Way of the Dragon Blu-ray

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Meng long guojiang" or "Fury of the Dragon" or "Return of the Dragon" or "Revenge of the Dragon" )

directed by Bruce Lee
Hong Kong 1972

Known in the west as Return of the Dragon, Bruce Lee's The Way of the Dragon is another classic martial arts film featuring the Dragon at the peak of his powers! Bruce Lee is Tang Lung, a Hong Kong expatriate in Italy who gets the opportunity to use his fists when local thugs begin muscling in on the local Chinese restaurant. It's a simple exchange: the thugs set foot in the restaurant, and Tang Lung cuts loose with a flurry of kicks and punches designed to inflict the maximum amount of damage with the minimum amount of effort. Then, more fighting ensues.

The Way of the Dragon co-stars popular starlet Nora Miao, and is a true tour-de-force for Bruce Lee. Not only did he star in the film, but he also wrote, produced, and directed - and this is in addition to his expected action choreography duties. The results of his labor are a wildly entertaining martial arts film that's sure to make kung-fu fans of all ages grin from ear-to-ear. Most famously, The Way of the Dragon features a dramatic showdown between Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in the confines of Rome's ancient Colosseum!

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 30, 1972 (Hong Kong)

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC vs. Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL vs. Kam & Ronson - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow and Ole Kofoed for the DVD Screen Caps!

1) Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Kam & Ronson- Region 'A' - Blu-ray - RIGHT

DVD Box Covers

Bruce Lee on Blu-ray


The Big Boss	Fist of Fury	Way of the Dragon	Enter the Dragon

Distribution

Fortune Star

Region 3 - NTSC

Hong Kong Legends
Region 2,4 - PAL

Kam & Ronson
Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Runtime

1:38:28

1:35.00 (4% PAL Speedup)

1:38:40.915

Video

2.31:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 8.42 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 6.45 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

Disc Size: 23,048,493,427 bytes

Feature Size: 21,909,725,184 bytes

Average Bitrate: 19.99 Mbps

Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection)

Bitrate:

Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition)

Bitrate:

Blu-ray

Audio

2.0 Dolby Digital Cantonese Mono, 5.1 Dolby Digital Cantonese / Mandarin, DTS Cantonese / Mandarin

5.1 Dolby Digital Cantonese / 5.1 Dolby Digital English Dub

DTS-HD Master Audio Chinese 2635 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2635 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby TrueHD Audio Chinese 1909 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 1909 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB)
Dolby Digital EX Audio Chinese 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital EX Audio Thai 640 kbps 5.1-EX / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB

Subtitles

Traditional, Simplified, English, None

English, Dutch, None

English, Chinese, Thai, None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: Fortune Star

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.31:1

Edition Details:
• Limited Edition (10,000)
• Each box marked by little 'silver' platter
• Menues available in both English and Chinese

DVD Release Date: April 29, 2004
Digipack

Chapters 21

Release Information:
Studio: Hong Kong Legends

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1

Edition Details:
• Commentary by Bey Logan and co-star Jon Benn.
• Interview with Andre Morgan (14:21)
• Interview with Jon Benn (4:26)
• Interview with Anders Nielsen (7:21)
• Reflections on the little dragon - Interviews (13:26)
• Trailers (Orginal Chinese and UK + HKL).
• 2 UK TV spots.
• 2 photo galleries (production, stills, posters, lobby cards..)
• Way of the Dragon - A Retrospective (text)
• Info of other HKL titles

DVD Release Date: June 11, 2001
Keep Case

Chapters 30

Release Information:
Studio: Kam & Ronson

Disc Size: 23,048,493,427 bytes

Feature Size: 21,909,725,184 bytes

Average Bitrate: 19.99 Mbps

Single-layered Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video

Edition Details:
• Interviews

• photo gallery

Blu-ray Release Date: October 15th, 2009
Standard Blu-ray Case inside cardboard box

Chapters 20

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDED: Kam & Ronson Blu-ray - January 2010: Well, it does look better - colors are richer, detail up a small notch, more grain (or what appears to be grain) and certainly darker and more film-like - whether the screen caps bear that out or not. Skin tones are slightly warmer. It's even more 'Asian' blue-green than the HK Legends. I have no reason to support or doubt that this is not more theatrically accurate representation. It looks the best I have seen the film anyhow - despite the modest Blu-ray single-layered transfer.

Audio is a step up too with a DTS-Master and TrueHD lossless track - respectively in original Cantonese and dubbed Mandarin - a shade sync-off on the English parts. Bruce Lee's kicks and punches crack a little crisper. There is minor separations to the rear speakers. There are also optional subtitles - English seems précised a bit - and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked (playable on North American machines).

Extras don't consist of much - the same 9-minutes of 'celebrity' interviews (really just sound-bytes) about Bruce Lee as found on the Fortune Star Bruce Lee boxset. There is also a photo gallery.

So, who should buy? Bruce Lee hardcore fans and those that haven't seen the film. Those who own the HK Legend DVD will have to have a pretty decent-to-discerning system to warrant the upgrade - although it is easily noticeable for the audio.

Gary W. Tooze

***

ON the DVDs: The image of Hong Kong Legend is slightly squeezed horizontally, about 1.5%, giving it 2.35:1 in AR.

This time around, Hong Kong Legend has the "eastern" greenish look, while Fortune Star is "western", almost the exact opposite of "Enter the Dragon". As both are almost identical in detail, Hong Kong Legends just looks a bit better.

Fortune Star has the original mono track, which is the one to chose. The 5.1 tracks have the added rear speaker sounds, which, at least on the Fortune Star, sound inserted.

In terms of extra, HK Legends wins again. A commentary by Bey Logan, three interviews and a bio. This is the DVD to go for.

- Henrik Sylow

DVD Menus

(Fortune Star (Ultimate Collection) - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Hong Kong Legends (Special Collector's Edition) - Region 2,4 - PAL - RIGHT)