Mat Arip (Fad Anuar) is the prodigal son—though a not-yet reformed one—who is off having fun spending his father’s money gambling on illegal fights, participating in street races, and getting into fights of his own over the results. Meanwhile, his sister Fatimah (Feiyna Tajudin) and brother Ali (Khoharullah Majid) are the loyal children, helping out their father, Pak Nayan (Namron), working hard tending to the home and fields. Mat Arip has always been the wild child of the family. He has a bit of an obnoxious, over-confident and full of himself attitude that often gets him into trouble. His sister tells their father that he is too lenient on him, which has only made him worse. But Mat Arip’s luck appears to have run out as he currently owes a large sum of money to loan shark Haji Daud, who has sent his collection agents to the house. They demand that Pak pay his son’s debt, or else sign over the deed to their land, which Mat Arip had given them as collateral. Fatimah is livid, ordering the men off their land (and even kicking their asses when they refuse to go), but her father seems unfazed, and turns to prayer that his son will find a way to pay his debts.

Meanwhile, Mat Arip is nowhere to be found, and isn’t answering his sister’s phone calls. Instead, he’s hanging out with best friend Mi Piang (Taiyuddin Bakar), and getting into his usual array of gambling, racing and fighting. He’s so cocky and sure of himself that he believes he will easily be able to pay off his debt in time. However, Haji Daud has had is eye on the Nayan property for a long time, and will not give up this opportunity to take it. He will do everything he can to make sure Mat Arip cannot pay his debt, including luring him to bet on rigged fights, participate in unfair races, and constantly intimidate and threaten the family both mentally and physically. However, the Nayan family (and seemingly most of the people in this town) have been trained in martial arts and won’t give in so easily to Haji Daud and his men, and their attempts to swindle hard-working folks out of their land.

Silat Warriors: Deed of Death is the classic tale of evil warlord wants family’s land and sends in his army of warriors to take it, but the family uses their martial arts skills to protect it. However, it has a much more modern feel and setting. After an exciting opening, with Fatimah unleashing her rage on the first wave of men who threaten the family, the writers seem to forget about her and she disappears for a large portion of the film. Instead, the film concentrates on misfit Mat Arip who is watching/gambling on illegal fights, getting into street races with his equally obnoxious rival, and single-handedly fending off waves of attacks from both the corrupt racing promoter and Haji Daud’s men, both of whom are looking for him to pay his debts. Meanwhile, his buddy Mi is there for comic relief, often sitting on the sidelines cheering his buddy on, or holding him back when he gets riled up after a race and tries to pick a fight. The film includes some brief footage of the back alley fights that Mat Arip is betting on, but there are also several big action set pieces as Mat Arip finds himself constantly under attack. These fights are well-choreographed and filmed at ground level seemingly with Go Pro cameras and close-ups that really put the viewer in the middle of the exciting action. Mat Arip throws his fast punches and kicks, and flips his enemies over his head, making easy work out of the throngs of men that come after him—whether that’s on a cramped bus, on a bridge, or in the streets. Each kick and punch is always accentuated with whips, thuds and cracks for that classic kung fu movie feel.

It’s not until the third act that we finally get to see how Ali fits into this kick-ass family. For the first two thirds of the film, he’s the mild-mannered son who is often fishing or tending to the fields and not saying much. We also see him getting a history lesson from wise town elder Pak Teh, learning about the connection between his father and Haji Daud. But in the third act of the film, things really kick into high gear, and all three of the children get into the relentless action. This is really Khoharullah Majid’s chance to shine and show off his skills. It’s like watching a video game as Ali makes his way through level after level of bad guys. With each new set of enemies, the challenge gets tougher and the fight takes longer, as he makes his way to the big boss.

The title of “Silat Warriors: Deed of Death” may be over-selling the film a bit (the original title was just “Deed”). While there are some really exciting fight sequences, it’s not a bloody film with people getting mowed down and massacred—the bad guys (and sometimes the good guys) just get knocked down and eventually get back up again. The Nayan family doesn’t typically use weapons, though the folks who attack them sometimes do. Sometimes it even gets a bit comical—there’s one scene where Mat Arip literally roles his eyes and does a wiggle to the ground as he is knocked out, like something you’d see in a cartoon.

While the film starts off a bit slow and has a very minimal plot, the final act is action-packed, relentless and exciting, making the film worth checking out. Things get a bit repetitive and tread water for the first two acts, and unfortunately these concentrate much more on the obnoxious Mat Arip, while his siblings are the far more interesting and entertaining characters. Fatimah’s opening fight sequence is amazing, and it was a disappointment to see her then just disappear for the majority of the film. Ali also isn’t given much to do in the first two acts, but really becomes the star of the film in the final act.

Well Go’s Blu-ray release is pretty barebones, with no bonus material except for the film’s trailer as well as previews for some other Well Go releases. The film’s presentation is a bit mixed, ranging from the beautiful green fields and mountains that look clear and full of detail, to much darker scenes that aren’t quite as clean and well-defined. The soundtrack captures all the action nicely, as well as the whips, cracks, thuds and grunts added to accentuate the action. The film does not offer an English dub track, just two versions of the original Malaysian soundtrack, but the subtitles are clear and easy to understand.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:41:58)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
• Audio: Malaysian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Malaysian Stereo
• Subtitles: English

Extras:
Remaining trailers play back-to-back once one is selected.

• Trailer (1:44)
• Previews
  • Raising Fire Teaser (1:47)
  • The Paper Tigers (2:30)
  • The Fatal Raid (1:26)

Final Thoughts:

Silat Warriors: Deed of Death is the classic tale of evil warlord wants family’s land and sends in his army of warriors to take it, but the family uses their martial arts skills to protect it. It can get a bit repetitive for the first two acts, and concentrates on the wrong character for much of the film, but the exciting and relentless final act makes the film easily worth checking out. Well Go’s release doesn’t offer an English dub or any bonus material.