Verdict
Summary
A sprawling, four-part miniseries (more than six hours in length) based on James Clavell’s chunky novel, Noble House is a real meat and potatoes potboiler that kept me engaged and interested through its entirety. The real treat is the great cast with some little surprises here and there (action fans will be interested to know that Tia Carrera, Steven Vincent Leigh, and James Lew have small roles), and I absolutely loved Paul Chihara’s luscious score. Kino Lorber has just released a two-disc edition of Noble House to Blu-ray, and it comes with four separate audio commentaries with different film historians for each episode. It’s a lot to take in, but this release is a stellar one, and I hope it finds a big audience. It’s presented in widescreen, high definition.
Plot:
The most elite trading company in Hong Kong has a new “Tai-Pan” leader, and everyone wants what he has: Power.
Review:
After inheriting the most coveted position “Tai-Pan” (supreme leader) of the Struan & Company British-East Asia trading companies, handsome and debonair Ian Struan Dunross (Pierce Brosnan) takes over from his father (played by Denholm Elliot), who ruled for decades. The position of Tai-Pan comes with a massive amount of responsibility and a huge amount of high-energy conflict from every corner of the globe, as everyone wants what he now has: Power. Dunross’s company, though, is struggling to maintain its supremacy and the sharks are in the water, namely his biggest competitor Quillan Gornt (John Rhys-Davies) who has spent years leveraging his own power and business connections to stage a takeover of Dunross’s empire. What Dunross desperately needs are allies and investors to keep his company afloat just long enough for him to maneuver the greatest comeback his company has ever seen, and he finds that in a brother / sister team – Casey and Ben (Deborah Raffin and Ben Masters) – who are multi-millionaires in their own right and are looking to join either Dunross or Quillan, whichever of them seems like the winner in the race of empires. Dunross engages in a romance with Casey, while Ben takes a lover (played by Julia Nickson) who used to be Quillan’s woman, and both romances are almost precision relationships to further the manipulation to win for either side. There is so much at stake and lives are lost from backstabbing, kidnapping, and murder, but the ultimate game of the Noble House (another name for the most elite empire of Hong Kong) is afoot.
A sprawling, four-part miniseries (more than six hours in length) based on James Clavell’s chunky novel, Noble House is a real meat and potatoes potboiler that kept me engaged and interested through its entirety. The real treat is the great cast with some little surprises here and there (action fans will be interested to know that Tia Carrera, Steven Vincent Leigh, and James Lew have small roles), and I absolutely loved Paul Chihara’s luscious score. Director Gary Nelson handled this complicated material really well, shooting on location in Hong Kong and other locales, and fans (especially if you’re an ’80s pulp nut like me) of ’80s TV will really sink their teeth into this. High marks all around.
Kino Lorber has just released a two-disc edition of Noble House to Blu-ray, and it comes with four separate audio commentaries with different film historians for each episode. It’s a lot to take in, but this release is a stellar one, and I hope it finds a big audience. It’s presented in widescreen, high definition.
