representative example of Indonesian exploitation, 1981's The Warrior made an instant local star out of Barry Prima (birth name: Bertus Knoch), a martial arts devotee who went on to star in a slew of action, fantasy and horror films, including two sequels to this film 
as well as the staggering The Devil's Sword. Here he teams up with his one-time wife, Eva Arnaz (right after the still underseen wacko gem, Special Silencers), for a rousing adaptation of an Indonesian comic about Jaka Sembung, a freedom fighter living in 19th century Indonesia under Dutch colonial oppression. We first see our hero in a dirty labor camp where he leads his fellow prisoners in a small-scale uprising. Their keepers don't take kindly to this disobedience and quickly audition thugs to take out Jaka. The chosen one, big bald brute Kobar (played by Satan's Slave's S. Parya), tracks down his prey for a showdown in the middle of a field but proves to be no match, leaving the Dutch baddies to call on an undead, rabbit-toothed black magician (Mystics in Bali's Mochtar) to trap this troublesome pest. (The scene in which the magician is revived by hand-controlled bottle rockets which blow his coffin out of the ground is unlike anything else you've ever seen.) Soon Jaka's fallen into the clutches of his enemies and chained to a wall with his eyes gouged out, but even that can't stop our hero from staging a truly unique comeback with the aid of another wizard and lots of hard, fast-flying kicks 
and punches to his enemies' heads. 
its horrific predecessors into an audience-friendly stew that made it an international favorite both in theaters and on home video. Prima's limited thespian skills are put to good use here as the stoic lead, while the villains all get to chew up the scenery with wild abandon. 
not to mention an interview with the cantankerous Prima on The Devil's Sword. Needless to say, they really went the extra mile here with a 
top-quality presentation on DVD in 2008. Ignore the opening disclaimer about imperfect source elements; the transfer looks spectacular with gloriously saturated colors and mint quality clarity. Some fleeting discoloration pops up in a few frames here and there, but it's so quick and minor you'd have to be a real grouch to be bothered. The English-dubbed track is magnificent goofiness as usual, in this case rendered even more surreal by the fact that all the Dutch and Indonesian characters look and speak exactly the same. The biggest extras here are two video interviews, the first with writer Iman Tantowi (21m3s), who talks about the various actors who brought his work to life, his intentions by bringing the classic Jaka Sembung character to the big screen, and of course, his brain-melting screenplay for The Queen of Black Magic. Then Gope Samtani, the producer who pretty much established the Rapi Films legacy, talks for 11m59s about his formula for commercial success, his move to more Westernized product, and the market demands which led Indonesian filmmakers to swerve over to TV work. You also get three trailers for Ghost Train, 40 Days - The Rise of Evil, and Ghost with Hole, plus the usual extensive bios for Prima and Arnaz.
get the Indonesian track with optional English subtitles. It's a lot more organic and fits the performers more frequently, but it's also not as funny nor has it been kept as 
well preserved. The Samtani and Tantowi interviews are ported over here, but you get a lot of new goodies as well starting with a new interview with The Forbidden Door filmmaker Joko Anwar (37m3s) about his addiction to Indonesian horror movies and the distinctive traits of local genre cinema. Also included are interviews with SFX artist EL Badrun (22m51s) about his influences including Italian movies and comics, which came in handy when he got into films in the early '70s, a new one with Tantowi (9m43s) going more into his career. Also included are trailers for all three films in the Warrior series, plus a booklet in the first pressing featuring an essay by Ekky Imanjaya PhD about the history and 
importance of the Jaka Sembung character. 
least nominally cashing in on the popularity of the Zatoichi films. Those annoying Dutch colonizers are still at it full force here, this time amping up the stakes by staging a tournament to find the ultimate foe for Jaka Sembung. The champion is the blind Si Buta (Bangun), who comes from a mystical mountain where he's had some very intense marital arts training. From there things get very complicated as Jaka seems to be executed, a malicious sorceress named Dewi Maga (Sintara) uses her magic skills for the Dutch bad guys, and lots of fights ensue with plenty of gruesome makeup and blasts of light all over the place. Prima doesn't get to do as much this time since the plot sidelines him a bit in the middle, but there's still enough fun to be had here including a 
rousing midway duel scene that packs in plenty of energy. It's the least of the three, but obviously you need to see 'em all. It's also nice to see a more active role here for 
the female characters, something that would be fully embraced in the last entry.
ninja who, being a woman, doesn't make for a likely suspect for whoever's been robbing all the rich folks and giving out money to the poor. Suspicion falls on Jaka instead, and with a hulking supernatural guy stalking them after popping out of that volcano, things get crazy very quickly. The second half of this film is basically one fight scene after another with a barrage of gruesome gags, but nothing compares to the spectacle of the big climax in which Black Squirrel... well, whatever you do, don't read the disc packaging since it spoils what might be the greatest ten seconds in Indonesian movie history. The second film looks immaculate, and in a surprising move, they actually ponied up to have it mixed in stereo with some surprisingly active channel separation that makes it a really fun treat for the ears, too. The third film hasn't been preserved as well with some obvious deterioration in a few spots, but it still looks great for the most part. Both films have their English and Indonesian audio tracks here with optional English subtitles as usual. THE WARRIOR Blu-ray
THE WARRIOR DVD
