5 comments about The Victim.

1. The "Victim,,this flick has to be one of the best, and well choreographed movie with Leung Kar Yan,,,he performed stellarly. The movie in it's entirety is well worth what ever the cost. I must admit,,,I went out to purchased this flick based on the hype right here on amazon,,,and I am happy with that decission. The fight scenes are AMAZING,,the old school kung fu,,emmensely wicked. Trust me,,this is must have, rest assured you will not walk away disspointed with your decission to get this flick!!



2. A very good Sammo's film, clearly one of the best he directed and choregraphed in the late 70's (with "Warriors two"). Great martial performance by the effortless charismatic Leung Kar-yan (who's supposed not to be a true martial artist !). Many of the themes were developped in Sammo's later films such as "Pedicab driver" (the story of Leung Kar-yan's wife has similarities with the charater of Fennie Yuen).
   "The victim" of the title is not the one we expected.



3. I currently own over 220 Shaw Brother films made from 1975 to 1981, while Sammo Hung is not your classic action hero considering his non-athletic appearance. I never stop being amazed at what he is able to do athletically. I'm not a big fan of so called class clown kung fu flicks, that's why I've never really migrated over to films with Jacky Chan. But for some reason, Sammo Hung's comedy never out-weighs his true martial art skills. This film is a classic and a must have for any entry level or dedicated collector of martial art films.



4. Sammo Hung directs, choreographs, and stars as Chan Wing, a student looking for the ultimate teacher: One who can beat him in a fair fight. He wallops a few potentials, then meets his desired prospect in Chun Yau (Leung Kar Yan) who, as per usual, wants nothing to do with him. After some goofy attempts at trying to dodge the persistent lad, the master learns that the people he and his wife have been hiding from, have discovered his whereabouts. Chan Wing offers to help, but his request is again denied. He follows the master anyway, and the wife soon tells him about all the family drama that has kept them so mobile. Eventually the master accepts him (after tragedy strikes) and the final cards are dealt... and someone's bluffing.
   
   Though worthy of some criticism, this is a great flick. Plenty of fights, and ALL of them good. No waiting for the last 20 minutes to see some decent action, it's right from the get-go. I usually complain about the sense of humor in Sammo's older films, and there's some rather silly things that I could have done without (the "vampire" scene), but most of the comedy is brief and some of it is actually funny. I can easily overlook a little lame humor when it's punctuated with fight scenes like these.
   
   This version from Martial Arts Theater is full-screened and English-dubbed only. It has a selection for Cantonese, but it doesn't work. The picture quality is quite good, but one has to wonder why 20th Century Fox didn't remaster (and redistribute) this, like so many other Sammo titles from this period. Of the films I've seen that Sammo has directed, this is a close 2nd to "The Prodigal Son". This would be a great starting point for those who love kung fu, but are skeptical of comedies, and Sammo Hung comedies in particular. The film's only special feature is commentary by Ric Meyers and Bobby Samuels. I didn't listen to it, but I hope they mention what an amazing performance Leung Kar Yan gives and that it's worth the price of admission... cuz it is. RECOMMENDED.
   
   1980



5. This film by Sammo Hung is truely a 5 star classic Leung Ka Yan has two great fight scenes in this film one with Wilson Tung and the final battle with Chang Yi is unbelieveable. Not to mention a good story about love and hate,all the performances here are great.

5 comments about Snake Deadly Act.

1. This movie begins with a fight. No words, no music. Just a great opening fight. That sets the tone for this Old School classic. Snake style & Eagle claw are spotlighted here. Good movie with a unexpected ending. A Must get if you like animal style movies. Subs are sometimes hard to read but who needs subs when its mostly fighting.



2. SNAKE DEADLY ACT (1980) is an exciting kung fu film with several well-staged fights, some interesting characters, and a cast of kung fu favorites. Of chief interest is the casting of Fung Hak On, normally a villain, in the central role of a snake fist expert who waits a generation to get revenge on the monkey style expert, Kuo (Wilson Tong), who defeated him in the spectacular fight scene that opens the movie. Twenty years after that fight, he returns to the town where Kuo rules the roost and very gradually befriends Kuo's son (Ng Kwan Lung), a skilled fighter in his own right who, despite his privileges, uses his power to help the town's underdogs. Fung endeavors to teach the son snake fist (along with some "drunken footwork") and puts young Kuo through a series of grueling training exercises that are much more intense than normal for the genre. Fung keeps his ultimate agenda well-hidden until the very end.

   With his beady eyes, bulging cheekbones and square jaw, Fung Hak On (sometimes billed as Feng Ko-An) boasted a powerful tough-guy presence reminiscent of such American action stars as Charles Bronson and Jack Palance. Fung normally played rather flamboyant kung fu bad guys (WARRIORS TWO, ENTER THE FAT DRAGON, MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER), but here he plays a more layered personality, someone who gains our sympathies early on and draws us into the story. Also in the cast are Angela Mao, as a shady brothel owner; Cheng Kang Yeh, as a hapless con man; Bolo Yeung, as a traveling strong man; and all-purpose villain Phillip Ko as Kuo's mysterious housekeeper.

   The tape comes in a low-cost edition that, surprisingly, offers a letter-boxed transfer of a widescreen print in its original language, Cantonese, with English subtitles. It's rare to see an old-school kung fu movie in its proper widescreen dimensions and without the usual awkward English dubbing.




3. In my opinion this flick is about average. Grossly overated!! Still worth watching the "LOBSTER STYLE",,weired, but very entertaining for real!!



4. From 1980.
   
   The snake style used in this movie makes the snake from 5 Deadly Venoms look like a joke. The first scene is an incredible fight between Fung Hak-on (Last Hurrah for Chivalry) and Wilson Tong (Daggers 8). They are enemies and the match ends with neither being killed.
   
   Ng Kwan Lung stars as a young man who loves kung fu. He is willing to fight anyone who causes trouble. His father is played by Wilson Tong and it is suspected that his father and others are thieves. Fung Hak-on looks to teach the kid kung fu so they can fight the thieves together.
   
   The story is nothing too special, but not bad. I was very surprised by the end of this movie. The kung fu is superb, no doubt about that, but the ending is what bumps this movie up to a 4 star rating. And what other movie will you find a lobster kung fu style? Almost as cool as Yasuaki Kurata's crab style that he uses in Shaolin Challenges Ninja.
   
   All of the actors are amazing kung fu performers. The first fight is probably the best, but there are plenty of other good fights. Chan Wai Man (Blooded Treasury Fight) looks great, Angela Mao Ying (Enter the Dragon) looks just as good as she always does, and Phillip Ko (The Boxer's Omen) never disappoints. And look for a cameo from Bolo.
   
   3.5/5
   
   Picture quality on the Groundzero Eastern Heroes DVD is above average for a kung fu movie, and the picture is letterboxed. Let's all say it together- YAYYYY, it's letterboxed! English dub sounds good.



5. Wilson Tong directs and stars along with Fung Hark On in this slight variation on the standard martial arts classic. The film opens with a pretty sweet fight between the two leads as they argue about who defiled whose spouse and other assorted topics. After the opening credits we forward several years to find Tong's son, Kuo (Kun Lung Ng, in his only starring role) pretending to be Dudley Do-Right and getting into trouble, when suddenly Fung Hark On shows up to save him and eventually instruct him in the deadly art of the Snake Fist.
   
   Pretty sweet flick. Plenty of fights with most of them pretty good, and a few of them very good. It also has an interesting ending that I didn't quite see coming. This even has a cameo from the great Bolo Yeung as a street performer, similar to his stint in the classic "King Boxer". My only complaint (other than my obligatory gripes about editing) would be that the training scenes are too brief and rather monotonous. I am a fan of animal styles and would like to see a more detailed portrayal.
   
   Groundzero delivers a pretty good version of this DVD; that is if you ignore the erroneous information on the back cover. The picture quality gets speckled in a few spots but mostly it's very good and in widescreen. Granted it's hard to gauge just how widescreen when the opening credits list someone as the "oducer". Though it is English dubbed, it has subtitles anyway, in case case you wanted to listen to baseball. I had a difficult time deciding: 3.5 to 4. Either way it's recommended.
   
   1980. aka: "Snake Fist, Drunken Step"

4 comments about The Dragon From Shaolin.

1. It's a great pity that I have to write this about a Yuen Biao film. I really wanted to like a film which features Yuen Biao in a pseudo-Indiana Jones role, but it was impossible. Biao has starred in some classics like Kid From Tibet, Kickboxer, Project A and Millionaires' Express, but this easily ranks as his worst. The popularity of the Shaolin kids films was clearly the inspiration here, therefore you know that weak and crude comedy is the order of the day. In fact, the comedy makes Wong Jing look like Noel Coward in terms of subtlety. I at least expected good action, but Biao is totally wasted there as well. If you haven't got the message yet, DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!



2. If you love Kung-Fu movies you will love this one.
   Not to mention the ever so cute Vivan Hsu is in it.
   Grab this today esp for the super low price.



3. First off, I would like to say that it would'nt be 100% correct to list Dragon from Shaolin as a Kung Fu flick. It's more like a family comedy.

   The story takes place in modern times, and centers around a boy monk in training. He's sent on a journey to find Budda, mainly because the Abbot of his tmeple finds him to be immature. While in the city, he is seperated from his two older monk chaperones, when he takes off to catch a pick pocket. Later he teams up with a riff raff scammer kid about his age. Together they try to raise money at the Great Wall by displaying Shaolin Kung Fu techniques.

   THe sub plot involves YUen Biao, who is trying to recover a stone head from a statue of Buddah. His scheming brother (who has a kung fu fighting girl friend), are also competing to recover the stone head. Biao and the boys meet at the Great Wall, after Biao saves Vivian Hsu from a group of low lifes. The plot progresses and several humurous situations pop up involving the boys, Yuen, and Vivian Hsu trying to recover the head from the villians. The finale involves a train fight, and chases through the cabins.

   The kung fu in this film is not spectacular. Also, Yuen Biao's ability as a kung fu fighter and acrobat are not capitialized on. The Kung Fu actress known as "Auntie", from the Shaw Brothers days, is also in the film sporting a bright yellow doo! Her kung fu skill is not shown well either.

   In the end I gave Dragon from Shaolin 3 stars for adding some light hearted family kung fu to the genre. This movie could be approprate for kids, and for those who are interested in different types of Hong Kong Cinema. I would'nt suggest that hard core Kung Fu fans try this. You'll probally feel cheated. I only wish "Auntie" and Yuen could have had a better sparring scene. They're both capable of doing one.




4. I watched the uncut official DVD of this, so it has an extra minute of the most gross-out sicko bathroom humor ever devised by sick minds. Very strong R-rate material. This is actually rated a light R equivalent, because certain body parts and partial nudity are considered less taboo in Hong Kong than in more puritanical societies. As for the story, it is very entertaining, and a good action comedy. Would have been a great family comedy, but with the R rating material mixed with a lot of kid humor, it has a limited range of interest to most adults. There is a light romantic banter between Yuen Biao and Vivian Hsuen which redeems the movie some, and overall it is pretty good anyway.

3 comments about Burger Cop: AKA: Don't Give a Damn.

1. My major objection to this DVD is that it was made from the VCD of the same title. VCD is a popular format in Asia, and most Hong Kong films on VCD (and DVD) have two available dialogue tracks; Cantonese and Mandarin. VCD players allow you to choose which you want. But when you burn a DVD from a VCD source, which is what hapened here, you get BOTH languages running constantly. It inspires a kind of linguistic epilepsy. I'm sure I could have manipulated my video system to get only one, which is what I do with VCDs, but THIS IS A DVD. Granted a DVD whose licensing rights must be as dubious as their packaging; I've seen better looking bootlegs. The film itself is widescreen, but because its a copy of a VCD made from a pretty washed out print, the picture quality is low. The only memorable thing about the film is some jaw-droppingly racist plot machinations: Yuen Biao and Takeshi Kaneshiro put on blackface to fool an African American villain into thinking one of them is his brother. Yuen Biao wins this dubious honor by defeating Kaneshiro in a 'quiz' about Black people; the questions and answers are practically unrepeatable. The worst part of it is that the villain actually is fooled. Luckily for me, I bought this only for the above mentioned material, which I needed for a research study. Otherwise _I_ was thoroughly fooled by this DVD.



2. SAMO OWNS ALL!!! BUY THIS AND LOVE IT!!!1YOU CANT LIKE MARTIAL ARTS AND NOT LIKE THIS MOVIE!!



3. On the minus side, it appears to have been filmed on a cell phone, the sound was processed in an underwater echo chamber and the subtitles were created by someone who is clearly not a native English speaker. And there's a scene in blackface which keeps referring to African-Americans as negroes. On the plus side, Kaneshiro Takeshi. And it's a sort of charming window into lowbrow Hong Kong humor. Did I mention Kaneshiro Takeshi?

1 comments about Carry On Pickpocket.

1. Like a lot of Sammo's movies, he is the director and lead actor in this. What sets this apart is that in 1982 Sammo decided to make a modern day kung fu comedy. You have to wonder why he would go away from the brilliant formula he had come up with in old schoool kung fu movies like The Prodigal Son and Warriors Two, but Sammo wanted to make something different, and his different approach led to the Lucky Stars and Police Story movies. The story is about 2 friends whp pickpocket for a living. Sammo is quite the ladies man and the wonderful Deannie Yip plays his girlfriend. Yip is a cop and tells Sammo that she needs his pickpocketing skills to help bring down a crime boss. Sammo agrees, and does so giving his greatest acting performance of his career. At least my favorite performance from him. Sammo does get into a few fights, but his great acting is on display the whole movie. While I laughed out loud more than a few times, Sammo is still very believable when he is acting tough or funny. And talking about tough, the fighting in this movie is BRUTAL. I am a huge kung fu fan, but I can't decide if I liked the acting or fighting better. Sammo comes off as such a real person, and his fighting does too. There is a fight with Dick Wei at the end that is 2 minutes of pure bliss. Don't expect eagle or tiger claw, just fast, hard action choreographed to perfection.
   
   Like I said, Sammo is the star and also directs this movie. This is not unusual in Hong Kong cinema whatsoever. His sidekick in the movie is played by Frankie Chan (the villain from The Prodigal Son). Frankie is also the producer and is best known for doing the music for over 60 films such as Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog and Dance of the Drunken Mantis. He also directed about 20 films.
   
   If you are a fan of Sammo, you MUST see this.
   
   4.5/5
   
   Megastar DVD has good sound and picture quality. A lot of the subtitles you will have to re-translate yourself.

No comments about Saga of the Phoenix.

5 comments about Enter the Fat Dragon.

1. a classic film that makes fun of all the Brucexploitation in Chinese Cinema in the 70's and early 80's. The movie is very funny and is a well done spoof. The plot is very similar to Bruces Return of the Dragon - a young country boy traveling to the city to help out a restaurant and running into trouble with local gangster types. Sammos hero in the movie is Bruce Lee and he does a great job copying all of the moves(occasionally throwing in some of his own)and can pretty much whip everybody until he runs into three bodyguards - one white dude(an expert in boxing), one chinese dude(an expert in kung fu), and one black/chinese dude(an expert in karate) this is when the movie
   steps up the martial arts - the final fight scenes are very well
   done as well. A great addition to any kung fu movie collection and a must for any Sammo Hung fan.



2. Terribly charming, that is. Sammo Hung portrays a starstruck Bruce Lee fan, imitating him down to the haircut and monkey-like shrieks. Otherwise a simple-minded man, he displays throughout the movie Bruce Lee-like fighting prowess which, coming from a man his size, is hilarious to behold. The storyline is crap, there's no two ways about it, but the content is what makes it great. The various stupid moments (Sammo trying to buy sunglasses that look like a Bruce Lee picture, the millionaire's "revenge" daydreams, any time Sammo goes into Bruce Lee mode, the terrible english, the Black-faced Asian) are incredibly corny and fun to watch.
   
   Not only that, but the action scenes are actually decent. Normally I hate watching Bruce Lee's fight scenes, finding them FAR too contrived and silly, but Sammo manages to pull it off quite well. Maybe it's his funny and intense charisma, I don't know. Not only that, but Sammo even chooses to integrate some traditional Kung Fu fight scenes in the movie, bringing its worth in my eyes way up.
   
   The movie harkens back to the days when heros were idealized and worshipped, something severely lacking in today's society, with the dirt sheets and Hollywood scandals appearing everywhere. Chuck Norris did a similar theme with Sidekicks, and ideal heros, unfortunately, has become a dying breed of people. Something that endears the movie to me is that there's little swearing and the violence is surprisingly non-violent. Sure there are kung fu punches and kicks and the like, but the reactions are always almost Loony Toon-ish in their reaction, the victims having huge and goofy-looking sores where they were hit. And other than a single sex joke at the beginning of the movie, it's surprisingly clean, resorting to slapstick and farce for it's humor.
   
   So why am I giving it only three stars? Firstly, the movie quality is terrible in every aspect. It's easily seen that there was no budget for the movie (blackfaced Asian? What the hell?), although that definitely added to the campy silliness. Secondly, the video quality is horrible. The DVD claims to have it remastered, but it's incredibly grainy and looks antiquated, with even some marker markings showing up in some stills. The subtitles, as well, are pale and fuzzy white, making them really hard to see a lot of the time. Thank god the movie's plot is unimportant.



3. I never thought it would work but Sammo Hung does a fantastic Bruce Lee imitation in this film. But not of the lame parody kind. He really does move fast and performs many of the techniques and mannerisms of the man himself. Not only that, he does a lot of other fighting styles as well. The goofy comedy is great too. This is one of the few unique kind of movies that is fun to watch and not take too seriously.



4. Indeed a guilty pleasure! One of Sammo's greatest(and unjustly forgotten) films, Enter The Fat Dragon stars Hung as a pig farmer obsessed with his "hero" Bruce Lee and who spends most of his time getting into trouble and hamming it up(get it? Pig farmer... ham? Sorry, that's the last one I promise) while doing it. Rarely has Sammo been able to balance action with comedy so flawlessly. Don't get me wrong, I'm an enormous Sammo(get it? Enormous... Sammo? He's fat people, and THAT is the last one... I hope) fan but... we all know that he nearly always brings great action, but his comedy? It doesn't always work so well, I mean there have been moments in his other movies but nothing like this, which plays out ridiculous scenario one right after the other that actually provide laughs... and when all else fails, he resorts to mimicking Bruce Lee in uncanny and amusing fashion(sure to induce smiles EVERYtime). Now obviously my 5 star rating will be more than a little skewed for most. I mean, can the movie really stack up to other so-called cinematic "classics" such as ET, The Godfather, or Citizen Kane? The answer is "hell yes!" Well, for fans of Kung Fu and Sammo Hung at least... Sammo using Jeet Kune Do on a herd of unruly swine, Hoi San Lee(36th Chamber Of Shaolin, Last Hurrah For Chivalry, Twin Warriors) painted black and sporting an afro and puffy purple shirt as an African American fighter(not the most PC thing ever... but bizarre and must-see to be sure), and my personal favorite scene featuring Sammo breaking up the filming of a Bruceploitation film by taking on the main imitator and his entire entourage(in a matchup featuring plenty of Lee's trademark howls and posturing). This film comes highly recommended for fans of classic martial arts mayhem or even those with any passing interest in this films star OR the man he obviously greatly admired. As for the DVD from Crash Masters? It's complete garbage unfortunately, with an awful print of the film and subtitles that are so small and light in color that they become near illegible oftentimes(and even when you can see them, they rarely read right... like the word "is" whenever "have" should be used), also no dubbed track is available here either. An extremely poor, bare-bones release for a film worthy of far more... hopefully someday it will get the release, and viewing public, that it rightly deserves.



5. Sammo Hung is amazing in this movie. The way he combines Bruce Lee's acting and fighting style with his own style is such a joy to watch. There's not much of a story here. Peter Yang plays a really weird guy who kidnaps a girl and Sammo has to save her. But Peter Yang has 3 tough fighters who Sammo needs to defeat in order to save th girl. Doesn't sound like much of a movie does it? Well, it's not. But the fighting is great and I don't ask for much more than that. Sammo uses a modern type fighting style the whole movie, and I love how he saves the only classic kung fu type fight for the finale. The comedy is decent at times, but the fights are what make this movie worth watching. It's a must see for Sammo fans. And not only is there Bruce Lee imitating going on, but also Jim Kelly. But couldn't they have found a black actor to play the Jim Kelly clone? What was Sammo thinking?
   
   3.5/5
   
   The picture quality on the Crash DVD is decent. Widescreen with subtitles that are readable about 80% of the time.

No comments about Master With Cracked Fingers/Fantasy Mission Force.

No comments about My Lucky Stars.

5 comments about Project A.

1. If you are like me, you may find it difficult to explore some earlier creations of martial arts films, simply because the newest ones look poor enough sometimes with their low budgets. I was very hesitant to watch Project A for the longest time, thinking its going to be such poor quality, with cheesy old kung fu fights accompanied by bad sound effects, and lousy dubbing. I was surpirsed to find out that Project A creates action scenes that you just can't find with today's films, and that includes many of today's Jackie Chan films.
   
   The quality wasn't as bad as I expected, even though the poor dubbing might make it seem that way at first. It definetly has a classic look to the film with picture quality and sound effects, but its really not bad and is forgotten quickly, for action scenes begin almost immediately and consume the film, as well as a plot that just keeps going. Overall, pacing is great and the viewer should never feel bored. Whether its introduction to new characters, something comedic, a new unfolding in plot, or a terrific action scene, there is always something happening.
   
   Perhaps the best thing about Project A are some of the main characters. In addition to Jackie Chan, there are other martial art greats such as Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Dick Wai. All get to show off their skills impressively in the film. A final fight lasting a good 4 minutes is just awesome in this film, pitting Chan, Hung, and Biao against the pirate leader - played by Dick Wai.
   
   As previoulsy mentioned, there is more than enough action to please in this film. Every scene is intense and offers something exciting and new. Stunts galore and bodies fly, as editing is used to a minimum to really show off the real work that is being created by these guys. The best stunt in the film was actually repeated during the movie, showing Chan falling from a multi-story clock tower through some cloth overhangs and down to the ground. Another great scene, is the bicycle chase, which is much more clever than your typical car chase that is seen in hollywood all the time.
   
   This will no doubt please anyone who loves good classic martial arts action and stunts. Expect to see some stuff that you can't find in today's movies, and you'll be saying "they just don't make em like they used to"



2. Dear Ragini !
   
   Thank's for your email UNFORTUNATELY the DVD that I received yesterday is
   not the same that I bought from you.
   This is A JET LI movie with a BAD QUALITY ....I'm sure this product is
   PIRACY.
   What can we do now? I'm very dissaponited with AMAZON.....
   
   Best,
   
   Roberto



3. Where to begin? This is a terrific movie, and one of Jackie Chan's very best. Full of imaginative fights and stunts, Jackie's athleticism will amaze even those already familiar with him. It also features fantastic moments from Yuen Biao, Sammo Hung, and a couple of Shaw Brother's alumni in Dick Wei and Lee Hoi San.
   
   Jackie is Dragon Ma, a naval officer in early 20th century Hong Kong. His navy is taking crap from the police for losing ships and not capturing the pirate, Lo Sam Pau (Wei) and his henchmen. After they lose two more ships, the navy is forced to merge with Yuen Biao and the police department to fight local corruption, and THEN go after the pirates.
   
   Those in the know say that the uncut, remastered version from Fortune Star is the way to go. That being said, this version from Dimension does have a very good, widescreen picture with some bad English dubbing and no subtitle options. For Dimension, the dubbing is actually pretty good. If you want bad, check out any of the many Jet Li films that they've released. This one does have Danny Trejo as the voice of Lo Sam Pau. So if you're into pirates but have a hard time getting through those long, narcolepsy-inducing Johnny Depp films, give "Project A" a shot. This one has good fights AND pays homage to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. 4.5/5 and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
   
   1983



4. I asked for and paid for Project A. What I recieved was a dvd cover of project A with a dvd labled Project A. In fact the dvd contained a copy of Project A 2 - the sequel. This is not acceptable. Another point I would raise was that I checked the box to wait until all the dvd's in my order where all ready to be shipped together, they were shipped in two packages over two different periods. Please explain.



5. INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT A:
   
   Jackie Chan is an underestimated genious outside his own reputation, the historical importance of his legacy trascends his best known image as a comedian and daredevil acrobat: There's a talented Director and visionary, a man who changed the Action film industry in Honk Kong forever with his personal touch and style in the early 80's, by creating the perfect fusion of goofy physical comedy and incredible restless action with some of the most impressive and dangerous stunts ever displayed on film. This 1982 period film about sailors, police and pirates, was the consolidation of Chan as a star in Asia after his major breakthrought with Yuen Woo Ping's kung fu classic "Drunken Master", and a movie that started an influence to follow from there on in the industry.
   
   This is a true milestone, considered by critics not only as the first important Honk Kong action comedy , but one of the best productions of the genre next to Chan's second best directed film, the timeless classic "Police Story". Besides being one of his most entertaining and funny movies, the film contains some of Jackie's best stunts ever. We've all seen the reckless and almost imprudent asian stuntmen falling on their heads and backs from the roof to the solid floor in many occasions in 80's HK action movies, but no one can get used to watch Jackie climbing handcuffed to a flag pole, jumping to the top of a clock tower, and then falling to the ground with no protection but a couple of cloth roof tops. And he did it at least three times, two of them registered in this film. Even the MTV idiots getting their private parts bitten by baby alligators, thinks that its totally insane. Outstanding comedy and action, great period scenarios, enjoyable classic soundtrack: This movie defines an era.
   
   So Jackie became a hughe international star and the world embraced this delightful character and action hero that he is, and then came the re-releases of his early and most important work to satisfy the needs of us fans. Among those DVD releases, unfortunately we can find editions like this one. Check this out:
   
   THE PROBLEMS:
   
   - Incomplete, cutted version with english dubbing, and the worst of all, the original amusing and perfectly synchronized music score was replaced by a new, awful synthesized random score, killing the comedy and sucking the joy out of the movie by trying to turn it into the current action flick. I mean, the "updated" new cover of the DVD speaks for itself.
   
   - The Classic Golden Harvest presentation and original opening sequence with credits, was replaced by a computer generated pirate flag : Jackie Chan's Project A, the new title, makes clear that this release is a mere vehicle to show Jackie to new audiences, with no respect for anything else.
   
   - The bar fight sequence is incomplete: The whole "spaghetti" incident was excluded, along with precious seconds of the brawl. Nice.
   
   - The scene in the gambling house in wich the Sammo Hung's character is introduced to the movie, was completely excluded. Now, he just happens to know everyone. Awesome.
   
   - From the Police training sequence, the "shower" scene is missing.
   
   - The intro of Sammo, Jackie and Yuen Biao in the arrest sequence at the club house is missing. The fight sequences are chopped off too.
   
   - The intro of the rifle robbery on a boat at night perpetrated by Sammo and Jackie, conceived as a Pekin Opera satire, is chopped off and ruined by the lack of score, waysting the rhymes and the joke intended.
   
   - The pirate assault to the english ship sequence, chopped off.
   
   - From then, everything is in place, till the new ending credits. By this time, only sadness for the lost original music score and impotence for the waysted money remains.
   
   Honestly, the picture and sound are decent. But that's it. The intention of this DVD edition is to introduce new audiences to Jackie's glorious past, and in that part only, it delivers. But this is not the final choice for any collector or faithful fan, not for a moment.
   
   THE SOLUTION:
   
   A couple years ago, FORTUNE STAR released a flawless remastered ALL-REGION DVD Edition, including the complete version in Cantonese DTS, 5.1, and original 2.0 mono soundtrack (Hurra!) with original character voices and music score, all the deleted scenes and outtakes, original HK trailer, and photo galleries. More than any fan could ask for, i tell you.
   
   Dear Customer: Look for this edition in Asian DVD stores online, and forget about this Edition. Don't be afraid, they're just as safe and efficient as here, i guarantee.