound fx. There is optional easy to read English subtitles available. As for extras, there's the theatrical trailer and a 25 minutes behind the scene, in Thai only, which features interview with the director Monthon Arayangkoon and the lead cast. For some rather odd reason, whenever someone smokes a cigarette it is fogged!? We also get to see how most of the fx were created, how the stunts were executed, scenes filmed with blue screen like the fight in the hallway and more. The film is separated in 12 chapters, features animated menus with the same damn pop/rock song on every menu, no booklet or inlay card and it comes in a smaller keep case.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2004. ©

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