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

(aka "Lu ding ji" or "Lu ding ji II: Zhi shen long jiao")

directed by Jing Wong, Siu-Tung Ching
Kong Kong 1992

A con man accidentally gets involved in a plot to over throw the Emperor.

Both film's mostly center around a conman character named Wei Siu Bo, who is flawlessly portrayed by Stephen Chow (Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle). The most enjoyable aspect of these film's is watching the Wei Siu Bo overcome all the obstacles which befall him. Besides the Wei Siu Bo there are a wide variety of colorful characters who populate both film's like one of the Emperor's advisers who pretends to be blind and a traitor general who is only vulnerable if you hit him in his eyes or groin. Performance wise none of the cast disappoint in their respective roles. The cast features several recognizable faces like Brigitte Lin (The Bride with White Hair), Elvis Tsui (Chinese Torture Chamber Story) and Chingmy Yau (Naked Killer).

The first film does a good setting up who everyone is and their motivations. While the second film focuses more on its action set pieces. Even though the first film focuses more on the characters. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have its fare share of action set pieces, which on occasion do get a little gory with heads and other body parts being ripped off. Another area where this film excels is in its off bet humor that at times gets risque.

Michael Den Boer

Theatrical Release: Hong Kong, 1992

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DVD Review: Dragon Dynasty (2-Disc Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Michael Den Boer for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Dragon Dynasty Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:50:40 + 1:38:15
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate : Disc 1
Bitrate : Disc 2
Audio	Cantonese (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles	English, English SDH, Spanish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Dragon Dynasty Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Royal Tramp original theatrical trailer (16:9; 4:40) • Royal Tramp 2 original theatrical trailer (16:9; 3:51) • Interview with writer / co-director Wong Jing (Letterboxed Widescreen; 10:52) • Audio commentaries with Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan DVD Release Date: February 12th, 2008 Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

Both films are presented in anamorphic widescreen presentations that retain their original aspects ratios. Both films have been flagged for progressive playback and each film comes on a separate dual layer DVD. Even though the image looks clean with print damage virtually nonexistent. Both transfers do exhibit some digital noise and the image at times tend to soft, especially the first film. Colors and flesh tones fare better and black levels range from average to good.

Each film comes with two audio options, Dolby Digital 5.1 Cantonese and Dolby Digital 5.1 English. Quality wise there is not that much difference between any of the audio mixes. As they all sound clear and free of any background noise. This release comes with three subtitle options, English, English SDH and Spanish. The English subtitle are easy to follow and free of errors. Also when camping them to the English dubbed audio it appears that these are not dub-titles. It should also be noted that the meaning behind several of the comedy gags are drastically altered when watching the film with subtitles verse the English dubbed audio mix.

Extras for this release include trailer for each film in Cantonese with English subtitles, a interview with writer / co-director Wong Jing in Cantonese with English and each film comes with a audio commentary with Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan. The extras are insightful and do a good covering the various aspects of both productions.

- Michael Den Boer

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