Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao
| Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Michael Vickerman |
| Produced by |
Bruce Gordon Xiaowan Li Tom Parkinson Seth Willenson Forrest Sloan Wright |
| Written by | Kentucky Robinson |
| Story by |
Rex Piano Dennis Law |
| Starring |
Kevin Smith Nathan Phillips Nina Liu Shedrack Anderson III |
| Cinematography | Zeng Nianping |
| Edited by | Cindy Clarkson |
| Distributed by |
Miramax Films Buena Vista Home Video |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 93 min. |
| Language | English |
Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao (also known as simply Warriors of Virtue 2 or Warriors of Virtue 2: The Return to Tao) is a 2002 fantasy martial arts film, the straight-to-DVD sequel to the 1997 film Warriors of Virtue. This is the last film to star actor Kevin Smith, who died in February 2002 after falling from a prop tower.
Plot
Despite only a few years having passed in the real world, many decades have passed in Tao, the parallel universe from the first movie. The roos have changed over the years, now appearing little different from normal humans, and a new villain, Dogon, seizes control of Tao from its young queen. Ryan Jeffers and his friend Chucky, now 16-year-old martial arts competitors in Beijing, find themselves unexpectedly transported to Tao where it is shown that they are to become Warriors of Virtue.
Cast
- Nathan Phillips as Ryan Jeffers
- Kevin Smith as Dogon
- Nina Liu as Amythis
- Shedrack Anderson III as Chucky
- Shuntian Guan as Yun
- Bao Cheng Li as Yee
- Jiaolong Sun as Lai
- Wei Wang as Chi / Yasbin
- Ying Liang as Tsun
- Brandon Lin as Quan
- Wang Zhu as Remo
- Fusen Chen as Matu
- Marina as Keo
- Weiguo Wang as Chieftan
- Jeff Carrara as Coach
Death of Kevin Tod Smith
The shooting was touched by misfortune when actor Kevin Smith died while visiting a film set in China. On February 6, 2002, while waiting for a ride back to his hotel, and after completing work on Warriors of Virtue 2, Smith decided to walk about the Central China Television film studio grounds, and climbed a prop tower in a set of another film, lost his footing and fell approximately three stories, severely injuring his head. He was taken to a hospital, then transferred to Beijing. He lapsed into a coma and was on life support for ten days, until it was discontinued. He died on February 15, 2002, without regaining consciousness.