Watch Two New Trailers For Anggy Umbara's Futuristic Martial Arts Thriller, 3!

While I would love nothing more than for director Anggy Umbara's latest, 3, to get a simulataneous release with other territories overseas, chances are we're more likely to end up waiting a really long time for that to happen. If it is to happen, I sincerely hope piracy doesn't affect it, because that would be devastating, and we can never have enough genuine and original action films in this day and age.

3 sports a tremendous cast and a look that will surely appeal some to the sci-fi fan base with actors Cornielio Sunny, Abimana Arysatya and Agus Kuncoro leading the story of three former friends on different sides of the ideological spectrum in a dystopian futuristic millieu where conflict is ultimately imminent.

SYNOPSIS:

JAKARTA 2036, there have been so many changes. The peace and prosperity has returned to the country after the end of civil war and the slaughtering of radical group in 2026. 

Human rights have became the main principle of the country. Bullets has been deemed illegal. Army and policemen were only given rubber bullets to catch criminals and the remaining terrorists. A very difficult dilemma has been raised, where radical groups had returned and struggle to change the face of democracy. 

In that era, high martial-arts skill is needed, by both the authorities and the criminals. Alif, Lam and Mim are three friends of the Martial Arts school who grew up together in an Islamic Boarding School called Al Ikhlas. 

Alif, the stubborn yet honest, chose to become the police . He was determined to eradicate all forms of crime while tracking the killer of his parents. 

Lam, the empathy one, chose to become a journalist. Dreaming of spreading the truth and became the eyes of the people. 

Mim chose to teach religion and remain settled at the boarding school. Making himself to be the good example on earth and keeping the core values of his religion on this earth. All those three were met, after the chaos following the blast in a cafe. 

Evidence in investigation leads to Mim's and his students involvement. Alif has to encounter his own best friend and destroy Islamic schools where he was raised. Lam is stuck between his two friends, continue to find the common ground in order to avoid a more severe destruction. Mim chose to face the policemen and prefer to sacrifice his life. 

Alif, Lam and Mim are forced to fight each other in their fight for the truth, while keeping the family and their loved ones safe.

The film's got a release coming on October 1 and several trailers have already circulated, including this one. You'll find two more below with the first one in the form of a minute-long trailer full of solid action. Check them both out now.

[UPDATED] Watch The New Trailer For Futuristic Indo Action Thriller, 3!

Director Anggy Umbara is ready to darken things a bit after going the action comedy route with his latest sequel stint, Comic 8: Casino Kings. His newest endeavor as of the past year or so are now culminating very nicely with a slick new trailer now making the rounds for the new film, 3, pitting futuristic aesthetics with gritty and hardcore storytelling and characters grounded in a millieu of uncertainty, as well as assuring thrills and hard-hitting action.

There's no English synopsis but there's an Indonesian insert in the descruption of the trailer which also has English subtitles to outline a good idea of what's happening: longstanding philosophical and ideological differences among bitter friends, mainly. The important thing here is that the action looks appealing and it should be worth checking out once it releases, and hopefully to wider audiences through broader acquisitions.

Cornelio Sunny, Abimana Arysatya and Agus Kuncoro lead the cast with Piet Pagau, Cecep Arif Rahman and Donny Alamsyah among those starring. Check out the trailer below as well as three character posters added to the gallery just beneath!

UPDATE - Hat tip to +kunderemp for the translation!

JAKARTA 2036, there have been so many changes. The peace and prosperity has return to the country after the end of civil war and the slaughtering of radical group in 2026.

Human rights have became the main principle of the country. Bullets has been deemed illegal. Army and policemen were only given rubber bullets to catch criminals and the remaining terrorists. A very difficult dilemma has been raised, where radical groups had returned and struggle to change the face of democracy.

In that era, high martial-arts skill is needed, by both the authorities and the criminals.
Alif, Lam and Mim are three friends of the Martial Arts school who grew up together in an Islamic Boarding School called Al Ikhlas.

Alif, the stubborn yet honest, chose to become the police . He was determined to eradicate all forms of crime while tracking the killer of his parents.

Lam, the empathy one, chose to become a journalist. Dreaming of spreading the truth and became the eyes of the people.

Mim chose to teach religion and remain settled at the boarding school. Making himself to be the good example on earth and keeping the core values of his religion on this earth. All those three were met, after the chaos following the blast in a cafe.

Evidence in investigation leads to Mim's and his students involvement. Alif have to encounter his own best friend and destroy Islamic schools where he was raised. Lam is stuck between his two friends, continue to find the common ground in order to avoid a more severe destruction. Mim chose to face the policemen and prefer to sacrifice his life.

Alif, Lam and Mim are forced to fight each other in their fight for the truth, while keeping the family and their loved ones safe.

3: ALIF NAM MIM

Everyone's Ready To Brawl In The First Official Poster For 3: ALIF LAM MIM

Comic 8 franchise director Anggy Umbara has a new film on the horizon followng its ceremonious announcement in January and subsequent production as of February. The title, 3: Alif Nam Mim bears a distinct underlying reference to the first three letters of the Quran which may by much more decipherable to those knowledgeable of it, but the film it adheres to definitely looks like it will be going to be an exciting martial arts film in some capacity.

The next several days of waiting should grant us a trailer by then. Fow now though, we finally have our premiere look at the cast in the first official poster following earlier teaser one-sheets unveiled in tha past year. Actors Cornelio Sunny, Abimanya Aryasatya and Agus Kuncoro lead the cast which, and much to the favor of martial arts fans, also includes actress Prisia Nasution and The Raid franchise co-stars, actors Donny Alamsyah and Cecep Arif Rahman - the latter whose career prospects have expanded nicely in the past year as well.

We're about learn much more on this one in the days ahead, but do check out the latest poster in the album below and watch this space!

3: ALIF NAM MIM

Hamish Daud Faces All Of Jakarta In The Latest Trailer For GANGSTER

Indonesian action remains at large and ahead of director Fajar Nugro's forthcoming contribution with Gangster, starring Hamish Daud. There's plenty of fervor to be had here in accordance with Asian film brimming with martial arts talent, and hereto with a story full of drama, romance and action fitting for our cast to help showcase plenty of it.

SYNOPSIS:

JAMRONI (Hamish Daud - Raihan Khan) has always struggled in his life, never quite fitting in despite trying to do his best to help those around him. 

He grows up in a small village near the Volcano Merapi in Yogyakarta. He is picked on by the local thugs and life at home isn't easy as his father TOHARI (Gunawan Maryanto) is tough on him. Despite that, he finds solace with his childhood friend SARI (Avrilla Sigarlaki - Eriska Rein.) Fate pulls them apart and Jamroni is alone once again. 

Years pass and Jamroni finds himself in a situation of mistaken identity. After fighting off some thieves he is caught, thought to be a thief himself. The Chief Cattle Rancher (Dede Yusuf) meets Jamroni and life doesn't get any easier when Jamroni finds out his father is dying. 

As Tohari passes away, he reveals that Jamroni isn’t truly their child and that Sari has been sending Jamroni letters ever since she left Yogyakarta. Jamroni grieves but sets out to find Sari, his childhood love, in Jakarta. 

To repay Jamroni, he is brought along on a cattle delivery to Jakarta. Upon arriving at the local ranch a few thugs catch wind of money exchanging hands. When they approach Jamroni, a fight ensues and Jamroni is chased all around town. Jamroni nearly escapes but ends up on the hood of the car of a young woman, RETTA (Nina Kozok), who is pursued by a black SUV. Retta is running away from home after finding out that her father HASTOMO (Agus Kuncoro) had promised his partner AMSAR (Dwi Sasono) that she would marry his younger brother to sweeten a business deal. When Retta finally stops the car, she is abducted by heavily muscled men. Jakarta doesn’t seem to be any kinder to Jamroni. 

Hastomo, despite being a powerful man, finds that life at home is getting increasingly stressful as his wife ASTUTI (Dominique Sanda) is distraught over the idea of their daughter being married off to a stranger, without her consent. Assisted by his secretary HANNA (Andrea Bimo), Hastomo tries to find his daughter. 

Amsar continues to try to expand his control as a power hungry newcomer with the help of his Second in Command (Kelly Tandiono), along with his large group of local thugs. 

SUEB (Ganindra Bimo,) a cold blooded killer, is contracted to find and kill Jamroni. Eventually BANG JANGKUNG (Yayan Ruhian) is also approached by Hanna, his former fling. As Hanna attempts to contact Bang Jangkung she instead runs into his current girlfriend (Dian Sastrowardoyo). 

Jamroni continues to protect Retta from whomever poses a threat to her and she seems to grow closer to him, but what of Sari? What will happen to Retta and her father Hastomo if she breaks off her arranged marriage? Will Jamroni be able to overcome all these obstacles in his life? 

This will undoubtedly appeal to fans of Ruhian and martial arts action alike as the fanbase continues to clamour for more and more in a post-Raid era of fandom. Watch the new trailer below and take a gander at the following posters as well!

Gangster

Bruce Lee Gimmicks, Fighting Femmes And Action Gems In New BTS COMIC 8: CASINO KINGS Featurette

Director Anggy Umbara's larger scale ensemble sequel, Comic 8: Casino Kings is just one of a few guarantees that the pulse of the action genre will keep beating in the region. The presences of legendary thesps like Barry Prima and Willy Dozan are likely reassuring along with action star Yayan Ruhian who has been making a killing of his own at Cannes over the summer with Miike Takashi's Yakuza Apocalypse. Hopefully that still means an awesome film will be the result, and depending on your tastes in action and comedy, this one could be a treat.

The basic plot surrounds the returning eight principles from last year's heist pic, Comic 8, now on an undercover mission to infiltrate a casino. Somewhere along the line it leads to an epic badass chickfight, jungle commandos, scenes parodying The Raid 2, and a huge alligator for some reason. Whatever it is, it appears to be arriving in two parts with the first to arrive to Indonesian cinemas on July 15, and we now have a behind the scenes look to take a gander at. Very little of it is in English though, soyou understand the language then I guess that just makes you a little smarter than the rest of us. Enjoy!

Shoosh! And Watch The New Trailer For Indonesian Action Flick, GANGSTER

It's safe to say that post-Raid fandom has dimmed with the state of Indonesian action cinema remaining more on-going with its more local productions. It's with that in mind that we turn to director Fajar Nugro's latest regional entry, Gangster, and Indo-Aussie actor Hamish Daud leading the cast in a story centered on a man pursuing a life with the woman he loves in Jakarta until he ends up crossing paths with a criminal gang.

Raid franchise co-star Yayan Ruhian also lends his flair of screen charm as usual, and surely while the comedy here is more local than anything as is the rest of the film, it's a mild reminder of why the fans at large love Ruhian as he steps out on his own. Alas, as you would imagine, there's drama, definitely some fighting, and a good share of brutality to boot. And on that note, I invite you to hold onto your balls when you watch this trailer below. Because Ow.

Place Your Bets In The New Teaser For COMIC 8: CASINO KINGS!

I suppose Indonesia's latest resurgence into the action genre has done well enough that it can spoof itself to a certain degree. With this, we now get a look at what director Anggy Umbara has in store for the new action comedy, Comic 8: Casino Kings, the sequel to the first film released early last year, and headlined by a mix of returning cast members and new faces, along with a few noted action film veterans familar to the region - namely Barry Prima and Willy Dozan, and George Rudy...and for some reason, a really, really large alligator.

I can't find an English synopsis right now, so for better or worse, the film has a Wikipedia page with the following details; As usual, Google translate is pants when it comes to translating nearly anything sensibly, so gather what you may.

SYNOPSIS:

Comic 8: Casinos Kings' will tell advanced 8 secret agent mission under the leadership of Indro Warkop to carry out undercover missions into a comic or a stand-up comedian, in search of a comic who became a liaison to a master criminal called The King of money. 

Eighth comic must pass through many processes and barriers, should avoid the pursuit of Interpol and police investigation of the events of the previous robberies, to face a group of thugs and criminals stamp ax. They finally managed to arrive at a secret island belonging to the King, who became one of the largest casinos in Asia, where the penjudinya from all over the world. 

Comic 8 to rack my brain and do everything they can to be able to free themselves from the trap that awaits them, where the task of this mission is to capture the King and destroy the casino.

At any rate, consider this an ensemble cast with a much larger size and scale in action and scope. It's a noteworthy effort for its regional standing and considering acion star Yayan Ruhian's own popularity overseas thanks to Merantau and The Raid fame, maybe this one will get a larger select audience stateside. Who knows? We'll see. Teaser below.

Pre-Production Commences On Gareth Huw Evans's BLISTER

Much of the fandom for director Gareth Huw Evans's currently brewing Raid trilogy has settled since the second installment released last year to much excitement and acclaim. So, it may be an uneasy thing for some to possibly have to wait an extra three years before the saga finishes, although it is rewarding to know that Evans's storytelling vernacular goes beyond one franchise.

As such, Evans is now moving on to other properties, with at least two films now in-development, including the new movie, Blister. Not much is known about the plot of the film as of yet, although the director did offer a small blurb last year while on the road promoting The Raid 2, describing the film as his own take on "the contemporary American gangster story with echoes of The Wild Bunch". Evans has since reunited with his fellow film folk in Indonesia, including Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian fresh from the set of their roles in director Liam O'Donnell's upcoming sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline.

Correction: Day 1 of causing mischief with @iko_uwais @YayanRuhian @mpe_very and @gaya_yandi #Blister pic.twitter.com/yDJ7CyyWgi
— Gareth Evans (@ghuwevans) February 3, 2015

Currently, any and all development on a third installment of the Raid trilogy is on hold with Evans now underway with Blister in addition to other projects. Stay tuned and follow Evans on Twitter!

Long Awaited Superhero Flick, GARUDA SUPERHERO, Bows Domestically This Weekend!

Indonesia's film industry doesn't always garner the support of big budgets for its more ambitious titles, but the vision is applied nonetheless when possible. It can be a noteworthy achievement depending on how you look at it, and you can certainly add writer and director x.Jo's latest offering with Garuda Superhero to that same list.

The film took roughly ten years to evolve from concept to production with a few conceptual reels having went viral earlier on. Granted, if you've seen those reels and CGI tends to be a touchy subject for you, then this particular venture may not be for you. Otherwise, comic book fans and followers of the superhero genre, and those who are generally sympathetic to the overall ambitious growth of Indonesia's film industry can probably take a liking to it.

At any rate, the film bows for its audience this weekend with actor and model Rizal Al Idris taking on the title role. The film also has a full trailer as of last month, and if heavy-duty visuals, tactical gun battles, intergalactic villany, superhero gadgetry, sexy femme fatales and all sorts of sci-fi lore appeal to you, then Garuda Superhero might have what you're looking for.

via Go Movie Review:

When it shocked the scientific world with the creation of sophisticated weapons as the savior of the Earth from the threat of attack giant asteroids can sometimes hit the Earth in the future. But these weapons successfully hijacked by a group of spirited King and transformed to enable it as a threat of destruction of the World. Superpowers and developed is the main target of the threat of terror spirited King, so that Indonesia or in particular the city's Metro is highlighting the eyes of the world. Cunning and super powers possessed by this spirited group, is a very difficult package DAT conquered by force. Even the Pentagon itself specifically planned intervention to assist handle the large case. But in times of crisis like that, appearing EAGLES figure that has super powers and in favor of the truth. 

Since then, his behavior was to grip the perpetrators, and managed to mess up a crazy plan spirited King. The world is now a warm welcome Garuda attendance figures as their Super Hero. Who is actually the figure of Garuda? Whether the relationship with a young man named Bara? How giant company Derma Corp. involvement in this case? As violent as if the battle super super versus them? Until Bara where romance story with Rose daughter Governor? What's with the emergence of the Black Shadow? Then will the terror spirited King can be conquered?

Yayan Ruhian Sports A Ghastly Image On The Set Of COMIC 8: CASINO KINGS

Indonesia's current film climate is a lagging a bit nowadays, and there have been casualties as a result-namely whatever the heck stonewalled production for Timo Tjahjanto's The Night Comes For Us back in September. Thankfully some projects haven't faltered, including Anggy Umbara's upcoming heist sequel, Comic 8: Casino Kings. 

The film is arriving in 2015 with a larger cast and even greater scope to accomodate its larger budget following the success of its first installment in early 2014. Several cast and set pictures have appeared online, and if you've been enthusiastically following the career of fellow Indonesian action star Yayan Ruhian can expect to see him in the upcoming heist action adventure as well, that is if this picture has anything to say for it.

Ruhian contributed to the pre-production phase of The Night Comes For Us with action star Iko Uwais solely choreographing the fights, and Merantau and The Raid franchise auteur Gareth Huw Evans directing the action. Those efforts eventually got canned while Ruhian has clearly moved on Comic 8: Casino Kings, and training actor Frank Grillo earlier on with Iko Uwais for upcoming sci-fi sequel, Beyond Skyline.

Hopefully some more cohesive news will come our way soon, but in the meantime, it should be cool to see Ruhian on set with a number of seasoned Indonesian action favorites, even if he is ectoplasmic among them, figuratively speaking that is. Besides, One Good Thing and Yakuza Apocalypse should be on the way as well last I checked, and if it is at all in the cards, a hopeful reprisal as a new character in The Raid 3. These all remain to be seen, of course, but they are reasonable hopes to hold onto at least.

[UPDATED] THE NIGHT COMES FOR US Is On Hold, Production Uncertain

UPDATE (12/24/14): Based on a Tweet response four days ago, it appears that Tjahjanto is taking his vision for the former production of The Night Comes For Us and putting it into graphic novel form with Glitch Network. Production on the film itself suddenly halted back in September for reasons unknown. (Special thanks to commentor, Fatso, for the heads' up!)

EARLIER REPORT:

Fans of Gareth Huw Evans's 2011 action thriller, The Raid, may have noticed one other title that's gone quite a while without much mention in the headlines. That title, of course, Killers co-helmer Timo Tjahjanto's Indonesian crime epic, The Night Comes For Us, for which The Raid co-star Joe Taslim was the subject of much buzz when he was officially cast for the lead in April of last year.

Well, if you fit the profile and have long been pining for more details surrounding the film, the good news is that you're not going crazy. Unfortunately, the not-so-good news is that the production of the film is "officially on-hold", according to a source affiliated with the film. This update comes following the mysterious disappearance of the film's IMDb page for some time now and there are no immediate answers explaining the "who's", the "why's", the "how's" or the "wtf's" of the matter, so any number of questions can be raised from this and it may be long before we hear any specifics. Moreover though, the biggest question of all is what lies next for the film?

Building on his momentum with a stellar screenfighting performance in Fast And Furious 6 , Taslim was set for the role of Ito, a gangland enforcer caught amidst the Triad's bloody ursup upon his return home from a stint abroad. Evans was to direct the action with The Raid lead actor Iko Uwais choreographing the fights for Taslim along fellow 'Raid' alums, actress Julie Estelle and actors Yayan Ruhian, Arifin Putra and Oka Antara, the latter who starred in Tjahjanto's Killers back in February. The film eventually made huge strides in the market at the top of the year before selling worldwide and even landing a home in North America in January.

Will it ever be taken off-hold? Well, in the current film climate we are in right now with this industry, uncertainty is the closest thing we have to a complete answer, and I know that isn't saying much. Details will follow soon enough, presumably, but I hope we see a miracle happen here, because that logline is too damn intriguing to leave without screen treatment.

Ruhian is currently working on the set of Anggy Umbara's Comic 8: Casino Kings with co-star and former TNCFU cast member Prisia Nasution for next year while Uwais recently finished things up with Frank Grillo and Bojana Novakovic in Liam O'Donnell upcoming Sci-Fi thriller, Beyond Skyline.

Stay tuned for more info.