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Jet Li - Meltdown
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
A 1995 release that comes to video here this year under the title "Meltdown", the film stars martial arts star Jet Li as a former police offer and explosives expert who now finds himself working as a stunt double for famous action star Frankie Lane (Jacky Cheung) after a tragic indicent that takes place during the film's opening. The only problem with his current situation is that the star is often too drunk to stand, so his stunt double often has to fill in.
"Franke" is actually a funny parody of martial arts star Jackie Chan. Although not a mean-spirited joke about the star, it doesn't go easy on him, either. The main part of the film has Frankie and a group of people taken hostage in a penthouse apartment by the same terrorist who was visible in the opening. It's a jewel heist and the picture then turns into a "Die Hard"-esque action film as it's up to Li's character to save the hostages in the hotel.
The picture has some rather awkward changes in tone throughout the movie, going from very light comedy to pretty dark violence (I'd consider this a pretty strongly "R" rated picture). There's also more gunplay throughout during the film than most martial arts pictures - Li's "Twin Warriors" especially had some incredible fight sequences. There's some fine action here, as well - the picture certainly seems to have had a pretty impressive budget for a mid-level action feature.
Performances are generally good across the board. Li is excellent, as usual, and Jacky Cheung is hilarious as Frankie. Kelvin Wong as "The Doctor" also makes for a pretty intense villian. Overall, a decent take-off on "Die Hard", but not always as good as it could have been.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Meltdown" is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer from Columbia/Tristar and the results are often pretty respectable, if certainly not terrific. Sharpness and detail are acceptable, but there are several scenes that look noticably soft and lacking fine detail.
There are some problems that popped up throughout the movie. Mainly, there were some problems due to wear, including some noticable marks and speckles visible. These were not consistently apparent, but they were slightly distracting when they did appear. There were also a couple of very brief hints of edge enhancement and one or two slight traces of pixelation.
Colors appeared well-rendered and bright, with no instances of bleeding or other color problems. Overall, there were a few problems along the way that caused a bit of a distraction, but "Meltdown" certainly looked watchable.
SOUND: "Meltdown" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 English and there's really not a whole lot to it. Although I don't think I've really ever seen a great dubbed version of anything, this isn't a particularly well-dubbed English version of the picture. There's not a great deal of activity sound-wise; surrounds didn't seem to be used a great deal outside of the score and a few of the more intense action sequences. It's unfortunate that the original language version apparently couldn't be included.
MENUS:: Although Tristar does provide some animated menus occasionally, they don't usually do it for a smaller title. Suprisingly, "Meltdown" opens with a very nicely done animated clip and main menu in Dolby Digital 5.1.
EXTRAS: Trailers for "Meltdown", "Once Upon A Time In China Series", "Red Dragon", "Gorgeous" and "The Prisoner". Also, photo gallery and talent files.
Final Thoughts: "Meltdown" is a very good take on the "Die Hard" genre of action, but I wish it would have used Li's terrific martial arts skills a more than it did. Audio/video quality for the film is average, but fans of Li may want to give the film a look.
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