The Storm Riders
| The Storm Riders | |
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Film poster
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| Traditional | 風雲雄霸天下 |
| Simplified | 风云雄霸天下 |
| Directed by | Andrew Lau |
| Produced by | Manfred Wong |
| Screenplay by | Manfred Wong Chau Ting |
| Based on |
Fung Wan by Ma Wing-shing |
| Starring |
Aaron Kwok Ekin Cheng Sonny Chiba Kristy Yang Michael Tse |
| Music by | Chan Kwong-wing |
| Cinematography | Andrew Lau |
| Edited by |
Marco Mak Danny Pang |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
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Release date
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Running time
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126 minutes |
| Country | Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Budget | HK$85 million |
| Box office | HK$41,398,555 |
The Storm Riders is a 1998 Hong Kong wuxia fantasy film based on the manhua series Fung Wan by artist Ma Wing-shing. Directed by Andrew Lau, it starred Ekin Cheng as Wind and Aaron Kwok as Cloud. The plot involves two children, Whispering Wind and Striding Cloud, who become powerful warriors under the evil Lord Conqueror's tutelage. The sequel to the film, titled The Storm Warriors and directed by the Pang brothers, was released in 2009.
The evil Lord Conqueror, head of Conqueror's Clan, is given a prophecy by Mud Buddha when quizzed about his delayed duel with Sword Saint. The prophecy translates that if Conqueror finds two young children by the name of Wind and Cloud he will have good fortune. Mud Buddha provides the birth charts of these two and gives him a puzzle box stating that finding Wind and Cloud is but one half of his destiny, the box will provide him with the latter half once he unlocks it. Conqueror issues an order that every boy with a birth chart matching Wind's or Cloud's must become a disciple of the Conqueror's Clan. Whispering Wind is discovered as the son of long time rival Whispering Prince, who Conqueror had beating 2 years previously and stole Prince's wife. As they fight again for Prince's Blizzard Blade he reveals he only took his wife to anger him into battle to possess the blade. At the climax of the duel Prince's wife kills herself and Prince is captured and killed by the fire beast in the nearby cave. Conqueror finds Whispering Wind has fainted and claims him. Striding Cloud's father, a blacksmith named Striding Sky, is forging the Ultimate Sword and completes the blade just before Conqueror's forces raze his village. As he is killed he reveals that the sword can only be used by a true hero and Cloud is taken by the invading forces.
Ten years pass, and Wind and Cloud are now both fully grown and highly skilled martial artists, raised by Lord Conqueror with his daughter Charity and adopted son Frost. The 3 sons act as Generals in Lord Conqueror's army. Wind and Charity begin to form a relationship, but she is seduced by Cloud and secretly has an affair with him. Conqueror is angered by his inability to open the puzzle box, and the disappearance of Mud Buddha. He sends Frost and Wind to find him while Cloud is sent to claim the Unchallenged Sword and kill the clan leader, leading closer to completing his collection of powerful weapons in his Sword Graveyard. Cloud succeeds and Frost and Wind find Mud Buddha, now disfigured by boils as punishment from the Gods for revealing too much about the future to others. Later, Mud Buddha is taken by a masked fighter who easily repels both Frost and Wind. The captured Mud Buddha unlocks the puzzle for Conqueror and reveals that "the dragon is powerful but will be stranded when wind and cloud become a storm" therefore ending Conqueror's tyranny. Realizing it refers to Wind and Cloud and unwilling to accept his fate Conqueror plots to destroy them both.
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Wikipedia