Home :: DVD :: Art House & International :: Asian Cinema  

Asian Cinema

British Cinema
European Cinema
General
Latin American Cinema
Once Upon a Time in China Box

Once Upon a Time in China Box

List Price: $49.95
Your Price: $44.96
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good martial arts movies
Review: All 3 movies are very nice, with good stories and actions. My only complaint is that in #3 I pity those cute lion heads that get destroyed since they are very artistic and not easy to make.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: anonymous
Review: An excellent piece of martial arts mastery. If you have ever liked a Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee movie you'll love this. It manages to blur the fine line between realistic martial arts and absolute ariel kung fu insanity perfectly, besting the standard set by The Matrix. Unlike most action films however these also have plots, characters, scenery and dialoque that live up to the incredible fight scenes. There is even some decent humor mixed in the keep everything varied. The only thing I could complain about is that the english subtitles make it hard to follow the plot at times and are impossible to pay attention to when a massive fight breaks out on screen. But this problem is minor and it does not prevent me from recommeding these movies as masterpeices of the kung fu genre.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: IF YOU LIKE YOUR KUNG FU ON THE ROCKS, THIS IS GRAND CANYON
Review: Expect a liberal dose of everything you generally do from a martial arts flick -- slapstick comedy, overly melodramatic subplotting, and, on occasion, even a hint of a story.

All that aside (which is how I am sure the director saw it) the balletic, intricate and often incredible stunt work during the action scenes is an absolute treat. Jet Li's utter disregard for human limits is evident as he turns in a surprisingly measured yet kinetic performance, nothing like his forgettable Hollywood yawns.

The subtitles for this Mandarin-language effort are a bit difficult to read, since the English is in small print below the more prominent Chinese subtitles. But when the action kicks into gear, forget them and just watch the graceful choreography of the fight scenes.

Notably notable in the three installments:

PART-I:
A mind-blowing hook-and-ladder battle, plus a terrific umbrella sequence.

PART-II:
The climactic fight with Donnie Yen. The speed and technique shown during the double-pole fight is staggering; Yen's moves with his cloth staff left me gob-smacked.

PART-III:
This one clearly suffers and is even borderline skippable. The final fight scene at the lion-dance competition is a colorful pageant, but lacks the impact of the one-on-one fights in the first two films, mainly because the participants are all wearing giant lion head masks.


All in all, can't go Wong with this purchase.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nice package!
Review: Got a great deal with this one, used a discount code from amazon... :) got $30 off of it... nice!!! :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jet at his best
Review: I don't need to review this, this is a classic. You must watch parts 1-3, and then get Once Upon a Time in China and America. For some strange reason, he abruptly left the series after part 3, and made The Last Hero in China, a spoof of his previous work.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AWESOME!!!
Review: If you love martial arts films this is the movie set for you. These movies are up there with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and The Legend 1&2 (you should check out these movies as well). This is a great deal. It saves you about $30. These all have very good plots and the fights are well coreographed.These take place in a China long gone, where foreigners are almost taking over China and taking advantage of the Chinese people.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome Pre-America Jet Li Flicks
Review: If you thought Jet Li products like "The One," "Black Mask" or "Cradle 2 The Grave" were great films--you don't know what you've been missing. The "Once Upon A Time In China" plays like like an underground version of mainstreamed US releases, including "Crouching, Tiger." It's hardcore kung fu, with little fantasy, a good dose of history, and grimy, all-out, no-holds barred fighting.

The 6-part series (of which Li only appears in the first three, and the sixth) follows Wong Fei Hong, a doctor long renowned in Chinese legend. The setting is in late 19th century China as issues of colonialism, and suspicion toward foreigners runs ramapant. Fei Hong is usually neutral, with stronger leanings toward anti-westernization. Villains often play the part of the complete anti-westerners, doing any and everything to kick the French or British out. In the pro-west corner is Aunt Yee (aunt via a distant relation it seems, which lessens the weirdness of the romantic tension between her and Fei Hong) who dresses "modern," takes pictures with a camera, and believes the future lies in assimilating more of the western form into the culture.

Fei Hong is caught in the middle. He is extremely proud of his country and its people, but knows there is some merit to Yee's belief. For one, as a doctor, he has seen and understands some of the more efficient medical methods of the West, and knows that they surpass some, but not all Chinese methods. He fights both overly zealous Chinese and foreigners who don't mind making murder and brutality part of the process.

The Yuen Wo Ping choreographed scenes could make up a manual for shooting the kung fu fight scene. The cuts are long, extended takes, from numerous angles, with only splashes of slow motion. Wire work takes precedence over CG EFX (there aren't really any), and the fights are fast and furious, with few dramatic pauses where the fighters glare at each other, etc. You will see some of the most clever and awe-inspiring fight scenes ever caught on film.

One fight in the first volume takes place in a multi-story barn where Fei Hong battles Iron Vest Yim atop ladders and hay bales, using the ladders as if they were his feet. In the second, more historical volume, there are amazing sequences against Donnie Yen, it top "Iron Monkey" form, and a fight against the White Lotus sect where winning the battle is only half the fight: both fighters are at the same time trying to stay atop tables, ledges or people, as long as they don't touch the ground.

It's a definite must-have for your collection, and if its the start of your collection, you'll be drawn to his other pre-mainstream films as well. Note that his assistant Fu changes from volume to volume (Yuen Biao sets and is the standard as Fu in Vol. 1) but this is a minor, although slightly irritating side issue. The fights are mind-blowing--"Crouching, Tiger" without the intimations of love, fantasy, magic or slow motion. Just drawn-out street fights in the true fight-to-survive mindset.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Jet at his finest
Review: It's great to see Jet Li doing what he does best,and these films reflect that.I'm not a fan of his Hollywood fare.The only problem I have is in the film transfer.It's quite bad by today's standards.I found the Wu tang Clan's release of Yuen Woo Ping's `Shaolin Drunkard' to be of a top calibre standard.It also has 5.1 sound and tons of extras.Maybe the big boys can take a page from them.....

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Typically Terrible
Review: Jet Li is a fine martial arts stylist and an adequate actor but this film is typical of the slap-dash, juvenile style of film making practised by the Asian film industry.
Everyone character in it is based on some firmly held, narrow-minded perception of the world. Noble peasants, corrupt officials, Pure-hearted heros. The evil white guys are especially grotesque: Big Noses! Facial Hair!
Bad table manners!
Sure, Western films have been guilty of awful anti-oriental bias but there's no way a movie about the "Yellow Peril" could be released today without riots breaking out. As long as the bad guys are white, racism is OK.

The praise for this racist, silly, poorly made film is mystifying. It comes from people who are evidently easily mezmerized by frenetic visual activity being passed before their eyes. They can sit still for this far longer than the rest of us who can find more important things to do with our time like fold socks, do our homework or almost ANYTHING other than watching this film!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Typically Terrible
Review: Jet Li is a fine martial arts stylist and an adequate actor but this film is typical of the slap-dash, juvenile style of film making practised by the Asian film industry.
Everyone character in it is based on some firmly held, narrow-minded perception of the world. Noble peasants, corrupt officials, Pure-hearted heros. The evil white guys are especially grotesque: Big Noses! Facial Hair!
Bad table manners!
Sure, Western films have been guilty of awful anti-oriental bias but there's no way a movie about the "Yellow Peril" could be released today without riots breaking out. As long as the bad guys are white, racism is OK.

The praise for this racist, silly, poorly made film is mystifying. It comes from people who are evidently easily mezmerized by frenetic visual activity being passed before their eyes. They can sit still for this far longer than the rest of us who can find more important things to do with our time like fold socks, do our homework or almost ANYTHING other than watching this film!


<< 1 2 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates