In the original comic series Storm Riders, Wind is suave and romantic, while Cloud is a cold loner. Because of the beautiful and detailed artwork, these character traits have long since been embedded into the readers' hearts, and have continued to be wildly popular over the years. A new character has been added to this animated version, Ngou Kuet, a descendant of the Sword-Worshipping Manor, who is willing to fight Wind and Cloud to the death in order to obtain the Flame Kylin's blood flowing in Wind's body so that he could finally succeed in forging the ultimate sword, named 'Kuet'. Producer Gordon Chin, director Dante Lam and a team of 400 crew members spent over five years to rejuvenate the legend of Storm Riders in this Mainland-Hong Kong production. The continuous rapid-fire kicks of the 'Wind God Kick' and the earth-shattering power of the 'Sweeping Away the Clouds Palms' were created with numerous 2D drawings, against a multi-layered 3D background effect, so that all the warriors could show off their incredible and fantastic fighting techniques.

The plot skips over earlier scenes and depicts how Wind and Cloud, being unable to escape their destinies of becoming possessed, fight each other to the death after attaining martial arts masterhood. Thus, the paradox is that they rely on each other to live, and are cursed to be the death of each other. In order to make the martial arts sequences look as 'life-like' as possible, many such sequences were first filmed in live action, and then given to the artists for reference and further development. The fight between Nameless and Ngou Kuet at the lake using water and waves as weapons illustrates the film's message of 'Rather than being obsessed with wrong beliefs, it's better to let go and experience freedom.' In the end, Cloud forgoes the martial arts realm to seek his own world. This is a tribute to the Hong Kong people who have departed the rat race to seek their own happiness.

# Post-screening talk with Gordon Chin & Winnie Fu

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