ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 2 to screen on Sunday, November 28th

 

The Criterion Collection recently released a Once Upon a Time in China box set and to celebrate, Subway Cinema scheduled screenings of the 4K restorations of ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1 & 2!!!!

The organization  screened Part 1 last Sunday and had a huge crowd that rocked the room with cheers and applause from the moment the Golden Harvest logo appeared until the last bad guy got done in.

Now, Subway Cinema is doing it again with OUATIC Part 2 screening at the Nitehawk Prospect Park on Sunday, 11/28 at noon. No familiarity with Part 1 is required.

Tickets for Part 2 are on sale now! 

Founded in 1999 in New York City, Subway Cinema is a not-for-profit volunteer-run organization dedicated to the exhibition and appreciation of Asian popular cinema and preservation of America’s Asian film exhibition heritage.

DRAGON DYNASTY 5 MOVIE COLLECTION coming on DVD and Digital HD on October 6th, 2015

Anchor Bay

and

The Weinstein Company

present

 DRAGON DYNASTY
5 MOVIE COLLECTION

Available on DVD and Digital HD October 6th

Anchor Bay Entertainment and The Weinstein Company have announced the action packed martial arts home entertainment release of the Dragon Dynasty 5 Movie Collection. This classic set features four films from legendary martial arts superstar Jet Li and one film from icon Stephen Chow. In 2006, The Weinstein Company launched the Dragon Dynasty brand in order to showcase classic and contemporary Asian Cinema, particularly films in the action/martial arts genre. An immediate hit with fans and critics, Dragon Dynasty brought home the world’s greatest martial arts and Asian action films, featuring the groundbreaking work of international superstars and legendary filmmakers. Anchor Bay Entertainment is honoring this legacy with the Dragon Dynasty: 5 Movie Collection, arriving on 3-Disc DVD set and Digital HD bundle on October 6th.

The Dragon Dynasty 5 Movie Collection includes:

Born to Defense (1986)
Directed by & Starring Jet Li (Rated R, 91 min.)
Jet (Jet Li) is a WWII soldier returning after the war to find he must continue to fight against abusive Americans now taking advantage of citizens in his hometown.

The Defender (1994)
Directed by Corey Yuen & Starring Jet Li (Rated R, 92 min.)
Jet Li – the former bodyguard to the most powerful leader in China is hired to protect school teacher Christy Chung after having witnessed a brutal murder.

The Legend II (aka The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk II, 1993)
Directed by Corey Yuen & Starring Jet Li (Rated R, 92 min.)
Having failed a secret mission for the Red Flowers Society, an underground organization dedicated to the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty and restoration of the Ming Dynasty, Fong Sai Yuk must try to get his hands on a special document by wooing the governor’s daughter.

Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997)
Directed by Sammo Hung Kam-Bo & Starring Jet Li (Not Rated, 99 min.)
Wong Fei-Hung travels to the U.S. to visit a martial arts branch that one of his disciples has set up and ends up establishing himself as a respected kung fu master, helping gain recognition for Chinese martial arts in the West.

From Beijing with Love (1994)
Directed by & Starring Stephen Chow. (Not Rated, 84 min.)
A comedic send-up of Bond’s 007, Ling Ling-Chat is the unlikely pork butcher / superspy sent to Hong Kong to find a priceless stolen fossil. Assassins, spy gadgets, stunts and chases ensue.

Dragon Dynasty 5 Movie Collection will be available on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment for the suggested retail price of $19.98!

To learn more about this collection, visit anchorbayentertainment.com.

BADGES OF FURY debuting on multiple formats tomorrow

Enlight Pictures and

Well Go USA present

Badges of Fury / Bu er shen tan

Directed by Tsz Ming Wong

Written by Tan Cheung

Action Choreography by Corey Yuen

China, 2013, 98 minutes

Chinese action comedy Badges of Fury will become available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital (VOD, electronic sell-through, and streaming) tomorrow, Tuesday, January 7th, 2014. This review is based on watching the Blu-ray version.

Jet Li (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, The Sorcerer and the White Snake, and so many others) and Zhang Wen (The Guillotines, The Sorcerer and the White Snake) co-star as a pair of ill-matched cops. Huang Fei Hong (Li) is the "grizzled old cop," while Wang Bu Er is his young, rash and impetuous partner. Their immediate supervisor is Angela (Michelle Chen, You Are the Apple of My Eye), a no-nonsense police sergeant given to slapping the misbehaving Bu Er with whatever she has at hand.

Zhang Wen, Michelle Chen and Jet Li

The film centers around the case of the "smile murders," a series of homicides in which the victims -- all male --  each die with a mysterious smile on their face. The key suspect is aspiring starlet Liu Jin Shui (Shishi Liu). It turns out that each of the deceased was a former boyfriend of hers. Complicating the picture is the fact that Jin Shui's sister, the opulently endowed Dai Yi Yi (Painted Skin), has a habit of stealing her boyfriends from her.

Shishi Liu as Liu Jin Shui

In addition to the main cast, the film is chock full of cameos by Chinese actors and actresses, such as Collin Chou (The Four, Flash Point), veteran character actor Lam Suet as a taxi cab driver, and many others. A good bit of the humor consists of "in jokes." For example, Jet Li played Huang Fei Hong (spelled Wong Fei Hung) in the first three Once Upon a Time in China films by director Tsui Hark. There's a nice little running joke about Huang's repeated desire to leave work early; his reason is revealed near the end of the film. Jet Li's height -- or lack thereof -- is also the subject of jest at one point.

Jet Li doing some wire fu in the stairwell fight scene

The action, choreographed by Corey Yuen, consists of a considerable amount of wire work,  sometimes termed "wire fu." Jet Li has a couple of really fine set pieces, including a battle in a stairwell and, of course, the climactic final fight. However, his role is surprisingly small overall; the greater portion of the film is carried by Zhang Wen, often with the assistance of Michelle Chen. Speaking of Michelle, seeing her in this big name production was a personal delight for me. Michelle, who was born in Taiwan, received a Star Asia Rising Star award at the 2012 New York Asian Film Festival, largely because of her performance in You Are the Apple of My Eye. I had the most pleasant experience of interviewing her along with Giddens Ko, the director of that film. Michelle is cute as a button and a talented actress. Hopefully her significant screen time here in Badges of Fury will lead to even more good roles in the years to come.

Bu Er (Zhang Wen) goes aerial

As one would expect from a Well Go USA Blu-ray, the image quality and audio clarity were outstanding. The language options on the Blu-ray disc are the original Mandarin soundtrack with English subtitles, which is set as the default, or English dubbed.

The ample bonus features consist of:
- A four-part "Making of" documentary:
   - The Guys
   - The Girls
   - Wen Zhang Action Scene
   - Funny Stuff
- A Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
- Trailer

The title Badges of Fury is obviously a play on Fists of Fury, the English title mistakenly given to The Big Boss, in which Bruce Lee had his first starring role. I only know a few words of Chinese, but the original title, Bu er shen tan, obviously refers to Zhang Wen's character in some way. From what I've been able to find, the film represents Tsz Ming Wong's debut as a director, and he's pulled it off pretty well.

Dai Yi Yi adds a great deal of visual interest to the film

All in all, Badges of Fury is a nice piece of entertainment with some fine action sequences. Just how much one enjoys it may depend upon how familiar you are with Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwanese actors, actresses and films, how receptive you are to "wire fu," and how the film's rather distinctive brand of humor strikes you. I enjoyed it and think it will be fun to come back to now and then.

ACF 1757: THE SORCERER AND THE WHITE SNAKE now available on iTunes and on demand

The Sorcerer and the White Snake is out today on iTunes and on demand. It'll be in theaters on February 8th, 2013. The film is the latest retelling of a traditional Chinese legend, a variation of the story that Tsui Hark made as Green Snake, which starred Maggie Cheung and Joey Wong. Jon, Josh and I discussed that film on The VCinema Show Episode 44 podcast.

Here are some links for The Sorcerer and the White Snake:
- iTunes info: http://bit.ly/10Utkd7
- Amazon info: http://amzn.to/VEV3Ic
- On Demand info: http://on.fb.me/Rv5Kjh

For general info about the film, check out it's webpage at Magnet Releasing by clicking here.

ACF 1605: Non-review of FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE 3D

On Monday night I went to see the 8:00 PM free pre-release screening of Tsui Hark's Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in IMAX 3D. The film will be opening August 31st, 2012 in New York, Los Angeles and other major cities exclusively in IMAX 3D. I got a great seat in the reserved press section, mid-way up the height of the screen and just slightly off center. Was wowed, like many others, by the IMAX promo clip that preceded the film. Then the film started.

I'd love to give a full review of the film, but unfortunately I walked out  after about 30 minutes! Of a free screening of a Tsui Hark film starring Jet Li in IMAX 3D! Why? Well three reasons.

First, the English subtitles were pure white letters with no dark edging. I consider this to be a totally unforgivable no-no in this day and age. Why? Because any time the lower part of the screen where the subtitles appeared was light, it was difficult if not impossible to read them. (Some other attendees seemed to groan after a few seconds of these subtitles.)

Second, I didn't find the 3D effect all that great. The film is being shown exclusively in IMAX 3D, but I'd bet heavy that it wasn't shot that way. For the most part the 3D of Flying Swords looked like converted 2D. There were distinct planes in the frame (foreground objects in one, mid-distance objects in another, and distant objects in the third); no gradations of depth whatsoever. It was like watching a motion picture on the View-Master I had as a kid during the '50s, only on a really big scale.

According to a press release I received "experts in the field of 3D photography were brought in - including many of the visual effects wizards behind James Cameron’s Avatar" - to retrain Hark’s camera team" in using new 3D technology. Well, I saw and loved Avatar; Flying Swords doesn't approach the look of Cameron's film.

Third, the combination of 3D on a huge IMAX screen and Tsui's trademark quick cuts in the frenetic action scenes hurt my eyes and gave me a bit of a headache. I'm not a big fan of Tsui's rapid fire cutting in action sequences, one of the reasons I wasn't awed as others are by his 1995 film The Blade.

Don't get me wrong. I have the greatest admiration for Tsui, whom I interviewed at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2011, and I truly enjoy many of the films he's directed. As for the physical impact of Flying Swords on me, I fortunately was pretty much back to normal by the time I got home, about an hour after walking out. And I have to point out that I had no problem watching Avatar in regular 3D.

There may have been one other walkout before me, but I can't be sure. And of course I have no idea if there were any after I left. Probably few, if any. But that was my experience, just FYI.

As for the story, it's a fantasy swordplay film that builds on the original Dragon Inn (1967), directed by King Hu, and Raymond Lee's 1992 version, on which Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-Tung were uncredited co-directors. The film begins with an extended traveling aerial shot over a vast Chinese shipyard. It's nicely done, but an immediate giveaway that the viewer is entering a world in which CGI will most definitely be present, not to mention obvious. (The early action sequences similarly indicated that extensive wire-work would be used in this gravity-defying wuxia film.)

There are two evil factions of imperial eunuchs, some righteous fighters for justice who are led by Jet Li's character, and a fleeing maid who is pregnant with the Emperor's child. The maid is caught, but is soon rescued by a swordsman (actually a swordswoman) who is impersonating Jet Li's character. At the point when I walked out, the super-evil eunuch who heads the West Chamber has decided to intercept the maid at Dragon Gate.

Grady Hendrix, one of the founding members of Subway Cinema and the annual New York Asian Film Festival, was sitting two rows in front of me. On Facebook he wrote: "Just saw Tsui Hark's 3-D IMAX FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE. Four badass fighting females, three colliding plotlines, two killer sandstorms, and one fight inside a tornado later it feels like it's Hong Kong in 1993 again!" For his subsequent full review, click here.

For a different take than Grady's, see Ric Meyers' review of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate in his April 16, 2012 post. Note that it appears to be a review of the DVD, not the IMAX 3D, film.

Perhaps I'll enjoy Flying Swords of Dragon Gate if I ever get to see it on a regular DVD, but the IMAX 3D combo obviously didn't work for me. Major disappointment for me personally, but most likely I'm the exception, or one of the relatively few.

ACF 226: "The Enforcer" DVD streets tomorrow, February 10th, 2009"

As I first wrote in ACF 210, The Enforcer is coming out in a single disc Dragon Dynasty "Special Collector's Edition" tomorrow, Tuesday, February 10th, 2009.

Directed by Corey Yuen, the film stars Jet Li as Kung Wei, an undercover cop in Beijing, who somehow has managed to keep his job a secret from his asthmatic wife and adorable young son Johnny (Xie Miao), who like is father is adept at martial arts.

Arrested as part of a new assignment, Kung Wei busts out of jail with G-Dawg, and together they travel to Hong Kong, where G-Dawg arranges for Kung to join the gang that he belongs to. Pretty soon they're ripping off some Latvian (!) arms dealers in a high-octane set-piece at a glass walled restaurant.

At this point Inspector Fong (Anita Mui, at right in the photo above) becomes involved. She travels to Beijing to get info about Kung, whom she knows only as a criminal involved in the shoot-out. Under false pretense, she meets and befriends his family, and winds up bringing Johnny back to Hong Kong.

The two Kungs, father and son, are united in a very satisfying final confrontation with the bad guys. Some truly innovative martial art stunts are employed, and a couple of comic elements are thrown into the mix.

I was astonished to find that the DVD has only a dubbed English soundtrack. The lack of a Cantonese soundtrack is addressed in this statement released by Genius Products (which, along with The Weinstein Company puts out Dragon Dynasty) after the initial P.R. release and the sending out of screeners:

"Dragon Dynasty strives to provide fans with only the highest quality DVD releases, including restored video and audio and extensive never-before-seen bonus features created exclusively for the label.

Though no usable version of the original Cantonese-language track was available in time for this release, every effort was made to bring together the best elements in the world in creating the greatest version of The Enforcer ever experienced on DVD in the U.S."

I'm sorry but I find this hard to swallow. The give-away is the phrase "in time for this release," which indicates there is/are original Cantonese-language tracks available.

Last fall, in response to a generally positive comment about Dragon Dynasty releases that I made at Grady Hendrix's Kaiju Shakedown (since dropped by Variety), I took considerable grief from some others for my views. I still have a generally positive view of the Dragon Dynasty releases, especially the bonus features they provide. But they've really dropped the ball with this one.

The Enforcer has some problems as it is. Jet Li has never been a great actor, and the drama inherent in the plot are beyond his skills. But everyone's performance suffers more because of the invariable disconnect between the actors in the film and the voice actors doing the English-dubbed soundtrack. This even though it's at times clear that some decent effort has been made to match the movement of the actor's mount to the English being spoken.

I like having an English-dubbed soundtrack as an option, either for a change or when I'm too tired to read subtitles. But only as an option to the original soundtrack.

I can't in good conscience recommend this DVD as anything more than a rental. I can only judge the film through the filter of the dubbed dialogue. It's not top-drawer Jet Li, but it does have some great action sequences. Also the film benefits from the presence of the late Anita Mui, a multi-talented star who died in December, 2003 from cervical cancer. She was only 40 years old. So the movie gets 2.5 out of 4 stars, fairly good.

Despite the decent extras (a commentary by Bey Logan and three interviews), I can only give the DVD package a rating of 1 out of 4 stars, poor. The lack of a Cantonese soundtrack prohibits a higher rating.

So rent it, find a version with the Cantonese soundtrack on the Internet, or wait until Dragon Dynasty decides to do right by the film and its customers.

ACF 210: The Enforcer due out on DVD

I feel that announcements of upcoming DVD releases is one type of news that fans of Asian films would be interested in. So here's some information about another Dragon Dynasty release. I hope to receive my review copy with enough lead time that I'll be able to put up a review before the February 10th, 2009 release date.

An honest cop goes undercover to infiltrate a hardcore Hong Kong crime syndicate in the Special Collector’s Edition of The Enforcer, arriving on DVD February 10th from Genius Products and The Weinstein Company’s heralded Dragon Dynasty label.

An exciting combination of action-packed crime thriller and family drama, The Enforcer stars action legend Jet Li (Forbidden Kingdom, The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) as an undercover Chinese agent sent to Hong Kong to bring down one of the region’s most nefarious criminals. When another officer is taken hostage, his cover begins to unravel, exposing him and those closest to him to grave danger.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Corey Yuen Kwai (The Transporter, DOA: Dead or Alive) and also starring the late Anita Mui (Heroic Trio, The Executioners, Rumble in the Bronx), The Enforcer is considered one of Li’s best films and picked up a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best Action Choreography. Loaded with all-new bonus features, The Enforcer will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.97.

Synopsis:
A Chinese police officer goes undercover in an attempt to bring down a dangerous and highly regarded Hong Kong crime ring. When his cover is blown and his family is put in harm’s way, the stakes become much higher.

Special Features:
Crowd-pleaser: an exclusive interview with legendary producer, Wong Jing
Like Father, Like Son: an exclusive interview with star and former child prodigy, Tse Miu
Born to be Bad: an exclusive interview with super-kicking nemesis, Ken Lo
Feature-length audio commentary with Hong Kong Cinema expert Bey Logan

Basics
Price: $19.97
Street Date: February 10, 2009
Catalog Number: 81787
Rating: R
Run Time: 104 minutes
Languages: English Dolby 5.1
Subtitles: English and Spanish
Closed Captioned

ACF 143: Fist of Legend is to come out in a 2-disc DVD package September 9th, 2008!

Wanted to pass on this p.r. info I received about the upcoming release of Fist of Legend, starring Jet Li, in a Two-Disc Ultimate Edition DVD package. It's been awhile since I've seen the film, but I remember it well enough to say that it's great, a true classic.

I'm expecting a review copy and will put up my impression of the actual release as soon as I can. But Dragon Dynasty has been putting out such impeccable product that I'm very confident that this is going to be dynamite also.

From Genius Products and The Weinstein Company, the highly anticipated kung fu tale FIST OF LEGEND debuts as a two-disc Ultimate Edition DVD September 9th under the Dragon Dynasty label.

FIST OF LEGEND is another non-stop action title starring Jet Li (Forbidden Kingdom, The Mummy 3) about a Chinese students’ mission to avenge the murder of his mentor and confidant.

FIST OF LEGEND has been regarded as Li’s best work ever. The film is loosely based on the Bruce Lee martial arts classic The Chinese Connection (aka Fists of Fury) and its legendary final showdown is ranked as the #5 Best Fight Scene Ever by film website Rotten Tomatoes.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Gordon Chan (The Medallion) with action direction from Yuen Woo-Ping (The Matrix and Kill Bill franchises), the FIST OF LEGEND two-disc set includes extensive behind-the-scenes bonus features

Synopsis:

Chen Zhen (Li) returns home to learn that his childhood school has been overtaken by Japanese fighters and that they have killed his beloved master. Zhen goes on a quest to bring the killers to justice in an effort to restore honor to his mentor and school.

Special Features:

· Five Deleted Scenes

· Feature-length audio-commentary with Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan

· The Man Behind The Legend: an exclusive interview with director Gordon Chan

· Brother In Arms: an exclusive interview with Kung Fu impressario, Chin Siu-ho

· The Way Of The Warrior: an exclusive interview with Japanese Action Legend

Kurata Yasuaki

· The School For Hard Knocks: A screen fighting seminar at the Celebrated

Kurata Action School

· A Hollywood look at Fist Of Legend with director Brett Ratner and Elvis Mitchell

· Trailer Gallery

Basics:

Price: $24.95

Street Date: September 9, 2008

Catalog Number: 81522

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 103 minutes

Languages: English Dolby 5.1, Cantonese Stereo, Mandarin Stereo

Subtitles: English and Spanish

Closed Captioned