HOME VIDEO: Film releases trumped by ‘GTA IV’

There is one worthy action title out this week and it won’t run in your DVD or Blu-ray player, unless that Blu-ray player happens to be the PS3. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV arrives for PS3 and Xbox 360 game consoles with much fanfare in what is quickly becoming the biggest video game release in history.

Although a fan of the game series, I haven’t touched GTA IV and probably won’t until a PC version comes out. It’s still safe to say that this is going to very likely be one of, if not the best action we’ll see on any media platform in 2008. It seems that developer Rockstar Games has created a true gaming masterpiece that builds on previous series titles to deliver a near perfect blend of cinematic and open-ended action gameplay. I haven’t found mention of any advancement in the series’ rather rudimentary melee fighting system but the gunplay has been substantially improved to compete with the likes of GEARS OF WAR.

Interestingly, it’s being suggested in the media that this game may have a significant impact on movie ticket sales in the coming weeks and months as hundreds of thousands of people who might otherwise watch an action movie in the theater for instance, instead stay home to create their own mayhem virtually.

GTA IV cost over $100 million to produce and the investment will likely be paid off within days of its release. This comes at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to find film financing, distribution and fresh ideas. I don’t see filmmaking dying out anytime soon but big entertainment money is likely to continue shifting to video game production, especially when folks can actively participate in real-time vehicular and ballistic action that in many cases is at least as good, if not better than what filmmakers can produce.

I’d love to talk about martial arts and related action films coming to home video but there isn’t much to speak of. If I were a distributor I wouldn’t have bothered to release anything this week as nothing could compete with GTA IV. Unless it’s mere coincidence, that seems to be what has happened. U.S. action films releases are a barren wasteland and will remain that way until May 13th when we’ll get to choose from titles that include SHINOBI NO MONO 2: VENGEANCE (Animeigo), THE MASTER (Tokyo Shock), and TKO (Lionsgate).

In the U.K., Yumi Pictures has released JADE WARRIOR on region 2 (PAL) DVD. It’s a period martial arts fantasy that blends Chinese and Finnish folklore. It has been fairly well received by those who have seen it already but no word yet on any U.S. distribution. For those of us living in countries with depreciating currencies (thanks U.S. Federal Reserve!), a more reasonably priced version with English subtitles has already been released by Thai distrib United Home Entertainment and is available at online import retailers such as HKFlix and Yesasia.

BLOODFIST 1-4 arrives in a box set from British distrib Ilc Entertainment.

Looking East, Daniel Lee’s THREE KINGDOMS: RESURRECTION OF THE DRAGON comes out as a mainland Chinese DVD release from Beijing Bei Ying. This is yet another costumed period epic for China that performed well at the Chinese box office but seems to have failed to wow audiences based on reviews scattered around the web. It features action choreography by Sammo Hung and stars Andy Lau, Sammo Hung, Maggie Q, and Vanness Wu. Some other veteran martial arts film legends also appear including Yu Rongguang, Ti Lung, Yueh Hua, and Damian Lau. The film is based on the famous novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” John Woo’s RED CLIFF, also based on a portion of the same novel, will be out later this year.