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Kung Fu Master
World Video and Supply // Unrated // July 9, 2001
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Although I certainly can not claim to be any sort of expert in the martial arts genre, since I've been reviewing DVDs for the past few years I've had the chance to watch several of the more highly regarded entries. Of all of the genre's stars, Jet Li is one of the most remarkable, providing a mixture of intensity and stunning physical skills - he can do as well with comedy as he does with drama.
I'm still not quite sure what "Kung Fu Master" was, though. One of those martial arts movies where everyone's fighting and you're not quite sure why, the film is one stunt or action scene after another, with many of the action scenes relying heavily on wires. Some of the action scenes are remarkable, but Li's fight skills were far better used in the 1993 picture "Tai Chi Master" (called "Twin Warriors" on Buena Vista's DVD release).
As for the story of Kung Fu Master, my understanding of what was going on was not helped by the DVD, which presented tiny, pale white subtitles that frequently became invisible when anything near their color appeared on-screen. Not only that, but there were a few moments during the film where the subtitles continued off-screen. All I could make out was that there were two fighting groups, one of which included Li's character. That, and there's a giant furry ball which is actually the spirit of a wizard. It rolls around attempting to attack people and actually speaks, as well. After a while, I simply sat back and watched the fight sequences because the story was a lost cause.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Kung Fu Master" is presented in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. Quite frankly, the presentation is filled with problems. Sharpness and detail are generally mediocre; the picture looks decently well-defined during some of the bright exterior sequences, but looks murky and undefined elsewhere, especially during some of the dimly lit scenes. It looks as if the presentation was taken from an inferior laserdisc source - the subtitles are burned into the picture and rather shockingly, they occasionally go off the screen during the longer sentences.
Problems are visible throughout the movie and often distract from the viewing experience. Speaking of print flaws, just about every possible variation appears - frequent marks, scratches, speckles and other blemishes are visible. I was suprised that a film that's only about eight years old looked so worn. Some noticable pixelation and shimmering also appear, but the most serious problem that the image quality had was definitely the occasionally heavy amount of print flaws.
Colors appeared weak, as well, usually appearing either subdued or rather brown-ish. They also appeared smeary during many scenes in the picture. Overall, I found this presentation rather hard to watch.
SOUND: The audio fares only very slightly better than the image quality. The Dolby 2.0 audio is presented in both Mandarin and Chinese versions, but both of them provide shrill audio quality that is often uncomfortable to listen to. The music was the one element that fared decently, sounding slightly clearer than the other elements. Dialogue sounded thin and unnatural and sound effects came through sounding edgy and harsh. Not a complete loss, but definitely an unpleasant listening experience.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with simple film-themed images in the background.
EXTRAS:: The film's trailer.
Final Thoughts: "Kung Fu Master" occasionally had some impressive stunt work, but the plot remains a mystery. The DVD, on the other hand, is a serious dissapointment, with horrendous image and sound quality. Some may find this an decent rental, but with the DVD's terrible quality and the fact that there's better Jet Li movies out there, I wouldn't recommend it. Get "Twin Warriors" instead.
Although I certainly can not claim to be any sort of expert in the martial arts genre, since I've been reviewing DVDs for the past few years I've had the chance to watch several of the more highly regarded entries. Of all of the genre's stars, Jet Li is one of the most remarkable, providing a mixture of intensity and stunning physical skills - he can do as well with comedy as he does with drama.
I'm still not quite sure what "Kung Fu Master" was, though. One of those martial arts movies where everyone's fighting and you're not quite sure why, the film is one stunt or action scene after another, with many of the action scenes relying heavily on wires. Some of the action scenes are remarkable, but Li's fight skills were far better used in the 1993 picture "Tai Chi Master" (called "Twin Warriors" on Buena Vista's DVD release).
As for the story of Kung Fu Master, my understanding of what was going on was not helped by the DVD, which presented tiny, pale white subtitles that frequently became invisible when anything near their color appeared on-screen. Not only that, but there were a few moments during the film where the subtitles continued off-screen. All I could make out was that there were two fighting groups, one of which included Li's character. That, and there's a giant furry ball which is actually the spirit of a wizard. It rolls around attempting to attack people and actually speaks, as well. After a while, I simply sat back and watched the fight sequences because the story was a lost cause.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Kung Fu Master" is presented in 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen. Quite frankly, the presentation is filled with problems. Sharpness and detail are generally mediocre; the picture looks decently well-defined during some of the bright exterior sequences, but looks murky and undefined elsewhere, especially during some of the dimly lit scenes. It looks as if the presentation was taken from an inferior laserdisc source - the subtitles are burned into the picture and rather shockingly, they occasionally go off the screen during the longer sentences.
Problems are visible throughout the movie and often distract from the viewing experience. Speaking of print flaws, just about every possible variation appears - frequent marks, scratches, speckles and other blemishes are visible. I was suprised that a film that's only about eight years old looked so worn. Some noticable pixelation and shimmering also appear, but the most serious problem that the image quality had was definitely the occasionally heavy amount of print flaws.
Colors appeared weak, as well, usually appearing either subdued or rather brown-ish. They also appeared smeary during many scenes in the picture. Overall, I found this presentation rather hard to watch.
SOUND: The audio fares only very slightly better than the image quality. The Dolby 2.0 audio is presented in both Mandarin and Chinese versions, but both of them provide shrill audio quality that is often uncomfortable to listen to. The music was the one element that fared decently, sounding slightly clearer than the other elements. Dialogue sounded thin and unnatural and sound effects came through sounding edgy and harsh. Not a complete loss, but definitely an unpleasant listening experience.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus with simple film-themed images in the background.
EXTRAS:: The film's trailer.
Final Thoughts: "Kung Fu Master" occasionally had some impressive stunt work, but the plot remains a mystery. The DVD, on the other hand, is a serious dissapointment, with horrendous image and sound quality. Some may find this an decent rental, but with the DVD's terrible quality and the fact that there's better Jet Li movies out there, I wouldn't recommend it. Get "Twin Warriors" instead.
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