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"Where's the dragon?" Lionsgate has released one final US trailer for Iron Mask, the Russian-Chinese epic fantasy action movie originally known as Viy 2: Journey to China. It has also had many other different titles including Journey to China: The Mystery of Iron Mask, or The Mystery of the Dragon Seal in Malaysia, or any shortened version of those. This is actually a wacky Russian adventure fantasy film, co-produced by China, with a big budget, and featuring two major name-brand actors: Jackie Chan & Arnold Schwarzenegger. The plot involves English traveler / cartographer Jonathan Green journeying to China and falling into a fantastical adventure. The full cast also includes Rutger Hauer, Charles Dance, Jason Flemyng, Xingtong Yao, Anna Churina, and Narupornkamol Chaisang. We've been posting trailers for this film for years, ever since it debuted in Russia years ago, and then in the UK earlier this year, and now in the US this fall.

Stars: Jason Flemyng, Xingtong Yao, Anna Churina, Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rutger Hauer, Charles Dance, Paul Allica, Chayanit Chansangavej, Christopher Fairbank | Written by Dmitry Paltsev, Alexey A. Petrukhin | Directed by Oleg Stepchenko

Billed as the movie that has the first fight ever between Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger might seem slightly odd but I will assume that it will help them sell a good chunk of downloads and physical media (chucking their faces on the front of DVDs probably helped too). But is there anything more to The Iron Mask?

Well I will start with the things are enjoyed about it. The Iron Mask looks fantastic. Epic is a word that is thrown around quite a lot now but it is perfectly apt for this. Everything about it (except the odd cheap-looking CGI) screams big budget epic movie. I absolutely loved pretty much all of the settings. Whether it be...

The action adventure feature "Journey to China: The Mystery of Iron Mask' (aka "Viy 2") is directed by Oleg Stepchenko, starring Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rutger Hauer, Charles Dance, Jason Flemyng, Xingtong Yao and Anna Churina, available April 10, 2020:

"...in early 1700, a cartographer returns to map the 'Russian Far East'. 

"But he's forced on to China, where he confronts the 'Dragon Master'. 

"Then the iron masked 'Russian Tsar' escapes the 'Tower of London' to a Russian ship..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Journey To China: The Mystery of Iron Mask"...

"When I have the seal of the dragon, I will rule the world!" Signature UK has unveiled an official trailer for a film they're calling The Iron Mask, which is yet another new title for the film originally known as Viy 2: Journey to China. It has also gone under different titles including Journey to China: The Mystery of Iron Mask, or The Mystery of the Dragon Seal in Malaysia, or any shortened version of those. This is actually a wacky Russian adventure fantasy film, co-produced by China, with a big budget, and featuring two major name-brand actors: Jackie Chan & Arnold Schwarzenegger. We posted a short teaser trailer for this back in 2017, now it's finally getting released in the UK this spring. The plot involves English traveler / cartographer Jonathan Green journeying to China and falling into a fantastical adventure. The strange cast also includes Rutger Hauer, Charles Dance, Jason Flemyng,...

Forbidden Empire

Written by Aleksandr Karpov and Oleg Stepchenko

Directed by Oleg Stepchenko

Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, 2014

Though we may not like to admit it, some movies simply have the deck stacked against them. Case in point, Forbidden Empire. Forbidden Empire is, in fact, a dubbed and re-cut version of Viy, a 2014 Russian fantasy-horror film with a very interesting pedigree. The film is based off a short story by Nikolai Gogol, one of the more towering figures of classic Russian literature, and was previously adapted into a film of the same name in 1967. The previous version of Viy is regarded as something of an unsung classic, an immensely watchable gem rife creative and memorable effects sequences. The new film, however, eschews most of the practical effects wizardry that made the original what it is in favor of CGI effects. So, in summary, it’s a re-cut, dubbed version of a...