How DOA: Dead or Alive tried to create a new kind of blockbuster amid chaotic China shoot

This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. In the early 2000s, long before China began opening up to the commercial possibilities of Western cinema, the idea of filming a potential blockbuster in the country seemed nothing short of revolutionary. Previous efforts were either prestige pictures, such as 1987’s The Last Emperor or tiny indies like A Great Wall (1986). But anyone who could mount an international crowd-pleaser in the region stood a chance to score big at the worldwide box office. Step forward Impact Pictures, founded by British producer Jeremy Bolt and director Paul W.S. Anderson. They had already hit the jackpot with the Resident Evil series and were looking for a new property with pan-global appeal. It probably did not escape their notice that Ultraviolet, starring Resident Evil lead Milla Jovovich (Anderson’s future wife), which was filmed across China and released in 2006, was looking to achieve the same appeal, albeit in the sci-fi/horror genre. Based on the popular Japanese video game franchise, DOA: Dead or Alive ticked all of Impact’s boxes. Not only was it instantly recognisable IP – to its intended audience at least – but it also hewed very close to the formula Anderson had established in his 1995 breakthrough Mortal Kombat: lots of beautiful people hurting each other in eye-catching ways. A co-production between Germany, the US and the UK, DOA: Dead or Alive (2006) was shot in Hong Kong, mainland China and Thailand. It was the first Western production to film at China’s Hengdian World Studios, in Zhejiang province, then known for being the primary filming location for Zhang Yimou’s 2002 movie Hero. Hong Kong ace director Corey Yuen Kwai (Fong Sai Yuk) called the shots, while the cast included familiar faces such as Devon Aoki (2 Fast 2 Furious), Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl) and Australian soap star Holly Valance (Prison Break). The plot sees the three heroines – Japanese princess Kasumi (Aoki), American wrestler Tina (Pressly) and Australian thief Christie (Valance) – taking part in a Mortal Kombat-style fighting tournament hosted by the evil Victor Donovan (Eric Roberts) on a remote Chinese island. To the film’s credit, the scenery is impressive, the combat sequences have their moments – particularly a sword fight in a bamboo grove that nods to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – and the actresses give it their all. They did wushu, kung fu and wire training for months beforehand – and it shows. But mostly it just feels second-rate and sexist – arguably fitting for an adaptation of a game known for its exaggerated “breast physics”. To ensure the teenage boys in the audience keep paying attention, the competition requires a “physical check”, which sees the leads stripped down to skimpy clothing. There is also a narratively unnecessary volleyball sequence; a scene where Christie and co-competitor Helena (Sarah Carter) fight in bikinis in the rain; and a hard-to-believe moment where Christie manages to put her bra on and take out a room full of agents in salacious slow-mo. Meanwhile, distracting DOA on-screen graphics and split screens constantly remind us we are watching a video game adaptation. According to the leads, making the film was less fun than watching it. “It’s an absolutely beautiful set,” Pressly told Wizard Universe. “We were the first Western film to shoot at that location. We were the guinea pigs – and being the guinea pig is never, never fun.” More fun, though, than other rodents. “When we arrived, there were rats all over the studio,” said Carter. “They would burn them alive outside the studio. It was pretty rough and we were sick the whole time.” Elsewhere, the leads were shocked by what they saw in China. “The poverty was so extreme, I just feel grateful for every single moment that I spend in North America,” said Carter. “I cried the second I got off the plane, and when I landed in Los Angeles, I wanted to kiss the ground.” They were, at least, impressed by the dedication of the filmmakers. “I gained a huge amount of respect for the crew that worked over in China and the director,” said Pressly. “These people were working two units, 17 hours a day, getting four hours of sleep, and getting back up and doing it again. And they don’t have anything called ‘overtime’ there.” Despite the problems caused by having up to four languages spoken on set, the two contingents eventually came to an understanding of each other. Or, as Valance put it, “They think we are crazy, and we think they are crazy.” When the film was released in 2006, audiences were similarly nonplussed. Ultraviolet had already flopped, and DOA: Dead or Alive, despite being a better film, did even worse, making just US$7.7 million on a US$30 million budget, and barely securing a release in America. In the years to come, films such as Looper (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013) and Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) would successfully bridge the gap between Hollywood and China. But for the time, it seemed, the experiment had failed. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook

How DOA: Dead or Alive tried to create a new kind of blockbuster amid chaotic China shoot

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Filmed at Hengdian World Studios, DOA: Dead or Alive helped pioneer East-West cinema collaboration – even if it bombed at the box office

Filmed at Hengdian World Studios, DOA: Dead or Alive helped pioneer East-West cinema collaboration – even if it bombed at the box office