Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9780767869027 Format: Color ISBN: 0767869028 Label: Sony Pictures Manufacturer: Sony Pictures Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Sony Pictures Release Date: 2002-07-02 Running Time: 95 Studio: Sony Pictures
A distraught warrior (the charismatic Jet Li) forces his toddler son to choose between a sword and a wooden horse. If he chooses the sword, together they will fight the corrupt government that killed their family; if he chooses the horse, the warrior will send him to join his mother--in hell. Thus begins The New Legend of Shaolin, a wild Hong Kong fantasy. Though the opening sounds grim, the movie shifts ahead seven years and becomes increasingly comic as its plot unfolds. The story centers around a map tattooed on the backs of five boys; it leads to treasure from the Ming dynasty that a heroic sect hopes to use to reestablish the Shaolin temple, which the government destroyed. Meanwhile, Li is forced by poverty to become the bodyguard of a blowhard merchant, who doesn't realize that his bride-to-be is part of a mother-daughter team of notorious thieves. Meanwhile, a villain deformed by a poison that gives him invincible powers is hunting down the five boys, one of whom is the merchant's son... As is usually the case with Hong Kong cinema, the filmmakers have crammed in enough stuff to fill several ordinary movies. The exaggerated stoic conversations between Li and his 7-year-old son, both of them stone-faced and painfully serious, are extremely funny, as are the bizarre bits when the bride's mother masquerades as a ghost. And on top of all this are at least seven spectacular action sequences that are both comic and exciting. A prime example of the unique joys of Hong Kong pop culture. --Bret Fetzer
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Good Humor and Good Fighting Comment: Though its not Jet Li's best movie, it is still fun to watch and the humor in it is well timed for a movie that is not a comedy. This version is subtitled with not english dubbing. Customer Rating: Summary: Ignored My Order!!! Comment: I am very disappointed!!!! I was looking forward to watching my movie sold by rivera_my. I thought it was very unprofessional an RUDE TO TAKE MY MONEY AND IGNORE MY EMAILS. TO ANYONE WHO PURCHASES cd'S fROM RIVERA_MY. BE MINDFUL AND CAUTIOUS....KEEP IN MIND NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALL THE MONEY IT STILL MONEY...AND RIVERA_MY WILL TAKE IT....ALL IN ALL DON'T SPEND WITH THIS SHADY-SELLER...4 REAL!!! Customer Rating: Summary: Negative Comment: The movie itself is entertaining but it wasn't in english, which made it difficult to understand Customer Rating: Summary: Which to buy? New Legend of Shaolin vs Legend of the Red Dragon Comment: The customer review currently featured first here urges us to buy the New Legend of Shaolin DVD, but many will actually prefer the Legend of the Red Dragon DVD. (For those not aware, these are different releases of the same movie, and the reviews are mixed together here. The Shaolin release is from Tai Seng, a company with a mixed reputation for importing Hong Kong movies; the Red Dragon release is from Sony/Columbia Tristar. What appears to be essentially the same Tai Seng DVD is also here.)
There are two main differences between the two versions.
1. The Red Dragon version is edited so that it's 12 minutes shorter than the Tai Seng Shaolin version. I don't think that necessarily makes it worse. This isn't Citizen Kane, or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. After the misleadingly grave beginning, this is mainly a low-budget, wacky martial-arts comedy, with over-the-top fights and characters, humorous throughout. Judging from comparisons at Hong Kong movie websites, the cuts don't change anything of great importance.
And the 95-minute Tai Seng Shaolin release isn't really the fullest version anyway. Amazon also lists a 100-minute version. I'd happily watch a longer version, but I didn't feel any great gaps that interfered with anything all that important in Legend of the Red Dragon, or find myself wishing it was longer.
2. The other main difference is that Red Dragon offers the English dub only, while Shaolin offers Chinese with optional English subtitles only, with no option for an English dub.
As it happens, the English dubbing on the Red Dragon version is hilarious; it's hard to imagine that the original Chinese is any funnier, especially to those who don't speak Cantonese, or that the subtitles bring out some subtle humor missed in the dub.
So, if you're taking this movie the way it appears to be intended, that is, not so seriously, and you don't speak Chinese, you might prefer the Red Dragon version with the English dubbing. It's currently very cheap used.
If you're not familiar with Jet Li, he's a great martial artist with a long career in Hong Kong and some American movies, capped by the recent Fearless (which is the kind of film that's better in its longer version). If you like Jackie Chan's cheaper outings, or want to see some impressively choreographed martial arts action in a mainly comedic setting, try out whichever version of this movie and you'll have a good time.
Both versions are in non-anamorphic widescreen. The image quality is good.
("Red Dragon" is a key place name in the move, by the way, so perhaps not entirely gratuitously chosen for the title. Not that it really matters. A final note: don't confuse this with the movie called simply Red Dragon--that's a completely different animal, and not half as much fun, in my view.) Customer Rating: Summary: Fun film, poor release. Comment: This is a fun film and one of the few from the period where Jet just seems to have some fun and go off. But this is a pretty sorry release for it. So Tai Seng is releasing widescreen laser disc masters again? Niiicccee. Wait for a better release. At least that one might not have a Ric Meyers commentary on there. If there's a sure sign of a lack of care from a company releasing kung fu films, it's Meyers' name anywhere on the product.
