Michel Vaillant

Okay, so it may not be DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, but despite never being released in the US in any form, I love this movie. You've got a French racing team dueling with an American team at LeMans. It's a generally moody film, stylishly directed, with drama, heartbreak, car chases, and it does feature a familiar face to US audiences, the lovely Diane Kruger from TROY and the NATIONAL TREASURE series. I have purchased the DVD three times, and finally here's the one I always wanted: the original French language version with English subtitles in widescreen format, on Blu-Ray to boot. While the Dolby TrueHD audio is somewhat unconvincing (rear channels are a little TOO active, and center channel not quite active enough), the picture is sharp, vibrant, and colorful, far better than I have ever seen it before. I would like to thank the previous post for his or her review, as I wouldn't have known what was actually for sale here. I was pretty sure that the only Blu-Ray version out there was the non-subtitled Japanese release (which is what is pictured), but the disk I received from ImportCDs is indeed from China or Taiwan, manufactured by New Movie Studios--at least near as I can tell--with a different cover and no bonus features. For MICHEL VAILLANT fans (and I'm sure there's plenty besides me in the USA), this is sort of the Holy Grail, at least so far. And if you can get your hands on a copy, I also recommend the soundtrack.

This is what I like to call a popcorn movie in the same vein as Days of Thunder or Top Gun, but with better special effects. As a matter of fact you might be reminded of a few scenes from those films. Also be forewarned that there is some anti-Americanism on the part of Team Leader. The disk itself is a bare bones blu-ray disk. There are no extras, and the language track alternated between French and English with the option of English or Chinese subtitles. The disk is region A with is North/South America, and East Asia (except China).

i bought the dvd because it was stated that it has english audio but when i played the dvd...there was no english audio..all the tracks are in french and there is no english subtitles either.

"Michel Vaillant" is originally a popular French comic book series created by Jean Graton, which started back in 1957. It had been adapted for TV twice - a short-lived live-action series in 1967 and more popular animated series in the late 1980s (the latter was renamed "Heroes on Hot Wheels" for US release), but this is the first adaptation for big screen. The producing companies include Luc Besson's Europa Corp, and the script is written by Besson and Gilles Malençon.The film' s story is about the car racer Michel Vaillant (Sagamore Stévenin) and his team that participate in the rallies all over the world and finally prestigious Le Mans 24-hour race. His team is like a family and Vaillant is not a loner-type racer. But because of the long-standing rivalry between Michel Vaillant's team The Vaillaints and his rival team The Leaders led by Ruth Wong (Lisa Barbuscia), and various acts of sabotage from plotting Ruth, the races become tough and deadly for Vaillant who must get over the obstacles with his skills and willpower.[GREAT CAR STUNTS] Visually speaking, "Michel Vaillant" is impressive. You may find flashy shots and showy camera work, but the car stunts themselves are all marvelous and the film captures the feeling of driving a car at the fastest speed with the convincing racing shots seen from the racer.But the script needs more improvement. I know this film is based on comic book and comic book has its own conventions, but some part of the story is too incredible. We are asked to believe that anyone can sneak into our pit and do whatever he can, and some racer may sleep with the rival team's boss even when the race is going on. Perhaps fans of the original comic would think differently, but to me the film's insistence on foul play is just silly and off-putting, an insult to the audiences.[DIANE KRUGER] Diane Kruger appears as Julie Wood, widow of the driver who gets killed in a bizarre car accident. Julie later shows up before Vaillant and joins his team as racer. The acting of Diane Kruger, who appeared in "Troy," after this, is not her best, but is still better than anyone else in this film. Watch "Michel Vaillant" for her and some thrilling car racing sequences; otherwise, the film is forgettable.