Disc:
Region: ALL
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:42:30.144
Disc Size: 26,779,865,387 bytes
Feature Size: 22,603,186,176 bytes
Average Bitrate: 22.09 Mbps
Chapters: 17
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: September 15th, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: VC-1
Bitrate:
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 4401 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4401
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps
/ Dolby Surround
Subtitles:
English (SDH), English, Bulgarian, Czech, French, Hebrew,
Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, none
Extras
• Behind the Master; Interview with Jackie Chan – in SD
(6:35)
Comment:
Come September 15, Miramax will release "The Ultimate Force
of Four" – a title that doesn't bode well for the Asian
martial arts movies they have had tucked away in their
vaults: three from China or Hong Kong, one from Japan:
Hero, Iron Monkey, The Legend of Drunken
Master and Zatoichi. Typical of movies from
China, much less so with Japanese films, the versions
distributed in the West might be different in any number of
ways: they might be cut differently, with new music, and are
likely to be dubbed in English.
Prior to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon it was taken as
gospel that Americans would not go to the theater to see a
subtitled movie outside of an "art theatre", certainly not
in numbers that would make distribution profitable. For the
most part, Americans who have seen , Hong Kong movies on
home video, especially those of Jackie Chan, know only the
English-dubbed versions, complete with new musical cues that
someone thought would be more digestible to Westerners.
With these new Blu-ray editions, Miramax had the opportunity
to set the record straight – or, at least provide the
original or international cut, a practice that oftentimes
serves little purpose than to seduce potential buyers into
believing they are getting something special. Alas,
wrong-headed that it is to present in uncompressed audio
only the English dub for Iron Monkey and Hero, at least
those have passable Chinese tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1. Not
so with The Legend of Drunken Master which, passing all
understanding, has no Chinese language track of any kind.
The Movie: 7
The Legend of Drunken Master may be Jackie Chan's last great
Hong Kong action movie. It has incredible stunts
choreographed by Chan himself (who, uncredited, directed
some of the fight sequences.) All the classic Jackie Chan
moves that we see in his American movies are in full swing
here.
"A Jackie Chan Film" the credits say over the title . . . .
This often comic, sometimes touching, occasionally brutal
movie is, at its heart, both a family drama and a gangster
flic involving stolen Chinese cultural treasures. The bad
guys, who are enmeshed with the British Consul, have made a
deal to plunder and sell China's great treasures. Chan plays
Wong Fei Hung, whose greatest prowess is a style of martial
arts called drunken fighting and, like Popeye with his
spinach, Fei Hung is only at his best when he drinks - a
lot. The simple dynamics of the situation are that Fei Hung
is torn between his respect for his father (Ti Lung) who
forbids him from fighting, drunk or sober, and his desire to
protect his country's culture. His stepmother (the always
awesome and incredibly funny Anita Mui) sabotages the
presumed head of the household as she tosses her son one
bottle after another even in the middle of a fight.
Image: 3/6
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the
Blu-ray disc.
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
The best that can be said for this image is that it's in
about the right aspect ratio and fills the frame left to
right. This movie, even though only 15 years old, has not
survived in the best of condition, though this may be as
good as it gets. It has its share of blemishes, but that
doesn't account for the transfer, which, except for brief
moments here and there, has to be one of the flattest,
dullest images on Blu-ray. It's murky, warm and noise
reduced to the point of trashing what chance of dynamic
range it might have. There's no black and no white, just the
occasional boosting of skin tomes. Once in a while there is
a flash of high definition sharpness or resolve, and then
only in the outdoor scenes, but for the most part, this is
not representative of the possibilities of the medium. In
other words: don't show this to your friends as evidence of
what a smart investment you made. All of which begs the
question: Is this how it once looked at its best, to which I
can only say I haven't a clue, but I certainly hope not. The
fact that it bests previous North American DVDs is little
solace.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music : 4/5
Let's get the bad news out of the way first: The Legend of
Drunken Master has no Chinese language track! Not
compressed, or uncompressed, or hidden as an Easter Egg. It
boggles the mind. But if we can get past that, the audio
isn't really so bad, as long as no one is speaking. We have
only to put up with Engrish speaking actors – the native
English speakers are worse speaking actors - which is a
bizarre concept in the first place (Chan dubs himself, for
what that's worth.) I exaggerate, but not by much. I
understand that the original HK dialogue was looped with
other actors to start with, a practice I imagine they
thought they could import from the Italians, so perhaps the
question is moot. Still, no reason not to include it, since
the music might be different as well. In any case, the
dialogue is oddly and disproportionately mixed, rarely
making sense with the action that surrounds it. This movie
was never a surrounding experience to start with, so we
should not be surprised to find a mostly front directed mix
that makes little use of surrounds except in fight and crowd
scenes or in the "arena" when our heroes are captured.
Operations : 7
The menu functions are clearly laid out with descriptions
and timings of each feature. I don't much care for the
disproportionately large and, on my OPPO, non-removable time
line during fast forward and back.
Extras : 2
In this six and a half minute featurette in standard
definition, Jackie looks back on how he creates his stunts –
timing his comments with a stream of snippets from archival
footage going way back. He speaks (in English, by the way)
about the rhythm of his fights, his comedy, and some of the
training that goes into each fight. Referring to his Chinese
audience, Chan insists that the impression of reality is
preferred to the fantasy of special effects (note the
absence of wire work in Chan's movies). Chan toots his horn,
but he has the creds to do so.
Recommendation : 3
We can only hold out hope for a HK edition that offers the
original audio and where we can be satisfied that the image
really is as good as can be. Rent it if you must. And you
must, if you've never seen it, for The Legend of Drunken
Master is one of the classics of the genre.
Leonard Norwitz
September 13th, 2009
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