Movie	Extras
Audio	Video

This is a R2 PAL release.  It’s a 2-disk set and, I believe, the best version out there.  It says limited edition, but I don’t exactly know how ‘limited’ this really is.  In any case, the movie still isn’t fully uncut.  The subtitles are accurate, though, and reflect the real dialogue much more than Dimension/Disney’s version (here).  If you choose the Cantonese or French track you get to see a longer cut the movie (1:37:54), if you choose to watch the English version, it’s the same as the Disney version (1:36:48, remember, this is in PAL).  What’s missing is the opium scene, which is only in the Ritek DVD (which has long been out of print).  Here’s an explanation about times because I feel like wasting your time.  I’ve read that the uncut version (Ritek) is 106 minutes, which would equal out to 102 minutes in PAL.  That’s still about 4 minutes short of what the uncut version should be.  However, Taiwan (where Ritek originates) seems to be a testing ground for movies.  Many, many movies are longer in Taiwanese theatres for some reason.  Maybe the director Gordon Chan, after releasing the movie in Taiwan, decided to cut the opium scene for whatever reason.  That’s what happened with John Woo’s ‘The Killer’, so maybe it happened here also.  The extra minute or so in the original version is just talking.  Some poor shlub actually figured out how many seconds in three scenes were different from both versions.  Like I said, it’s just talking and it’s only in 3 scenes.  Oh yeah, by the way, there are no English subtitles.  The only English on the movie is through the English 5.1 mix.

disk 1:
Movie
I have nothing else to say about this movie other than: go see it.  It’s pretty nifty and the fights are kind of keen.

I’m still surprised that this movie didn’t win the best action choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards.  ‘Drunken Master 2’ (here) was great, and the fights were great, but, man, does this movie ever have some of the best choreography ever.  That Jet Li/Billy Chow fight is awesome.

It’s also a shame Chin Siu-Hou (he plays Ting-On) didn’t do more martial arts movies.  He was ‘Mr. Vampire’ and he had some nice moments, but this guy really rocks.  I’m sure ‘Naked Huntress’ and ‘Eternal Demon’ are nice movies, but I’m also sure they don’t use his talents as much as they could have.

It’s also a shame Jet Li’s Hollywood movies so inferior to his Hong Kong movies.  ‘The One’ vs. ‘My Father is a Hero’?  ‘Cradle 2 the Grave’ (here) vs. ‘Once Upon a Time in China’ (here)?  ‘Romeo Must Die’ vs. ‘Bodyguard from Beijing’?  Take a guess at the better movie.  The only real Hollywood movie to showcase Mr. Li’s talents up until now has been ‘Kiss of the Dragon’ (here).  Not all his Hong Kong movies are good, I know, but he’s done so many there’s bound to be a few bad ones (and those were done by Wong Jing).  On average, his Hong Kong flicks are by far better than his Hollywood flicks.

What are the differences between the Miramax/Dimension version and this one?  Well, the biggest difference is the politics.  There are some serious politics going on here.  Okay, so it’s not ‘Thirteen Days’, but there’s basically no politics in the Miramax/Dimension version.  The cut dialogue scenes are about that.  Also, the relationship between Fumio and Chen Jen is different.  In the Miramax/Dimension version, the relationship is kind of a mentor/student thing, but in reality they’re more equal.  So in consequence, that silly little moment of Jet Li remembering advice in the Miramax/Dimension version during the final fight is taken out.  Those are the biggest differences, and they’re kind of significant.

One last thing, this being PAL-formatted, and have a kind of natural undercranking, if you will, the fights are a little off.  It’s the camera movements that get me.  They just seem a little bit forced.  Anyway, I won’t complain.  I’m just happy to have this movie on DVD.

Bonus
This is a bunch of trailers from the Hong Kong Video line.  You can watch those of Tsui Hark’s ‘Zu’ (0:42, here), John Woo’s ‘The Killer’ (0:50, here), a really weird by Wong Jing ‘Evil Cult’ (or ‘The Kung Fu Cult Master’ or ‘Lord of the Wu Tang’, 1:04), Yuen Woo Ping’s ‘Le Chinois se déchaîne’ (‘Snake in Eagle’s Shadow’, 0:43, here), Andrew Lau’s wonderful ‘Stormriders (1:17’, here), Tsui Hark’s absolutely amazing ‘The Blade’ (1:07, no review yet because I’m trying to find an NTSC version, or a good PAL version, for that matter), Wong Jing’s ‘Nicki Larson’ (better known as ‘City Hunter’, 0:37, here) and the Tsui Hark-produced ‘Black Mask’ (1:08).

disk 2:
Raviver la légende (Reviving the Legend)
This would be an interview with director Gordon Chan.  He first talks about how he got the project (he at first, big surprise, didn’t want it because he’s such a fan of Bruce Lee).  Then he talks about the production.  He actually lowered the ceilings so that Yuen Woo-Ping couldn’t use wires.  That’s actually kind of funny.  Then he goes on and talks about the last fight; it took 3 ½ weeks to shoot.  Billy Chow worked so hard that his feet and legs bled internally.  He was still waiting around to make sure he wasn’t needed.  Mr. Chan forced him to go to the hospital but when he was done there he came back to the set in case he was needed.  This interview is actually very informative and very nice.  Mr. Chan seems very nice and open to discuss anything.  It lasts about 18 ½ minutes and is in English with optional French subs.

De la fureur a la légende (From Fury to Legend)
This is some 35 minutes long and is extremely interesting.  It has 3 dudes, Charles Tesson, François Armanet and Christophe Gans talking in detail about the differences between ‘Fist of Fury’ (here) and ‘Fist of Legend’.  They talk about Bruce Lee and how he influenced martial arts movies and how he presented himself on screen.  Mr. Gans so perceptively says: ‘Le nombril du film est Bruce Lee et ses muscles.’ (The movie [Fist of Fury] revolves around Bruce Lee and his muscles.)  It’s also quite funny to hard Mr. Gans talking about Mr. Lee and saying he’s a crazy person in ‘Fist of Fury’.  I said this in the ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’ commentary (here) and I’ll say it again now, this guy knows his stuff.  Of the three, not surprisingly, I believe he offers the best comments.  However, the other two do have interesting things to say.  The comparisons are very thoughtful and I’m sure not many people have put as much thought into the symbolism of the 2 movies as much as this trio.  You can learn a lot about the 2 movies looking at this feature.

Galerie de photographies (Photo Gallery)
You see a bunch of nice frames from the movie and a poster.  It’s nice and it’s self-advancing but it’s a bit too short.  Only about a minute long.

Filmographies
Jet Li, Yuen Woo-Ping and Gordon Chan get tiny biographies and animated rolling (selected) filmographies.  Mr. Li’s filmography is about 2 minutes long and has a typo (Andrew Bartkowiak instead of Andrej Bartkowiak).  Mr. Yuen’s is about 2 ½ minutes, and is missing neither ‘Mismatched Couples’ nor ‘Iron Monkey 2’, for some reason.  I mean, if you’re gonna skip some movies, skip those two.  Mr. Chan’s filmography is about a minute and a half.  A few things, the French names for the ‘Once Upon a Time in China’ movies  are completely different: the first part is, indeed, ‘Once Upon a Time in China’ (Il était une fois en Chine), but the second part is ‘The White Lotus Sect’ (La secte du lotus blanc) and the third part is ‘The Lion Tournament’ (Le tournois du lion).  Odd…

La bande-annonce cinema (Trailer)
This is 98 seconds of fighting.  Good trailer.

Audio
You have the choice of the English 5.1 mix, a French 2.0 dub or the original Cantonese mono track.  Take a guess which I listened to.  Unfortunately the French subs are forced, but at least I can hear this movie on DVD in Cantonese.  Everything is clear for the most part, except that during the higher parts, especially when the cute Shinobu Nakayama makes the ‘S’ sound, the sound is a bit distorted.  Overall, I didn’t care ‘cause I saw the flick, on DVD, in Cantonese.  The punch and kick effects, as well as the funky score, are reasonably clear.

Video
1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen.  Wow, this is probably the best quality picture we’ll see of this movie for a while, or at least until Miramax lets go of the rights.  There are no specks, no scratches and the picture is crisp and clear.  The colours do shift a little but only slightly and not many times, and they are vivid and bright.  I was very glad to see such a nice picture.

29/4/2004