warrior

Warrior – Season 1: Episode 2 “There’s No China in the Bible” (History is Not Changing Anytime soon)

Duck – A term for the white population coined by the Chinese. The term in that time was to make fun of the way most white people walk with their chest puffed out and waddle as they walk. And thus the rest of San Francisco is known as the “Duck Pond” outside of Chinatown. Episode 2 starts off with Ah Sahm, Young Jun and Bolo killing some Long Zi henchmen and destroying their shipment of Opium as a message from the Hop Wei of being the superior Tong in Chinatown. This shifts the narrative to the political and law enforcement side of the San Francisco. We now get to know who Mayor Blake, his wife Penny, Sergeant Bill O’Hara, Lee and Buckley are in the series. As two of Leary’s workers were murdered by Ah Toy in episode 1, O’Hara and Lee are tasked to find the swordsman responsible and […]

WARRIOR Series Review: Ep. 1 “The Itchy Onion” Soothes The Itch With World-Building Action And Intrigue

Kyle Wong

Now I have talked about this series on end and I think it’s time to talk about each episode and character on how it all culminated to an end on December 4, 2020. Let’s go back to 1971, Bruce Lee wrote up a concept known as “The Warrior”, a story where a martial artist from China comes to the American West. Lee wanted to pitch it to Warner Bros. but they chose not to move forward with the project. And yet the concept was released with David Carradine and titled “Kung Fu”. It was also said that Bruce Lee was not given credit and was not casted because of his accent and because the American audience is not ready for a Chinese main character. In 2015, Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon was contacted by Justin Lin and his company Perfect Storm Entertainment. Now Justin Lin has been a huge advocate of […]

WARRIOR Season Two Launch: The Battlefield Gets A Little Bigger, As Does The Bodycount

Lee B. Golden III

The first season of Cinemax’s hit series, Warrior, premiered last April to the benefit of a highly thrilled viewing audience, introducing martial arts fans to a contemporary vision of a kung fu Western once birthed in the mind of film legend, Bruce Lee. Host to an epic, layered world of triads, corrupt politicians and police caught in the middle in the battleground of 1870s San Francisco, that legacy continued with the second season premiere reintroducing Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), brought back into the throes of the Hop Wei gang after redeeming himself post-defeat at the hands of Long Zii enforcer, Li Yong (Joe Taslim). Pit fighting at the Barbary Coast where he befriends ringleader Rosalita Vega (Maria Elena Laas), Ah Sahm is left coming to terms with his defeat on his own accord. In addition, there’s also the betrayal and abandonment of being ostracized earlier on by Hop Wei boss, […]

WARRIOR: Cinemax’s Knockout Hit Series Lands An Official Season Two Trailer

Lee B. Golden III

Can it be October already? Preferably the weekend of October 2, because the second season of the hit series Warrior is well on the way, and after whetting our appetites with a teaser this summer, we now have an official trailer, and the show’s intended love letter to Bruce Lee is all over the place. The series follows Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), a martial arts prodigy who emigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances. After proving his worth as a fighter, Ah Sahm becomes a hatchet man for the Hop Wei, one of Chinatown’s most powerful Tongs (Chinese organized crime family). Season two follows rival Chinatown Tongs as they fight for dominance amidst the growing anti-Chinese fervor that threatens to destroy them all. With a two-season booker here, one wonders if there will be a third if that’s how the story pans out. I know I’d welcome it. […]

WARRIOR: Cinemax’s Hit Series Has Some Unfinished Business In Season Two This October

Lee B. Golden III

As gutting as it was when many of us learned that Cinemax would be axing its original programming from its slate, it was a pill we all had to swallow. The good news, however, is that while Gangs Of London has a new home, the HBO network subsidiary is still taking to fans of their hit series, Warrior, with the promise of a TV and MaxGo.com October premiere date for the second season. Here’s the gist of it: The series follows Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), a martial arts prodigy who emigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances. After proving his worth as a fighter, Ah Sahm becomes a hatchet man for the Hop Wei, one of Chinatown’s most powerful Tongs (Chinese organized crime family). Season two follows rival Chinatown Tongs as they fight for dominance amidst the growing anti-Chinese fervor that threatens to destroy them all. Cinemax press […]

HBO Max Head Signals End Of Original Content Production For Cinemax

Lee B. Golden III

A new report at Deadline on Wednesday cites HBO Max Chief Content Officer who told the crowd at this year’s Television Critics Association that Cinemax would not be producing any more original content. The word is also that original shows already on Cinemax would not be carried over to the new SVOD service which officially announced part of its slate and pricing late last year. Set in 1870s San Francisco, Warrior debuted last April, shepherded by exec producers Shannon Lee and co-creators Justin Lin, Jonathan Tropper and Danielle Woodrow, and starring Andrew Koji (upcoming Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins) as a gifted fighter whose efforts to reunite with his long lost sister find him deep in San Francisco’s Tong criminal underbelly as a Hop Wei hatchetman in order to survive. A second season was made official in June and was also filmed and wrapped with Joe Taslim and Dustin Nguyen […]

WARRIOR: Dustin Nguyen Leads Quintet Of New Additions To Cinemax’s Hit Martial Arts Drama

Lee B. Golden III

It was only a matter of time following our report and common knowledge among those in the know, but the hit Cinemax series, Warrior, officially added five new faces to the battlefield of the recently-renewed series. Actor Dustin Nguyen, who recurs in the first season will also star the next one, and will also direct the sixth episode. Deadline‘s Denise Petski elucidates the details on the official additions of actor Chen Tang, and actresses Celine Buckens, Miranda Raison and Maria Elena Laas: Nguyen’s Zing is a ruthless, unpredictable leader of the Fung Hai tong. Zing’s partnership with Mai Ling and his unrelenting grip on Big Bill position him to become a powerful new force in Chinatown. Tang will play Hong, a somewhat eccentric but no less deadly hatchet man sent over from China to join the Hop Wei tong’s ranks. Buckens will portray Sophie Mercer, a young, rebellious woman, chafing […]

WARRIOR: Cinemax Greenlights Season Two For The Hit Martial Arts Crime Drama

Lee B. Golden III

It was certainly a matter of time, but Cinemax is making it official as of Wednesday with news that Warrior has been renewed for a second season. Len Amato, president, HBO Films, Miniseries and CINEMAX Programming, made the announcement this week as episode four of the hit martial arts series remains pending for its Friday broadcast on Cinemax. “Bruce Lee’s vision is alive and well,” noted Amato. “WARRIOR combines high-energy martial arts with wit and brains. We’re thrilled to renew such a great show for a second season on CINEMAX.” The show is literally decades in the making, birthed from the mind of martial arts legend Bruce Lee whose own concept was once rejected by studio majors only to see it erected for television as Kung Fu with a new vision and star at the time. Daughter and Warrior exec producer Shannon Lee of Bruce Lee Entertainment shepherded the show’s […]

WARRIOR Official Season One Trailer: ‘Somebody Has To Fight Back!’

Lee B. Golden III

As it stands, the future couldn’t be brighter for the fate of martial arts cinema on television. With Into The Badlands making its exit from AMC in a few weeks, Cinemax is officially next in line with its own roster led by breakout actor Andrew Koji in the new series, Warrior, born and bread from the mind of the late Bruce Lee and re-birthed through the auspices of daughter Shannon Lee, and creators Justin Lin’s Perfect Storm and Jonathan Tropper’s Tropper Ink. Warrior is a gritty, action-packed crime drama set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. The series follows Ah Sahm, a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful tongs (Chinese organized crime family). Also starring are Kieran Bew, Olivia Cheng, Dianne […]

WARRIOR: Cinemax’s Bruce Lee-Inspired Drama Premieres April 5. Watch The New Teaser!

Lee B. Golden III

That Cinemax’s latest martial arts drama, Warrior, is already working the kinks out for its second season could be telling about what promise the first may hold. Bruce Lee fans and folks keen on this inspired period drama from Shannon Lee, Justin Lin (Fast franchise) and Jonathan Tropper (Banshee) will get just the insight they’re looking for when it premieres on April 5, as stated in the official teaser trailer above. Inspired by an idea from martial-arts legend Bruce Lee, this gritty, action-packed crime drama is set during the brutal Tong Wars of San Francisco’s Chinatown in the second half of the 19th century. Filming in Cape Town, South Africa, it follows a martial arts prodigy who immigrates from China to San Francisco under mysterious circumstances, and becomes a hatchet man for one of Chinatown’s most powerful organized crime families. The new footage comes along with exclusive photos over at […]

Dustin Nguyen Joins Cinemax’s WARRIOR; Plots Vietnamese MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER Remake Later This Year

Lee B. Golden III

I am told that actor and filmmaker Dustin Nguyen is developing a Vietnamese remake of South Korean action comedy, My Wife Is A Gangster for production later this year. The project is one of at least two movies now in development for Nguyen to helm since taking the mantle for his 2013 martial arts fantasy debut, Once Upon A Time In Vietnam (a.k.a. Lua Phat). Jo Jin-kyu directed the 2001 original in which actress Shin Eun-kyung plays Eun-jin (a.k.a. Mantis), an underworld enforcer with no real sense of her own femininity or the world outside of gang life. Despite this, Eun-jin is forced to mitigate between her secret life in the world of violent mafia politics, and fulfilling her sister’s dying wish: to see Eun-jin get married and settle down with a family. Jo’s My Wife Is A Gangster, which also saw Kim Won-jin (of Hong Kong actioner Operation Scorpio) […]

Action Stream: JAILBREAK, MANHUNT, HELLBOY, THE CROW, DEMOLITION MAN And More!

Welcome to the May 2018 edition of ACTION STREAM! After a pretty quiet April, May kicks down the door and bombards us with great action movies on all three platforms. But it’s Netflix who brought the biggest guns to the party as it flies through the air, dual-wielding the Cambodian actioner Jailbreak and John Woo’s Manhunt. Manhunt Netflix may have the slimmest lineup of the three this month, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. In addition to the afformentioned heavy hitters, this month sees the launch of Wanted, The Bourne Ultimatum and the perpetually reliable Hellboy II: The Golden Army. May 1 Darc Hellboy II: The Golden Army Reasonable Doubt The Bourne Ultimatum May 2 Jailbreak Jailbreak May 4 Anon End Game Manhunt May 15 Only God Forgives May 16 The Kingdom Wanted May 19 Bridge to Terabithia May 22 Shooter: Season 2 May 25 […]

Bruce Lee-Inspired Martial Arts Crime Drama, WARRIOR, Gets A Pilot Order For Cinemax

Lee B. Golden III

If you’re not subscribed to Cinemax and you love martial arts action and Bruce Lee, then take heed to this latest bit of news as a sign that you should. Following updates last May, the word now is that a pilot order has been given for Warrior, the latest effort hailing from Star Trek: Beyond helmer Justin Lin who is executive producing the pilot and may well direct. From a script by executive producer, hit action series Banshee co-creator, Tropper Ink’s own Jonathan Tropper, the pilot will kick off the potential series set in the aftermath of the Civil War when a young martial artist from China arrives in San Francisco, only to find himself swept into the bloody war between rival Tong factions in Chinatown. The series was the first of several projects that began conception early on as Lin pacted with Chinese media magnate Bruno Wu for the […]

Martial Arts Drama Series, WARRIOR, Rebooted At Fox

Lee B. Golden III

With one of the biggest and more prominent ingredients in television being the application of martial arts fight sequences, it’s without argument that the upcoming television series, Warrior, would have been a hit for NBC if they snagged it for series. Unfortunately they missed their chance several months ago and the show was without a network, leaving the show’s producers at Universal TV with the hopes of finding a new home for the series, and now they have. Deadline reports Fox is now picking it up and starting from scratch with an entirely new script which focuses on a broken heroine’s vigilant fight for justice with the help of a mystical martial arts master. Actress Natalie Martinez was last cast to lead the show with Will Yun Lee and Holt McCallany among others upon filming the pilot earlier this year, so further updates are pending on what changes and doesn’t […]

Will Yun Lee To Star Opposite Title Heroine In NBC's WARRIOR TV Series

Lee B. Golden III

Further reports are needed in lieu of the exciting news pertaining to NBC’s most recent announcement for the new series, Warrior. Presumably, it’s the kind of show that could definitely hook-in potential fans of action, fantasy and drama considering the plot at hand and there is plenty of talent to look into for principal action actors and actress, including the show’s central female lead, and I have my own ideas on who I would love to see cast. As such, the series has apparently announced its first name in the form of actor Will Yun Lee, who has turned in a number of memorable action performances, including the short-lived TV series, Witchblade, as well as the Marvel adaptation of Elektra, and as recently as 2013’s The Wolverine. According to Deadline (via CBR), Lee will play the villainous role of Susano, the considerably powerful and wealthy head of a Japanese crime […]

WARRIOR Prepares A Hindi Remake With Lionsgate

Lee B. Golden III

The martial arts action genre continues to play heavily in India’s highly productive market despite anyone’s notice of these films beyond their borders. So, it still a delightful surprise to see such films come about, and much to the chagrin of some critics, that includes remakes which are pretty typical in Indian cinema as directors sometimes remake their own films or that of other directors, local or abroad. In this instance, we take the name Gavin O’Connor whose 2011 feature-length mixed martial arts drama, Warrior, was a critical hit, but flopped in the U.S.. This week, that film falls at at the feet of Bollywood writer and director Karan Malhotra for the Hindi remake with lead actor Sidharth Malhotra (pictured above) and potential addition, action hero Akshay Kumar respectively portraying the roles previously played by Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton. The original film’s distributors at Lionsgate are producing the remake […]