Invincible Armor

Rating:
Summary: The Best I've Seen In The Genre
Review: Invincible Armor is packed with excellent action scenes and humorously dubbed dialogue. The main star is an amazing athlete. He can hold a pot above his head with his arm fully extended straight in the air, then shatter the pot with a kick that is as high as his own out stretched hand. With other gung fu movies, I have found myself fast-forwarding through talking parts to get to the fight scenes, which are few and far between. This movie, however, is good throughout and both the talking and action scenes are entertaining. It has a more intricate plot than most karate films. If you like action movies set in feudal China/Japan where they talk of honor, venerate elders, grow their eyebrows really bushy, jump 15 feet in the air, perform "1 inch punches," read gung fu technique manuals, train in isolation, and fight to the death, you will love Invincible Armor!

Rating:
Summary: DVD has ALTERED FILM'S SPEED!
Review: VIDEO ASIA'S DVD transfer of INVINCIBLE ARMOR has an altered film speed. It looks like some silent film transfers do with an unnatural slowing down of motion, comparable to the effect a strobe light has on the dance floor. This is a shame as INVINCIBLE ARMOR is a great film with great fights. Unfortunately, it is during the fight scenes that this speed delay is most noticeable (and distracting). The original print of this film ran at normal speed (I've seen it on VHS) and this alteration is UNEXCEPTABLE. While the DVD is widescreen and for the most part has a very crisp picture (something I cannot say is true of VIDEOASIA's recent DVD transfer of CRANE FIGHTER which is fullscreen and blurry even though the box states it's widescreed), I cannot recommend this version of the film. Sorry, but INVINCIBLE ARMOR deserves better.