Jason Behr - D-Wars #7: After 6 years in the making, it's finally out! ~ DVD News!!! - Page 3

**Crystaline** · 09-17-2007, 02:06 AM

Thanks for the articles, Sylvia!

LongTimeFan · 09-17-2007, 04:24 AM

Nice review, Sylvia.

I agree that reviewers should be taken with a grain of salt - unfortunately, many people read reviews to decide what to watch and miss out on a lot of great films.

Here's a video interview with "Ando" James Kyson Lee at the D-War premiere.

VIDEO

VeronicB · 09-17-2007, 05:23 AM

OMG!!!
It took me forever to find a moment to stop by and look at all of the amazing D-War news! I though I'll go nuts b4 I'll get to see anything!

Jen, thank you so much for the reporty about the premiere! That was pretty funny KD asked you where Jason's mom was.

Glad you had such a wonderful time!

I actually liked the way KD's hair looked.... but some of the pics were just to wired.

As for Jason't hat.... 1st I've seen it I soooo dindn't like it....2nd time it got a little less wired.... but honestly that hat is just not my style (that's good since I don't have to wear it.

). But if Jason likes it I'm not gonna panish him for it.

I just loved all of the premiere pics! And it seems like the movie is doing well even without the "help" of those reviews. Which is great!

Thanks everyone for all of the amazing pics and info! I def hope I'll get to see it.

MyrnaLynne · 09-17-2007, 07:36 AM

I'm really glad to read all the positive reviews, especially the ones from families happy there is a film they can take their whole family to, nobody will be offended, and everybody will have a rollicking good time! Also good to find out the closing title music was a famous Korean song, because it sounded familiar to me and very beautiful - was sort of humming it leaving the theater. Didn't know it was a sad song about lovers, perfectly suited to the situation of Ethan and Sarah.

As for them not having much chemistry - the two of them hadn't even MET until the dragons hit town, so just because their past incarnations had a romance, doesn't mean two total strangers (brought together by destiny) are going to suddenly click. It was, to say the least, a strange situation between them! Agree there was more of a brotherly-sisterly vibe, and their kiss just seemed sort of wrong, as they hadn't really stopped running long enough to even develop a relationship! But I have to agree with the viewers who said don't try to make too much sense of it, just sit down and enjoy the ride, because it really was a very enjoyable and entertaining movie, despite the klunky Korean-in-translation sensibilities about it. I think if Shim had more humility and less enormous ego, along with hiring American actors, he could have gotten some help from a native English speaker/ American to help him polish up the script/plot points! But we always knew the characters were an afterthought to support the dragon CGI from the get-go to him.

It was a very odd but quite enjoyable movie! And might turn into a popular family rental film! And Jason did the best he could do, with what he was given to work with.

LongTimeFan · 09-17-2007, 01:40 PM

You know, in doing all my searching for reviews and other articles, one thing is repeated over and over. The entire weekend was considered a slow weekend for movies in general. Given those facts, I'd say that it sounds like D-War did even better considering so few people went to see movies all weekend. Had people been hitting theaters en mass, maybe it would have had twice as many viewers as it did.

Hey, even the guy at the Catholic News Service gave it a good review!

Quote:

D-War: Dragon Wars
By Frank Lovece
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Aimed at undiscriminating young teen audiences and older genre fans looking for goofy fun and lively monster scenes, the oddly named "D-War: Dragon Wars" (Freestyle) harkens back to those old Godzilla movies. This cheesy Korean movie, shot in Los Angeles with American stars and a modest budget, is actually better than the U.S. "Godzilla" of 1998.

While "D-War" is no less silly and poorly written than that film, it's never dull; you either are laughing at it or are drawn into well-choreographed battle scenes between the U.S. military and, variously, a giant serpent, dinosaur-sized armadillo-type creatures with built-in rocket-launchers, small flying dragons, and a mystical mean guy in a black-leather trench coat who occasionally morphs into a sort of medieval Darth Vader.

When something resembling a giant lizard's scale is unearthed in Los Angeles, young cable-news reporter Ethan Kendricks (Jason Behr) begins having flashbacks to his boyhood. An antiques dealer, Jack (Robert Forster), revealed that the two of them were the reincarnations of an old Korean sensei and his apprentice.

In another flashback, this time to feudal Korea, we learn that the good giant serpent Imoogi and the bad giant serpent Buraki are vying for a life force called the Yuh Yi Joo, which will allow one of them to ascend to dragonhood.

Once you get through this clumsy back story then you can settle in for the guilty enjoyment of writer-director Hyung-rae Shim's exceedingly juvenile film.

In a matinee crowd with children 10 years old and younger, the action-violence of bloodless battle scenes, downed Apache helicopters and countless explosions seemed not to faze the young audience. Near the climax, downtown Los Angeles becomes a battlefield with F-22 fighter jets and Abrams battle tanks fighting dragons, a giant serpent and mystical warriors in a satisfyingly extended knock-down, drag-out fight.

The film contains a couple of instances of crude language and some crass language, one background-dialog instance of mild sexual innuendo, much bloodless medieval and modern-day warfare, numerous explosions, crashed and crushed vehicles with unseen occupants, a leap from a cliff into the sea, and a woman who is chomped by a giant serpent and tossed away. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

This guy didn't hate it though he thought it was flawed.
REVIEW

I think this guy has made some valid points about Shim - which I have actually thought of before...
REVIEW

This guy didn't like it but at least he had this to say...
REVIEW

Quote:

I don't blame the acting, because there's just not much for the actors to work with...

**Hell on Heels** · 09-17-2007, 06:50 PM

Thanks for the reviews. I've been so busy that I haven't even had the time to sit down and watch tv, much less a 2 hour movie.

Today was another ten hour day.

Jenn, did you get pictures of Aaron? I spotted his gorgeous wife in one (two if half her body counts) of the photos but have yet to see Aaron or their mother.

LongTimeFan · 09-17-2007, 07:24 PM

Another Craig interview.... wonder why nobody interviewed Jason...

Quote:

Dragon Wars: Craig Robinson
Craig Robinson (of The Office) talks Dragon Wars and Pineapple Express.
Fred Topel, CraveOnline
September 17, 2007

Americans and New Zealanders aren't the only ones who can do epic fantasy. Korea's got their own myths and legends too. Dragon Wars is Korea's modern day fantasy epic with dragons fighting it out on the streets of Los Angeles. The Office's Craig Robinson gets in on the action and he shared some of his dragon stories with us. He also has the upcoming movies Pineapple Express and Walk Hard to preview.

Crave Online: Tell us about your character in Dragon Wars?

Craig Robinson: I play Bruce. He is a cameraman to a reporter. They're also dear friends who Bruce also thinks is crazy, but he supports him still.

Crave Online: Did you learn how to work and operate a camera?

Craig Robinson: A little bit. A little bit there. I got a little advice from a buddy, Matt, over at the Office. He said, "Do not hold the camera this way" and he put his hand over the camera. "That's the first thing people want to do and it's not right so do not do it like that." And of course there's a shot of me doing it exactly the wrong way.

Crave Online: When things get action packed in the movie, do you get any guns?

Craig Robinson: I do get a gun and I shoot at the evil general. I can't tell you what happens but I definitely get to play a little bit with it.

Crave Online: That's pretty cool.

Craig Robinson: No doubt about it. We would slay the dragons and monsters and I get to shoot at things.

Crave Online: Did you do any training for the weapons?

Craig Robinson: No, they handed it to me and just said go.

Crave Online: How did the Koreans get America right?

Craig Robinson: Hyung-rae Shim is making his first movie and he's got a great sense of humor. He's a big time comedian over there in Korean first, before he came. So I don't know. He came down here, shot downtown LA, the monsters wreaking havoc all over it.

Crave Online: A lot of movies would double Toronto or Vancouver for L.A.

Craig Robinson: Oh yeah, yeah. He came and did it so we were in L.A. rock n' rolling.

Crave Online: What was it like on the set with the massive scale (pun intended) of the project?

Craig Robinson: It was pretty cool. I mean, we had a big gigantic green screen and things of that nature. We had to act against that and that's really all about using your imagination and putting timing with it. There were driving scenes where we were scooting away from the monster. Then the fighting and the shooting. A lot of action going on.

Crave Online: Did you have any actual debris falling around you?

Craig Robinson: No, I did not. I did not. I don't know who did but I wasn't in any debris scenes.

Crave Online: Have you seen the finished product with completed effects?

Craig Robinson: Yes, I saw it when we went to premiere it in Korea. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a thrill ride from front to back. I think people who are fans of the dragons and fantasy and the storytelling will really get a kick out of this one.

Crave Online: Was it like you expected when you imagined it?

Craig Robinson: Not as far as the dragons. The dragons look way different than your typical run of the mill dragons that you've seen fire breathing. So they were a lot different but since I had seen a bunch of the other monsters, they were sort of like I imagined.

Crave Online: Be honest. Are you the token black guy?

Craig Robinson: Yes, absolutely. No, I'm playing a cameraman. I wouldn't say token but if you want to go that route, sure.

Crave Online: Well, it's an honorable position at this point.

Craig Robinson: All right, then.

Crave Online: How much of this story and legend did you know going in?

Craig Robinson: Zero. I didn't know until they sent me the DVD with CGI that had been completed. From the early battle scenes, in terms of the story 500 years ago, then I was just so engrossed by the project that after just seeing that, it was like okay. So then I went in and learned all about the story and what was going on. I went, "All right, there's some tradition here."

Crave Online: Can you wrap your mind around the whole time/reincarnation legend of it?

Craig Robinson: Well, reincarnation is Buddhist philosophy. It is complex but it's deep. It's a cool thing to see.

Crave Online: Are you in The Office this season?
Craig Robinson: Yeah. I'm contracted to do half the episodes of the season.

Crave Online: How many have you shot so far?

Craig Robinson: So far, I've shot one and I've got one I'm shooting next week. Then the following week I'll be in another one.

Crave Online: What's happening for Darryl so far?

Craig Robinson: Oh man, we just read one Lieberstein wrote and it was blazing hot and funny. It was ridiculous. There's going to be some gut busting going on.

Crave Online: Are they still exploring racial awkwardness at that office?

Craig Robinson: Of course and there's going to be a few surprises. It's hard to talk about this stuff without giving it away but yeah, everything is still the same.

Crave Online: What character do you play in Pineapple Express?

Craig Robinson: I play Matheson, who is a hit man. I'm a hitman, me and Kevin Corrigan are hit men, and we're chasing Seth Rogen and James Franco.

Crave Online: Is there action in that too?

Craig Robinson: Yeah. Pineapple Express has so many different elements to it. Like you have a Scarface element and then you've got a Cheech and Chong element. It's just ridiculous and wonderful.

Crave Online: With all of that going on, does it still have that Seth Rogen vibe?

Craig Robinson: Oh, you know, there's a lot of different vibes in there but absolutely. There's some improv, he just goes and goes. There's no stopping. It was fun to watch him working with Franco and people from Freaks and Geeks and stuff. You can see how their years of experience together pays off.

Crave Online: After you'd done the big budget Dragon Wars, was it harder to do their smaller scale action movie?

Craig Robinson: No. It was all fun.

Crave Online: What do you play in Walk Hard?

Craig Robinson: I play Bobby Shad who is a singer in the old '40s/'50s nightclubs. John C. Reilly's character, Dewey Cox, steals all my moves and then becomes famous because he subs for me one night.

Crave Online: Do you come back later and call him on it?

Craig Robinson: On the DVD extras but not in the movie.

Crave Online: Do you do your own singing?

Craig Robinson: Yup.

Crave Online: How are you as a singer?

Craig Robinson: You're going to have to tell me when it comes out. They said I was good, so what do I know? No, it was pretty good.

Crave Online: In your second movie with the Judd Apatow crew, do you feel like part of their family?

Craig Robinson: Yes. They're very nice to me over there.

Crave Online: Are things just exploding for you this year? How are things going?

Craig Robinson: Thank you. They're going well. I've been very busy so I haven't got a chance to do everything that I would have liked to have done. But there are some nice things happening such as I have a show on the internet called Driving School that you can find at drivingschool.msn.com. I play a driving instructor in that. Between D-War and The Office, you've got webisodes and then these other films coming out. So it's been very busy and I couldn't be happier.

Crave Online: Has it changed your life with people recognizing you?

Craig Robinson: Yes, absolutely. I just went to Arizona did [an event] up there and a lot of people were coming out to see Darryl from The Office. People come up and say, "Hey, aren't you from The Office?"

Crave Online: When you went to Korea for the D-War premiere, what were the fans there like?

Craig Robinson: We had security all around us so we didn't really get to hang out with the fans but we were there. We did a bunch of interviews over there and did the premiere. It was actually self-contained with our little group. So we didn't really get to mingle with the fans much.

Crave Online: Did you create Driving School for yourself?

Craig Robinson: I didn't create the show. It was created by Ben Silverman and Howard Owens. They brought it to my attention that they wanted me to be the star of Driving School. In that respect, it's very cool and I'm still waiting for my creations to develop.

Crave Online: What are you working on developing for yourself? Would it be something different than we've seen you in so far?

Craig Robinson: Absolutely. I get to play a thug in one of them.

Crave Online: The Office fans are very devoted. What do people want to know about Darryl?

Craig Robinson: They really just want to touch a piece of the show. I'm a fan just with them too. They love the show so much, that's what they do. They come up and say, "Aren't you in The Office? I love your show." All different fans from The Office, they just want to tell me they love the show. We send it right back out there because without the fans, there'd be no us. We just appreciate that they're getting it, a show with no laugh track and single camera, documentary style. It's so off beat.

**Dreamer 4 Ever** · 09-17-2007, 08:00 PM

Picked up the LA Times today and there was an article

I will post it when I get a chance

Tanya No I didn't unfortunately.

Thanks Vero It was a great way to celebrate my birthday a little early

**Crystaline** · 09-17-2007, 10:40 PM

Thanks for the interview! Craig is such a cool guy. I saw a little bit of him in Knocked Up. It was hilarious! But I'm with you. I want a Jason interview!

LongTimeFan · 09-18-2007, 09:16 PM

I found these pictures tonight - they're some we've seen before but a little bigger than the others we saw.

These pictures of KaDee look like she's got wigs on - like this first one looks like a modified Princess Leah hair style...

And in this one it looks like her braids extend past her shoulders...

This last one looks like she's got some kind of up-do with a little tiny dragon in her hair to celebrate the movie.

**Crystaline** · 09-18-2007, 09:25 PM

Modified Princess Leia. LOL. It does look like it.

**Dreamer 4 Ever** · 09-18-2007, 11:02 PM

Went to see Dragon Wars again tonight

MyrnaLynne · 09-19-2007, 01:07 PM

Love the Princess Leia look on KaDee in that photo - too funny! And the other dragon-poster enhanced hairstyles. She is just the cutest thing! Thanks for the pix!

Hmm, maybe I should bring Mr ML Jr and go back and see Dragon Wars again, since he was away and missed our family viewing of it this weekend. Help the box office!

Mr ML brought home a clipping from work to show me, that D-Wars was #4 in the box office and made $5.4 million. I've even got him finding Jason-related clippings.

**Crystaline** · 09-19-2007, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MyrnaLynne (View Post)

I've even got him finding Jason-related clippings.

Nicely done!

LOL.

**Roswell 10/2/00** · 09-19-2007, 09:32 PM

Aw they look amazing!

Guess what D-Wars made E news websight and they have a review of the movie and they mention Jason's name!

Quote:

Cool Stuff

Here Be Dragons: D-War's Fiery Cheese

Categories: movies, awesomeness, www Occasionally, a film comes along that offers something so unusual, so odd, so...dragony that we have to give it our full attention.

Hence, our prurient interest in Dragon-Wars. Or, as someone clearly hopes you'll refer to it: D-War.

The over-the-top movie posters have been popping up all over L.A.,and it got to the point where we just couldn’t help ourselves: We had to watch the trailer. And we're glad we did—the film looks like it may be as cheese-tastic as the posters suggest.

Masterminded by South Korean director Hyung-rae Shim and starring American actors such as Jason Behr, Elizabeth Peña and Craig Robinson (Darryl in The Office), the film can be explained this way: Dragons come to modern L.A. and destroy stuff. The plot seems to involve some complicated mythology and stuff about sacrifice and...whatever. The special effects look like what Hollywood did before they got computers.

And yet, even after getting burned on the fiery breath of Eragon and Reign of Fire, we still want to see it. After all, the only thing we enjoy more than dragons is an awesomely bad action/adventure/epic (we are actual owners of the Criterion edition of Armageddon).

So, this looks promising to us. But more important—we want to know what you think.