Full trailer for Silat actioner ‘Merantau’

MERANTAU

Todd Brown of Twitch Film has been enthusiastically promoting MERANTAU heavily on his site all throughout its production and has kindly sent word that the full trailer is now available.

MERANTAU is an Indonesia martial arts movie – apparently the first in a quarter century – from writer director Gareth Evans that stars silat practitioner and newcomer Iko Uwais. Some, including Todd, are asking if Iko is the next Tony Jaa. Based on the trailer, he looks more like the next Jackie Chan when considering fight pacing, arrangements and indistinct forms.

In Minangkabau, West Sumatera, Yuda a skilled practitioner of Silat Harimau is in the final preparations to begin his “Merantau” a century’s old rites-of-passage to be carried out by the community’s young men that will see him leave the comforts of his idyllic farming village and make a name for himself in the bustling city of Jakarta. After a series of setbacks leave Yuda homeless and uncertain about his new future, a chance encounter results in him defending the orphaned Astri from becoming the latest victim of a European human trafficking ring led by the wildly psychotic, Ratger and his right-hand man Luc. With Ratger injured in the melee and seeking both his “merchandise” and bloody retribution, Yuda’s introduction to the city is a baptism of fire as he is forced to go on the run with Astri and her younger brother Adit as all the pimps and gangsters that inhabit the night hound the streets chasing their every step. With escape seemingly beyond their grasp, Yuda has no choice but to face his attackers in an adrenaline charged, jaw-dropping finale.

Todd reports that roughly 20 minutes of the movie will be screened at Cannes. MERANTAU opens to theaters in Indonesia on August 6th.

Tags: Merantau (2009), upcoming

diandranatakembahang

Pencak Silat is a Complete Martial Art and very effective self defence. Exactly this martial art is not for sport but only for self defence. Pencak Silat have a many many aliran [style] and many many tehnique including striking, grappling, weaponry even tenaga dalam [inner power]. Pencak Silat is the DEADLIEST MARTIAL ART in the world.

dharmananda

onde mande....
bagusla ada film dr sumbar akhirnya......
cerita urang awak ma.....
finally...!!!!
action movie from my country and my homeland, west sumatra

arh

I love this movie.
Because I'm from west sumatera too.
hehe..

hasan afandi

a fresh air of indonesian movie in the middle of sex slaptic comedy and horror movie....
maybe it will be the best action movie ever...after 80's era of action movie...

danmye

The problem with this film, which is a small one (as it'll be a hundred times better than 99 percent of Western made MAs films), is that its action pieces utilizes very little of the flavor of Silat. Too much Chan modern fu, Tony Jaaesque methodology here. What distinquished Chan and Jaa was that both used their cultural arts as showcases. Seeing Muay Boran (Ancestor to Muay Thai), the actual Thai martial art, for the first time in any meaningful way, plus the "icing-on-the-cake" accompanying stunt work, was the ticket with Jaa, as it was with the Kung Fu films before it.

Here, they give reference to Silat w/o, however, using all that such a subject potential presents.

Will I get it when released? Absolutely. Could it have been more distinct? Absolutlely. Maybe Merantau Part Two will feature more of the Silat mark?!

Here's hoping. Still, I support it for featuring another, non-Chinese martial art.

kev

Looks like a nice film the Karambit knife it works i have to check the film out it looks top notch.

thex

awesome, a beautiful martial art

BruisedLo

just because individuals watch movies doesn't make them nerds... pssh i have the right to call you a nerd then, for any films you watch. people here usually give their honest opinion on these martial art films, and i don't consider that talking out their asses. when someone does that, they don't make sense anymore.

go to youtube, suits you. even if you have everything to backup what you are saying, they'll just call you names, be harsh, throw in something that has nothing to do with the topic, and it gets no where, a waste of time. some of us actually do martial arts, and we can see when a person lack a movement.

in the trailer here, they didn't say like, he's the next tony jaa or whatever, so none of us should be comparing him to the guys that are successful now. if you're gonna throw in jaa and chan, this guy better just take his martial arts abilities to a whole new level, and outdue everyone we've seen in the past. from what we see here, its stuff we seen before. did he blow you away? for me, the Ong Bak trailer did, the first time i saw it, with tony jaa's fights, and his stunts. it made me go 'whoa this guy is gonna be a big star'. i'm not getting it with this guy, but its nice to see other martial art films coming from other parts of asia or the east.

also... calling these films chopsocky is more of a insult.

STDthaGreat

This looks interesting. I'm getting a Ong Bak vibe from the overall style and look of the film. Looks decent.

The_Stolen_Treasure_Chest

U film nerds need to just chill and wait until the movie comes out and then talk out of your ass... Can any of U guys do that, and stop hating man, this is good for the genre, because I'm sick and tired of all the bullshit that's been shown in theaters... Bring me all the chopsocky films in the states please..

The_Stolen_Treasure_Chest

This is some sick ass raw kung fu stuff... I love the atmosphere and the set location... The dirtier it looks the better, Is this an Indonesian film???

kunderemp

"went to Tony Jaa's elbow shots"?
No, you were wrong, my friend. When the first time I saw Tony Jaa's Ong Bak five years ago, it was remind me with Silat. Tony Jaa was using Muay Thai, not the modern version but the old version and since both Muay Thai and Silat came from the same region (South East Asia), no wonder we have some similar attack.

But, believe me, what you saw in Merantau trailers was not even 20% of the "Silat Harimau". If you saw video blog 2, the coreographer said, Gareth didn't want the coreography became to cruel. Find "silat harimau" in youtube and you may find more scary techniques there.

Btw, Iko Uwais came from different Silat Schools. Originally, he didn't practice Silat Harimau.

BruisedLo

the next jaa and chan my @ss... oh geez, he just went for some tony jaa elbow shots. i guess we all have to wait and see if he's as good as billy chong first. the guy did some wushu kicks there, and it looks pretty bad lol. they're showing mostly fight scenes, no stunts, so saying he's the next jackie chan is out of range.

Mark Pollard

Thanks for the update Todd.

Todd

Theatrical release in Indonesia is August 6th. From the looks of things it'll be complete shortly before then.

Mark Pollard

Not that I am aware of. The finished trailer was only just released and as far as I know the Cannes preview will be the first partial screening.