The Legend of Zu (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
April 22, 2004 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
A film that had tremendous potential but becomes of a special effects-laden film without any deep overtones.
THE LEGEND OF ZU (2001)
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, Zhang Zi Yi, Cecilia Cheung and Wu Jing.
DIRECTED BY: Tsui Hark
PRODUCED BY: Tsui Hark
DURATION: 100 minutes
Note: Viewed China Star DVD version with removable English subtitles.
Movie Synopsis:
Legend of Zu stars Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame, as well as martial arts star Sammo Hung. In this latest high-flying and far-leaping adventure from Hong Kong, Zhang plays a young woman who does battle with an evil strongman in the ancient mythological province of Zu. Zhang’s warrior princess is joined by Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung and Wu Jing.
DVD EXTRAS:
- DTS track, Making of Featurette (with English subtitles), trailer, movie trailers for “Love on a Diet” and more.
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of
DVD REVIEW:
Back in the early 80′s, Tsui Hark directed a movie titled “Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain”. A movie that is highly regarded as the movie that pioneered many fantasy movies that followed like “Bride with White Hair”, “Heroic Trio”, etc. In fact, “Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain” is like what “Star Wars” is to the United States.
In 2001, Tsui Hark is back with “The Legend of Zu” featuring a similar storyline but yet very different. The story features Ekin Cheng as Xuan. A powerful swordsman whose tribe was wiped out by the evil entity known as Insomnia. Together with his friend Red (Koo) which is similar to X-Men’s Archaengel with the protective metallic, blade-like wings try to team up with Omei’s grandmaster (Sammo Hung plays the same character like he did in the original movie) and the Omei clan featuring it’s protectors Enigma (Cecilia Cheung) who is like a reincarnation of Xuan’s love who died 200 years ago and as you can tell it’s getting confusing the more I try to explain it.
I guess you can liken this movie to a videogame RPG like “Final Fantasy” because in fact, this beautiful, abundance of special effects movie is like a live RPG with many characters and plenty of cool fighting moves.
Like the first movie, many people will get confused with the storyline because it goes into some mythological type overtones. Where many people loved, the first movie…I couldn’t get into it. Where many people compared this to the first and didn’t like it, I enjoyed it.
This is a film that I’m sure cost a lot of money. It appears that nearly the whole landscape was computer generated and it looks very Final Fantasy-ish.
As for the DVD, it looks great and it sounds great thanks to the DTS soundtrack. The video quality is great but noticed some artifacting in the dark areas.
If there is one major problem with this DVD is that in some areas there are no subtitles. This was the first time I experienced a DVD which featured subtitles missing in certain dialogue scenes. Although not a long time (maybe less than a minute) but I was surprised to see this problem.
The special features feature a making-of, cast info, trailers, etc.
“The Legend of Zu” is not for everyone. I really think this will appeal to the videogame crowd to the awesome special effects, RPG like overtone and the awesome fight scenes. But for those wanting to see a straightforward movie, this might not be for you.
THE MOVIE: B+
THE DVD EXTRAS: B-
THE DVD OVERALL: B
Leave Me Alone (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
April 22, 2004 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
Easily one of my favorite HK films of 2004! Ekin Cheng shows us once again why he’s one of Hong Kong cinema’s top stars!
Leave Me Alone (2004)
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi, Kenny Bee, Lawrence Chou, Jan Lamb, Chi Wah Wong
Directed by Danny Pang
DURATION: 97 minutes
COMPANY: Tai Seng Entertainment
2004 had several cool movies come out of Hong Kong and among my top 5 movies was “Leave Me Alone”.
The story is about two twin brothers (both played by Ekin Cheng). Yiu Chun-Man is a gay fashion designer who has problems with holding any relationships because of his fast paced work life. He is visited by his twin brother Yiu Chun-Kit, who came from Thailand to visit his brother in Hong Kong.
Both were separated when their parents divorced, so both brothers wanted to catch up on how their lives have been in the last ten years. Yiu Chun-Kit is not aware that his brother is gay but he makes the trip to Hong Kong with more than just a reason just to meet his brother and catch up on old times.
One morning, Yiu Chun-Kit borrows his brotherʼs car and runs into a woman and gets into an accident. Since he doesnʼt have his license, it is assumed that Yiu Chun-Man is the person who got into an accident. As Yiu Chun-Man awaits in the hospital while his brother is in a coma, his brotherʼs phone rings and it appears that Yiu Chun-Kitʼs girlfriend, Jane (played by Charlene Choi) needs her boyfriend back in Thailand to sign papers for a loan. Since his brother is in a coma and due to the accident, it is assumed that Yiu Chun-Man is in a coma, he goes to Thailand in his brotherʼs place. It is there that you learn that the life that Yiu Chun-Kit has lived has been borrowing money from loan sharks who are expecting payment within the next few days and if they donʼt receive the loan money from the bank, Yiu Chun-Kit and Jane will pay with their lives.
They donʼt get the loan and Jane and Yiu Chun-Man (using his twinʼs identity) are on the run, trying to find ways to get money to pay off the debt. Unfortunately, Jane tends to do what she wants and it tends to get her into trouble and leads to both she and Yiu Chun-Man taking on triad bosses. “Leave Me Alone” is actually very entertaining and the camera work is very well done.
Ekin Cheng does a fantastic job playing two different roles. Yiu Chun- Man has frilly hair, gay and is passive and Yiu Chun-Kit is Mr. Cool, he dresses well but very pro-active. Eking Cheng did a great job that you reallyndonʼt question him playing two roles at all.
As for Charlene Choi (member of the music duo, TWINS), I actually found it very entertaining to see her play another different type of role. I also found her much more mature and sexy in this role. This time around, the chemistry between Ekin and Charlene works a lot better this time around compared to their first pairing in “My Wife is 18” due to their different types of roles played and frankly, their age difference. Charlene Choi is quite sexy in this film but what may be a long stretch for many HK viewers is to see Charlene play an active role as a gun-toting, action heroine and Ekin Cheng standing back in his role as Yiu Chun-Man (Well, Yiu Chun-Man is a fashion designer) and to see these two work with each otherʼs characters, definitely works.
The action scenes are typical HK fun with guns ablazing, unimaginable ammo coming from one clip, car chase segments and much more. The computer generated graphics are good and not as fake looking. Although an action movie, the film offers another story about relationships. Since both brothers have to assume the otherʼs identities, they get to learn more about how each brother has lived, their faults and why they both have problems with their relationships and the people they love. As for the DVD, I found the video quality very good, presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and the audio quality is served in DTS or Digital 5.1 and sounded sweet during the action segments on my home theater system.
The DVD offers several special features such as a making of featurette, teaser, trailer, production notes and other extras or usual offerings on HK DVDʼs. If there was one negative that I found, itʼs not more of a negative but more nitpicking is that if you select the title menu button on your remote, it will take you directly to the movie and not the title screen. Thus you need to select the DTS or Digital 5.1 sound first after the copyright screen to access the title menu and not by remote.
“Leave Me Alone” is a fun film that was among my top 5 for 2004. Ekin Cheng does a wonderful job of playing two different characters, Charlene Choi showing us that she can play something new and to find an actionfilm that a good balance of humor and not so much seriousness was nice to have and I recommend people to check this DVD out.
Tags: a J!-ENT DVD Review, Asian Cinema DVD/Blu-ray, Charlene Choi, Danny Pang, Ekin Cheng, Leave Me AloneFor Bad Boys Only (A J!-ENT DVD Review)
September 27, 2003 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
DVD reviewed by Dennis A. Amith
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Louis Koo, Kristy Yeung, Shu Qui, Daniel Chan and more.
DIRECTED BY: Manfred Wong
TYPE OF MOVIE: Romance, Action
DURATION: 101 minutes
NOTE: Reviewed Universe DVD version with removable English subtitles (All Region).
King and Jack are experts in finding lovers of first love for their clients. One day, a young guy, a man of concealed identity, and Taiwan’s richest business tycoon ask King and Jack to look for their first lovers. To King and Jack’s astonishment, the women all look like the same ……
DVD EXTRAS:
* English/Chinese removable subtitles
* Synopsis and cast info. + two trailers (Marooned and Queen of Kowloon) and making of (with selection of subtitles).
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of
DVD REVIEW:
A very interesting movie about three men who love women differently (one for the sake of quick love, one looking for Ms. Perfection and the other who will love the girl of his dreams no matter what), the Charlie’s Angels like storyline (but with two guys and one girl) and then the storyline about illegal cloning which makes one interesting storyline “For Bad Boys Only” which is the name of the detective company.
This movie is very hip and entertaining to watch. The CG graphics may turn people off who had enough of it (you will see Matrix special effects in this movie).
For this movie, I’m amazed at how much Shu Qui has grown as an actress and in this movie, she has to play multiple roles.
As for the DVD, the audio is very good and the selection of language has an International selection which features dialogue in Chinese, Japanese, English, etc. Perhaps this was meant to be release stateside like Gen-X Cops. Also, the DVD has two trailers and a making of which Universe added a selection for subtitles (YES!)
All in all a pretty cool movie. It’s not meant to be taken seriously but to sit back and enjoy. Check it out!
THE MOVIE: B
THE DVD EXTRAS: B-
THE DVD OVERALL: B
Tokyo Raiders (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
September 27, 2003 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
MOVIE COMPANY: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX
CAST: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Ekin Cheng, Kelly Chen, Toru Nakamura and Cecelia Cheung.
DIRECTED BY: Jingle Ma
DURATION: 101 minutes
On the marriage day of Macy, Her bridegroom Takahashi does not show up. Macy comes to Tokyo to look for him. She meets Tommy, an interior designer who wants to collect debt from Takahashi, and Lenny a private eye who is hired by a gangster boss to spy on Takahashi. During the investigation, these three persons soon find that they are in conflict with the Japanese underworld gang.
DVD REVIEW:
I was highly anticipating movie. My favorite HK actors and actresses are in this movie including Toru Nakamura (GEN-X COPS) as the bad guy again.
This movie had a lot of potential and it looked very good as if it was like a art movie. What I mean by that is utilizing sound and the camera to create like a dance for the action scenes. Almost like Woo style but totally different. Make sense?
Anyway, the movie is like watching a James Bond and Avengers movie in one. Pretty cool to watch but in terms of being very satisfied with it, I felt it was average. Ok.
As for the DVD, the video is beautiful and the music is utilized in the DTS track. Btw, this DVD version is the first HK to utilize DTS.
As for special features, similar to all Universe DVD’s but with the inclusion of a making of. Although I don’t have a DVD-Rom, I’m not sure if this DVD carries the video game, screen saver and wallpaper like the VCD version did.
Otherwise a cool movie and the action scenes to be done in a different way was quite different but the movie does not motivate me to watch it many times. Even though it has Kelly and Cecelia.
THE MOVIE: C+
THE DVD EXTRAS: B+
THE DVD OVERALL: B
A Man Called Hero (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
September 24, 2003 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Nicholas Tse, Anthony Wong, Kristy Yan, Francis Ng, Shu Qui and more.
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Lau
DURATION: 105 minutes
After a simple initiation ceremony, Hero goes home with excited but he finds his parent was killed. What had happened was, Gian took a group of foreigners to Hero’s parent and forced them to had over the Red Sword, their family treasure. In order to take revenge, Hero kills the foreigners. Thereafter, he want by the police and sign up to coal miner in America
DVD EXTRAS:
* Removable Traditional Chinese & English Subs
* Includes a 17 minute making of featurette with optional Chinese or English subs. * 3 different movie trailers
Includes info on Cast Members Ekin Cheng, Francis Ng, Kristy Yang, Nicholas Tse, Anthony Wong and Shu Qi.
Also includes cast comments on the characters played by Ekin Cheng, Francis Ng, Nicholas Tse, Shu Qi and Yuen Biao. KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of
DVD REVIEW:
Almost everyone from “Stormriders” is back with a new movie combining special effects, martial arts and history to a new level.
The story focuses on a man named Hero who believes that he is born under the “Star of Death” (everyone around him dies…friends, loved ones and foes). One one hand he is fighting for his master, the other is getting revenge for the death of his family and last to find his kidnapped daughter.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t answer all what I mentioned thus perhaps a sequel will be coming out. As for the movie, I tend to enjoy this movie more than “Stormriders”. I actually liked the plot which has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, like most comic book adaptions with many people, trying to throw many characters in will confuse the viewer. Personally, some people may need to see this movie more than once to feel comfortable with it. I enjoyed it a lot and enjoyed the different characters in the movie. It was like a live movie of “Tekken” and “Soul Blade” mixed with “Fist of Legend” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.
As for the DVD, this movie has to be bought on DVD. Although the special cut has been edited for the DVD version (they removed the KKK section, a cemetery section and a few other things), the DVD is the best way to watch this movie because it looks good and sounds good. Also, the special features available from Universe is a better offering than most DVD’s because they actually subtitled the special 17-minute making of featurette. Also, the inclusion of three trailers for the movie and more.
Watch this movie with an open mind and try to enjoy it. Can’t wait for the next movie!
THE MOVIE: B+
THE DVD EXTRAS: B+
THE DVD OVERALL: B+
The Legend of Speed (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
October 1, 2000 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Cecelia Cheung, Kelly Lam, Patrick Tam, Blackie Ko, Simon Yam, Yiu Man
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Lau
PRODUCED BY: Manfred Wong
TYPE OF MOVIE: Romance
DURATION: 108 minutes
The movie is about a rich guy named Sky. He loves modifying his car, being with his girlfriend Kelly and his friends and racing. Everything starts to go downhill when he races the legendary Tang Fung (who beat his father who was a legendary racer) and leads to the death of his girlfriend and he is framed for possession of narcotics.
The family has Sky leave HK to Thailand to find his father and find out if he will get his revenge against Tang Fung.
DVD EXTRAS:
* English/Chinese removable subtitles
* Synopsis and cast info. in Chinese, a 12-minute production notes (which is actually a making of) and trailer.
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of
DVD REVIEW:
From the beginning of this movie, video game racing buffs will know they will enjoy this film. From the “Ridge Racer” opening, to the “Tokyo Shutoku Battle” like racing and “Gran Turismo” like CG graphics, one must be thinking they are in racing heaven with this movie.
Although dubbed as “Full Throttle 2″, let’s get away from that as this movie still focuses on motor cycle racing and of course, car racing.
If one looked at it as a video game racing movie, then you will be pleased because this movie has a pretty good storyline but for those who aren’t racing buffs and are expecting a solid story, that’s where the problem lies.
The storyline has Sky being framed for something he didn’t do. He leaves to another country knowing that people and cops are after him but that is it. He returns to the country, no problems whatsoever and you’re wondering, for a wanted man…what happen to that story arc? The second is a major accident scene may make people say (no matter how cool it looked): “There is no way someone can survive from that!” but of course, the person lives. Last, even though the story problem listed above was made, the final minute after an exciting race fizzles with the final sentence by the bad guy and his crying.
As for the DVD, the movie looked great and certain scenes really looked colorful. As for audio, my rear speakers were used before the racing scene at the end of the movie. I wonder why they didn’t use it throughout the movie. Everytime I heard a rev, I expected to hear it through my speakers very clearly.
As for special features, there is a production note which is actually a making of. The cast info/database is in Chinese and so is the synopsis.
So, needless to say that this movie is going to be enjoyed by people into the racing scene, fans of the actor and actresses in this movie and video game fans.
THE MOVIE: B-
THE DVD EXTRAS: C
THE DVD OVERALL: C+
Avenging Fist (a J!-ENT DVD Review)
August 19, 2000 by Dennis Amith · View Comments
Loosely based on the “Tekken” video game, “Avenging Fist” is a fighting/action film with ups and downs.
TITLE: Avenging Fist
CAST: Lee Hom Wang, Ekin Cheng, Sammo Hung, Kristy Yang, Stephen Fung, Cecilia Yip, Yuen Biao, Chin-Kar Lok and more.
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Lau and Corey Yen
COMPANY: Deltamac DVD version with removable English subtitles.
Scientists experiment on Power glove are on the verge of success. Power glove is designed to active the unknown power in human’s brain to empower the force of human beings. Special agent Dark, Thunder and War 21 are the only survivors in that experiment. Ambitious War 21 gets evil. He captures Thunder with a power glove and disappears…He has become Dark’s fugitive for 20 years. Two decades later. War 21 comes back with brainwashed Thunder and his underground troop aiming to rule the world. Dark is failed to eliminate them but he realizes Thunder has a son who also has the DNA, which enable him to use the power glove to challenge War 21, eventually…
When I heard that “Avenging Fist” was going to be out on DVD, I had this grin on my face because of the “Tekken” hype surrounding the movie.
I finished watching “Avenging Fist” starring Ekin Cheng, Gigi Leung, Lee Hom Wang, Kristy Yeung, Sammo Hung, Stephen Fung and more.
Anyway, this movie has a lot of people you may have seen from many HK movies and a few big names which adds to the allure of the film. Also, the special effects are pretty cool and the futuristic look ala “Blade Runner” was very nice.
This movie is definitely not “Tekken”, it’s more like “Tekken”, “Street Fighter 2″ and “Dragon Ball Z” mixed together.
The only thing that “Tekken” has to do with this film is that it’s a fighting movie (ala videogame like fighting movie) and the main character (Leehom Wang, the guy who played Aaron Kwok’s partner on China Strike Force) has hair like Kazuya which is pretty cool. The only thing that “Street Fighter 2″ has to do with it is the fighting characters and Combat-21 (think M. Bison, or if you are in East Asia think Vega). The only thing that “DBZ” has to do with this is the ending segment which is reminiscent of how DBZ ended with Goku’s battle with Boo.
Anyway, the plot is humans can only use 10% of their brain. What would happen if humans can tap into the other 90% which is called the “Forbidden Zone”. Anyway in the past: Thunder was a guy who perfect the martial art of the “Avenging Fist”. As a police officer, he and two others – Dark and Combat 21 were chosen to test the power glove which would allow police officers to tap into the 90% but something goes wrong. Now it’s twenty years later and Thunder’s twins: Nova (Wang) and Belle (She was the female partner in “For Bad Boys Only”) are twins that have special talents. Nova for fighting and learning his dead father’s “Avenging Fist” and Belle with her power for producing heat. Nova never knew what happened to his father, his mother is not saying anything. Nova’s goal is to have a “Power Glove” for himself, not knowing what it’s for…just knowing that police officer’s use it to kick butt. The day of his birthday, his mom has a surprise but Nova and Belle are in for a surprise when their father Thunder reappears.
If anything, people who love video games especially fighting video games or anime will love this movie. As for the DVD, it only comes with a trailer. No special features which sucks. But this is the first time I seen a DVD featuring DTS 6.1 and Digital Dolby EX on a HK DVD. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t feature great surround sound like GEN-X Cops but it’s ok.
English subs are good but with the typical typos in HK film.
All in all a great film for those who enjoy video game fighting movies and anime. If you don’t enjoy these type of movies, then you may want to pass.
