Crane Fighter

Rating:
Summary: Great Film given POOR DVD TREATMENT!
Review: When I first saw that CRANE FIGHTER, one of Judy Lee's best films, was finally available on DVD and in widescreen I was very excited. When I opened the box after it arrived, I became more and more DISAPPOINTED. First, this is the second of three DVDs I've ordered from amazon.com (both VIDEOASIA DVDs if that's who's to blame) that have arrived sliding around loosely inside the DVD case. After opening all THREE (!) of the security enclosed tape strips found along the sides of each box, and having the package art tear off along with the tape (AGGGHHH!), I then picked up the loose CRANE FIGHTER disc to find scratches all over it (amazon.com PLEASE tell whoever you need to that the packagers of these DVDs need to do a better job!). Luckilly both the discs I've received from amazon.com that were scratched played without skipping, but they now have no resale value. And I just might want to sell CRANE FIGHTER, but I doubt anyone would want it anyway. As I pressed play I immediatley saw that the VIDEO ASIA DVD of CRANE FIGHTER is NOT WIDESCREEN as the box label indicates. It is instead a transfer of an old VHS copy complete with lines and glitches of tape wear and tear, dull color, and blurry images (it's a copy of a copy of a copy at the very least). Also VIDEO ASIA DVDs, while sometimes providing neat interviews with stars on their DVDs, sometimes seem to run at slower speeds than the original prints. CRANE FIGHTER and INVINCIBLE ARMOR both look like something's wrong with the running speed of the film. The fight scenes especially (the best parts!) look like some silent film transfers look today. They have an unnatural speed of motion, almost like a strobe-like effect on a dance floor. I was SO DISAPPOINTED to find this out. It completely ruined my enjoyment of the films. If you are able to rent VIDEOASIA DVDs at your local rental stores, I recommend doing so before wasting your money since the quality of individual titles varies and the labels on individual DVDs are not always to be believed. I hope VIDEOASIA will treat its DVDs and it's customers with more respect in the future. Sorry, to break this news to you kung fu movie fans about this version of CRANE FIGHTER, but save your money for a better version in the future if you can.