If you enjoy action films and are fans of Hayden Christensen and Nicolas Cage, then definitely give this film a try. Just don’t expect big budget special effects, wire work or theatrics. It’s a straightforward popcorn action film!
TITLE: Outcast
FILM RELEASE: 2014
DURATION: 98 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:39:1 aspect ratio), English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English
COMPANY: eOne
RATED: NR
Release Date: March 31, 2015
Directed by Nick Powell
Written by James Dormer
Produced by Jeremy Bolt, Tove Christensen, Leonard Glowinski, Gary Hamilton, Alan Zhang Lun, Karine Martin, Christopher Milburn, George Mizen, Ying Ye, Xun Zhang
Executive Producer: Mark Canton, Marc Charette, Jean-Francois Doray, Mike Gabrawy, Andrew Mann, Li Qiyan, Mark Slone
Associate Producer: Arthur Tarnowski, Federic Guarino
Music by Guillaume Roussel
Cinematography by Joel Ransom
Edited by Olivier Gourlay, Nicolas Trembasiewicz
Casting by PoPing AuYeung
Production Design by Nigel Churcher, Haoyu Yang
Art Direction by Jing Guo, Mingjun Ma
Set Decoration by Ping du, Zhou Guoquan
Costume Design by Yongfeng Zhu, Yongzhong Zhu
Starring:
Nicolas Cage as Gallain
Hayden Christensen as Jacob
Andy On as Shing
Yifei Liu as Lian
Ron Smoorenburg as Crusader
Fernando Chien as Wu
When the heir of the Imperial throne becomes the target of an assassination by his despised older brother, the young prince must flee the kingdom and seek protection. His only hope for survival is a reluctant war-weary crusader named Jacob, who must overcome his own personal demons and rally the assistance of a mythical outlaw known as The White Ghost. Together they must fight side by side in an epic battle to return the prince to his rightful place on the throne.
Best known for his stunt coordination in films such as “28 Days Later…”, “The Bourne Identity”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”, “Resident Evil: Retribution”, Nick Powell switches position to direct his first feature film, “Outcast” written by James Dormer (“The Holding”, “Lena: The Bride of Ice”).
The film would star Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vageas”, “National Treasure”, “Moonstruck”), Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars” Episodes II and III, “Jumper”, “Awake”), Andy On (“Mad Detective”, “True Legend”) and Yifei Liu (“The Forbidden Kingdom”, “The Four”).
The film is an American-Chinese-Canadian action film which will be released in China in April 2015 and released in North America on Blu-ray and DVD in April 2015 courtesy of Entertainment One.
“Outcast” is set during the Crusades, as Gallain (portrayed by Nicolas Cage) has tired of fighting and killing and wants to quit the Crusades and leave towards the East. Gallain tries to change Jacob (portrayed by Hayden Christensen) and his stance on fighting and killing, but Jacob wants to stick to his vow to fight as a crusader.
As Gallain wants the savagery of his comrades, including Jacob towards the enemy…will things change?
Fast forward three years later, A king is slowly dying and decides to make his youngest son, Prince Jiao (portrayed by Ji Ke Jun Yi) as the next king.
Jiao is shocked that he chosen him, since he is more of a student, versus his older brother Shing (portrayed by Andy On), who is a warrior. The King entrusts his daughter, Princess Lian (portrayed by Yifei Liu) to watch over her younger brother and to escape and bring him to another land.
As Shing arrives, he is enraged that Jiao is made the next king and not him, since he is a warrior and fought his father’s wars. But the king wants to ensure peace and so he chose Jiao.
In anger, behind closed doors, Jiao murders his father and assumes command of the kingdom. He pins the murder of his father on Jiao and has his men look for Jiao, kill him and to retrieve the seal.
Meanwhile, Lian and Jiao try to find someone to protect them and escort them but as they are to be captured by Shing’s warriors, they are protected by Jacob (who is in bad shape due to his dependency on opiates).
As Jacob had tries his best to stop killing anyone, but due to the desperation of Jiao and Lian, he makes the decision to protect the both of them. But with soldiers looking for Jiao all over China, can Jacob protect them on his own?
VIDEO:
“Outcast” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:39:1 aspect ratio). Picture quality for the film is very good as close-ups show plenty of detail. Film looks magnificent in HD, with no signs of major artifacts or banding issues.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Outcast” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The film is primarily dialogue and musically driven, with good use of surrounds for ambiance and the sounds of the horses traveling through ground and water. Dialogue and music is crystal clear with no major issues.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“Outcast” comes with the following special features:
- Trailer – (1:43) Theatrical trailer for “Outcast”.
- Making of Outcast – (9:47) A Behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Outcast”.
- Interview with Nicolas Cage, Nick Powell, Hayden Christensen – (53:24) An interview actor Nic Cage, director Nick Powell and actor Hayden Christensen on shooting a film in China and working with the production crew.
What was originally supposed to be a crusaders meets vikings storyline, changed to a crusaders heads out to China storyline.
And before anyone thinks this is an Asian film, it’s shot in China, used a Chinese crew and featured a few Chinese talent, but for the most part, it’s a western film.
In fact, it’s less of a Nicolas Cage action film as it is more of a Hayden Christensen action film. And I know for some, that will make them hesitate of watching the film and seeing these two men speak with accents and hearing Chinese talk in English.
But once you are able to move past that, I found “Outcast” to be an intriguing film. For one, the costume design for “Outcast” was very cool to see. Also, to see Hayden Christensen playing more of an action role with swordfights and all, was interesting and probably among his best action films showcasing his yearning to learn to fight and it does translate well on the big screen.
But the film does have many faults. As the oldest brother Shing uses cruelty to scare his fellow soldiers, you would think he would use villagers to help capture his younger brother and obtain the royal seal, but instead, the film focuses on relationships as elder sister Lian (portrayed by Yifei Liu) begins to fall for Jacob (Christensen) and as for young Prince Jiao, he learns how to fight and shoot a bow and arrow from Jacob.
By the time we see Nicolas Cage return to the film, the film is nearly over.
And when it does reach the ultimate climactic battle, instead of a promising battle, we hear a thud of ultimate potential just wasted.
But the film does have its positive moments. I did like the cinematography capturing Chinese rugged landscape, I liked the underdogs storyline of us versus them and seeing Jacob and others fighting to survive.
As the Blu-ray does feature wonderful detail, vibrant landscapes and solid lossless audio for the more action-driven sequences, you also get a making off and interviews (which are very interesting to watch as we hear from each individual about their experience shooting the film and working with the Chinese cast and crew) featured in this Blu-ray release.
Overall, if you watched Asian films and the Asian characters are speaking English, you pretty much expect films to be a westernized view of that culture. Yes, the Chinese characters speak English, so there is no communication barrier between Jacob and others. So, it’s a straightforward action film with no surprises.
For what it’s worth, it’s a western action film shot in China that stars Nicolas Cage and Hayden Christensen. And before anyone discounts this as a film to “pass” over, I will say that I enjoyed “Outcast” much more than the 2004 action/comedy film “Shanghai Knights” starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson.
So, if you enjoy action films and are fans of Hayden Christensen and Nicolas Cage, then definitely give this film a try. Just don’t expect big budget special effects, wire work or theatrics. It’s a straightforward popcorn action film.
