New Canadian TV MiniSeries DRAGON BOYS starring Eric Tsang

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:45 pm

Was watching some previews for the fall TV season up here in Canada the other night. In September (or possibly January, depending on the source), they're showing a new $4 million, 4-hour miniseries centred around a Chinese Canadian RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officer and his battles with Asian organized crime in the province of British Columbia. The show purports to delve into the standard issues of race relations and how young people get involved in lives of crime.

For those who haven't seen much Canadian television, they do some solid programs up here, and the previews for this look pretty slick. Many Canadian shows don't last long, thanks to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) being a tax-payer funded (though ubiquitous) network—which probably means DRAGON BOYS will work even better as a miniseries—but the quality of the writing and production values on many of our dramas is usually first rate.

And with ERIC TSANG, of all people, as the crime lord, this should be interesting. Also on board are Laurence Chow, Byron Mann, Tzi Ma, Steph Song and Tsang's own son Derek.

This is a news release from last year, which says the show was to air in March 2006, but I'm fairly certain it was bumped to this season since the CBC is pumping it on a regular basis.

"CBC drama on Asian Crime in B.C."
http://www.publicairwaves.ca/index.php?page=1437[/url]
(ignore the March 2006 airdate in this one, as the show has been bumped to September to lead off the new season)

"DRAGON BOYS aims for realistic depiction of race relations":
www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/sto ... 85&k=47157

by **dleedlee** » Sun Aug 27, 2006 11:13 pm

It looks pretty interesting. I'm guessing that at only 4 hours Eric Tsang might not get much screen time, though.

by **Chinoco** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:23 am

Hopefully this gets a DVD release in the US.

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 2:50 am

It looks pretty interesting. I'm guessing that at only 4 hours Eric Tsang might not get much screen time, though

Yeah, it seems to have a fairly large ensemble cast, but I'd imagine Canada's considerable Chinese population (especially in B.C., where the film is set) was a factor in his casting, so I'd imagine he'll still be a prominent player. I have to wonder if, like a lot of Hong Kong celebrities, he maintains a home in Canada, which might have made it even easier for him to show up for work!

Hopefully this gets a DVD release in the US.

Tough to say for sure considering it's Canada-centric content, but a lot of CBC programming does get released on DVD up here, so you might find it some day on Amazon.ca or other Canadian retailers.

by **steve_cole1** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 7:15 pm

is there a trailer for this ?

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:50 pm

There doesn't seem to be anything beyond the TV commercials being shown on the CBC up here (which you'd think they'd post on the website as well, but no luck). One 30-second commercial is for the show itself (and I don't actually recall Eric Tsang appearing in it, since I only learned of hiss presence when I looked up the show later online), while clips from it are featured in various compilation promos they've got running.

If anyone does happen across something feel free to post a link! Search engines seem futile with a title like this, since all I get back are links to Dragon Ball and - ahem - Asian porn! :lol:

(What really sucks is I don't have a television service! :oops:

I saw these commercials during a visit to my parents on the weekend. Hopefully, I can plan another visit when this is on. Ever since the cable company discovered that most of my apartment complex had been wired for "free" cable for a good three years, they got kinda testy, and I never felt like paying them for what amounted to a mediocre selection anyways, this being Canada and all. :lol:

I had a satellite dish for awhile after that, but ran into the age-old problem of too many channels with nothing worth watching while the stacks of DVDs just grew taller.)

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 8:54 pm

I also wonder if DRAGON BOYS will deal with this little "problem," which is probably one of the primary sources of income for Asian gangs in Canada's larger cities, with a never-ending supply of customers:

www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer ... 6759398276

..

by **Harlock** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:04 pm

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:13 pm

Good question.

Does the French CBC routinely air programs from the English CBC? From the looks of the trailers, this show is predominantly in English with some Cantonese, so I guess they'd have to dub it or sub it for you Quebecers? Surely you receive English CBC in Quebec as well as the French service?

(just so non-Canadian readers know, we have two CBC television networks up here: one in English for fake, name-only Frenchies like myself, and one en Francais for the real Frenchies like Harlock!)

by **Harlock** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:23 pm

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:36 pm

off topic: with a "quebecois" name like thibodeau, you surely have a french canadian root in your family somewhere ? you don't speak any french ?

Yeah, sad, eh? There was definitely a Frenchman in the family tree somewhere along the line, but I believe he was from France, as the name was in the family for some time before they emigrated. My father speaks no French, and neither did his father as far as I know, and the father before that was likely the one who emigrated to Canada, so he brought it with him!

As such, I can speak a little bit that I remember from high-school French classes or have picked up from occasionally watching French CBC growing up (mainly because they had different shows than the English side), and I can understand more than I can speak, if that makes any sense.

(incidentally, I AM looking forward to seeing the French/English police thriller BON COP, BAD COP next time I'm in the city. That looks pretty clever, and it's about time we had some popular cinema of out own!)

by **Harlock** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 9:47 pm

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Mon Aug 28, 2006 11:32 pm

hehe i see it last weekend, i didnt known the english actor (Colm Feore) but i like him a lot, he seems very good from what this movie can show

I've been a fan of Feore since I first saw him at the Stratford Festival for several seasons during the early 90's. He's back there this season in OLIVER! but we couldn't find the time to go! It's kinda cool to see him pop up in big Hollywood movies once in awhile, like FACE/OFF (he was the face-switch doctor), PEARL HARBOUR and even crap like CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK. He's almost always better than the material. He played Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries TRUDEAU many moons ago, which was probably broadcast on both CBCs.

Getting back on topic, I was just looking up Steph Song's bio at IMDB and it appears she's in the new Jet Li/Jason Statham action picture ROGUE. I though Li was giving up action movies, or was that just martial arts films?

Also just noticed Tzi Ma and Christine Ma are married in real life, and I believe play the same in the series. As if the photos in her bio weren't a bit of a giveaway:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0530845/

by **dleedlee** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:50 pm

In case you missed my 1/2 news links:
Dragon enters Asian underworld - Vancouver organized crime miniseries 'a total gem'
http://ottawasun.com/Showbiz/Television ... 7-sun.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20070101 ... gon_boys_1

Dragon Boys airs this weekend 1/7 and 1/8. Hope someone's got a DVR and records it.

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:51 pm

Hope someone's got a DVR and records it.

Man, they finally air this series on the one weekend I won't be near a recorder! :cry:

Thanks for the update. HKMDB seems to be about the only place this show has even come up for discussion!

by **steve_cole1** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:28 pm

I have seen a trailer for this on you tube it looks really good hope it comes out on dvd

by **Chinoco** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:18 am

How did this do? Did it get viewership? Good reviews at least?

by **dleedlee** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:48 pm

Chinoco wrote:How did this do? Did it get viewership? Good reviews at least?

I think it airs this upcoming weekend.

Also posted in today's news link:
Richmond stars in Asian gangster movie - Dragon Boys
http://www.richmond-news.com/issues07/0 ... rtain.html

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 5:15 pm

Wow! According to the Richmond News, Byron Mann is a Hong Kong screen legend. I really must track down some of his films! :lol:

by **dleedlee** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:18 am

Byron Mann as Tommy Jiang and Eric Tsang as William/Willie the Duck.

Asian dragons
http://www.thestar.com/artsentertainment/article/168308

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 5:46 pm

Damn, this sounds good (the kung-fu pose of Byron Mann and Eric Tsang in that photo notwithstanding :shock:

). I'm so pissed I probably won't be able to see it this weekend! :evil:

Usually, CBC does make DVDs available of some of its better telefilms and miniseries, so it's highly likely DRAGON BOYS will be on store shelves later this year.

by **Chinoco** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:17 pm

Good pic of TSANG there! He looks younger...

by **Colin Geddes** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:03 pm

Hi Brian - been awhile. I am in the same boat as you with no TV service to watch Dragon Boys! I get it in with snow-vision. Might have to get someone to tape it for me. A friend of mine plays Eric Tsang's wife and she got to beat him up! She has great stories. Yesterday on CBC radio they interviewed the screenwriter and main star and talked about Tsang. He was telling them the story of Jackie smashing his head during ARMOUR OF GOD as Eric was handling the direction of that sequence. On CBC radio! Never would have thought...!

ps - first time posting on this forum!

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 8:47 am

Colin

Long time no hear! Though I have seen you at your Toronto Film Fest screenings the past few years (can't thank you enough for EXILED), but kinda figured you'd be too busy to bug!

I swore off TV ages ago, largely because my DVD collection has become a monster, and also because there's so little worth watching that doesn't require a season-long commitment. Outside of movies, I'm a news junkie anyways, so the internet's just as good! But when I hear about something like DRAGON BOYS, I get a little bummed out...

And never underestimate the power of our publically funded radio network! Earlier last year, they ran a 30 minute one-shot program (part of a series that regular Canadians get to create) about her dad's obsession with Godzilla and how he's virtually taken over their house with movies, toys, albums, props, you name it. At first, I thought it might have been that guy that publishes G-Fan, but it wasn't. The episode was loaded with sound snippets, music and songs from the movies (including the Mothra song). Pretty cool, but they never made it available on the website, no doubt because of the licencing issues.

P.S. Check back through your profile. I think you've been here before, even before I was here! Good to see you back. :wink:

by **dleedlee** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:45 pm

No one with a programmable DVR or VCR? :cry:

...makes Byron Mann mad!

Dragon Boys examines Asian gangs
http://www.calgarysun.com/cgi-bin/publi ... &s=showbiz
Will Dragon Boys fall to stereotypes?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... elevision/
Enter the Dragon - For once, CBC gets it right with this high-intensity mini-series
http://torontosun.com/Entertainment/Col ... 7-sun.html

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:28 pm

...makes Byron Mann mad!

Never mess with the Mann! You get burned every time....

You know what really sucks? If this aired on any day BESIDES Sunday, I'd be tempted to go hang out in the nearby Sony store, pretending to be interested in a big plasma TV for the entire time it was on! :lol:

But since it IS airing on a Sunday, all the stores here are closed around 6 p.m.! Damn you CBC! Damn you all...to...hell!!!!

----------------

One point of interest in a couple of those articles is the mention of the violence in the series. Canadian commercial television isn't as restricted as its American counterpart (though folks like the fair and balanced commentators on Fox News would have you believe CBC stands for "Communist Broadcasting System"), so our TV movies and miniseries have never shied away from violence, profanity and/or nudity IF it's appropriate to the tale, which is rather impressive for a network that is both taxpayer funded AND receives commercial revenue from corporate advertisers. So while DRAGON BOYS will suffer the usual commercial interruptions, if someone drops an F-bomb, it won't be edited out.

In a similar vein, our other nationwide network, CTV (a wholly commercial enterprise), used to run uncut episodes of THE SOPRANOS - with commercials, though - at 10 p.m. (!!), usually a few months after they'd debuted on HBO in the states. It was probably a bit of a shock during the first airing, but the ratings were so good they kept it going!

It also sounds like DRAGON BOYS II is a very likely prospect, which bodes well for this first installment to end up on DVD in the near future!

by **Brian Thibodeau** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:50 pm

HEY, check it out! CBC actually gave the show it's own website. Very nice. It even includes a brief history of the Chinese people in British Columbia and their rather shameful treatment by the Canadian government in days of old (which was only completely redressed just last year, when they finally started reimbursing surviving "head tax" recipients)

http://www.dragonboys.ca

and a trailer!
http://www.dragonboys.ca/eng/trailer.html

and a making of featurette:
http://www.dragonboys.ca/eng/behind.html#_self

No one with a programmable DVR or VCR?

I just realized that Toronto is home to world-class bootlegging industry, predominantly based in the Chinese community, so if one reeeeaaaally wanted to see this in the short term before PURCHASING the legitimate DVD, of course... :oops:

But you didn't hear that from me...

by **dleedlee** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:47 pm

Thanks for the links, Brian.

by **Colin Geddes** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:27 pm

Watched part one last night and it took awhile, but got me hooked. Not a huge fan of the director, Jerry Ciccoritti, who has become the stock CBC director. He has come along way since his first film PSYCHO GIRLS! And fun watching Eric Tsang. I know the actress Jean Yoon who is playing his wife and she told me stories about working with him. She even got to beat and slap him around! Going to tune in tonight to part two.

by **dleedlee** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:49 pm

Colin, thanks for the feedback. Do dish (am I the last person in the world to say this?) on Jean Yoon and Eric Tsang if you can. :lol:

New Canadian TV MiniSeries DRAGON BOYS starring Eric Tsang

New Canadian TV MiniSeries DRAGON BOYS starring Eric Tsang

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