Double Dragon II: The Revenge

Turbo Duo

Review by Matt Paprocki

Naxat Soft

Fighting

Graphics: 6.5

Sound: 9.5

Gameplay: 8.5

Overall: 8.5


Double Dragon II Special Turbo Duo DVD transcript

doubledragon23_duo.gif (10957 bytes)"Hi. My name is Billy Lee, star, director, writer, producer, stunt man, and co-producer of the Double Dragon games. Welcome to this special Turbo Duo edition of Double Dragon II. My brother, Jimmy, was unable to make it today to present this special edition to you as he needed an emergency colonoscopy. I'm sure he was just as enthusiastic as I am about this release. The original release of my film came out on the Nintendo NES. While received well by most critics, I knew in my heart that there was more that could be done. Here, today, for the first time anywhere, is the inside story on how this special edition came to be and stories behind it."

"Shooting took place over a three year period with post production taking well over another year. The studio wasn't too pleased with the budget overruns which cost them over $650,000,000, but I knew for the good of the franchise, it had to be done. I hired an entirely new staff since the original cast was on strike due to contract issues. Using the most advanced CGI ever put on film, the special effects guys managed to create characters who looked very similar to those of the first film. This special edition took this premise even further, but many people in the press criticize it for the awkward looking, un-proportioned body parts. These same critics praised the detail on the characters, contradicting themselves in the process."

doubledragon21_duo.gif (8648 bytes)"The toughest part of making this film was definitely the forest scene. The first day of shooting, we were relentlessly attacked by a flock of rabid seagulls who's feces damaged our equipment beyond any imaginable repair. The perseverance of my crew paid off as they went down to the local Wal-Mart and purchased all new equipment, saving that days shooting schedule. Now, the scene in the forest near the waterfall proved even more difficult as it called for seven people to end up in the water during the fight. As the battle ensued, no one noticed that the stunt men who ended up in the water never came back up. We later found that schools of oversized, radioactive bass had literally sucked their flesh right off their bones."

"Now, everyone has their favorite scene, but mine is inside the flying chopper. Talk about brave stuntman! We shot this scene on a real helicopter, 786 feet in the air. Now, our computer guys couldn't figure out a way to take out parachutes digitally, so when the scene started, I had to lie and say we were going to show them drop out of the helix later via motion-capture. Well, using my ingenuity and trying to save on my budget, I actually threw those guys right out of the chopper. The same holds true for the few segments with grenades too. The stunt guys had no idea those were real grenades!"

"In the first cut on the NES, we threw in some cinemas to spice up the story a bit. Thanks to the technological marvel that is the Turbo Duo, we were able to expand upon the idea. Now, one of the problems here is when the film was released internationally, we lost the American soundtracks so the Japanese dub is all we have left. The music has also been completely re-done to take advantage of this new technological marvel. Just wait until you hear the theme which accompanies the credits! I really wish that this edition could've been on DVD and be in glorious 5.1, but the studio tells me they haven't been invented yet or something."

doubledragon22_duo.gif (14955 bytes)"Now, there are a few extras included in this new revamp, most notable the addition of the elevator scene. Since the initial release of the film, competing studios have released titles like Final Fight. The elevator sequences in these success stories proved to be quite popular, so I've decided to add one here in this edition. You'll also notice the 'happy ending' which the studio claimed the film needed to appeal to a wider audience. Marion is now revived at the end (if you can figure out how to unlock this ending of course) instead of dying off forever. After divorcing her for the 5th time thanks to her problem with alcohol, I'm almost depressed that I ever filmed that extra ending, but I've included it here for the fans."

"Well, that does it for this edition. Hopefully, technology will let us revisit this fantastic film again and hopefully turn a profit....eventually. As for now, this stands as the ultimate edition of my masterpiece. I hope you have as much fun with this edition as I have. Now, I must go to make sure Jimmy's ok. Thanks for watching!"

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Last updated: Sunday, September 18, 2005 03:12 PM