Review of This Is Kung Fu

Introduction

Before I start, a plea. Apologies if you`ve read this before, but maybe the repetition might make someone listen. And I like saying it. So there. I don`t really care if I sound like a broken record (or CD for the younger generation, or perhaps even corrupt MP3 file for the really young generation).

Can any DVD company who have rights to martial arts films, and who aren`t called Hong Kong Legends, please transfer all those rights to the aforementioned Hong Kong Legends effective immediately. Nobody does it better than Hong Kong Legends, although perhaps because nobody is trying. But if you won`t try, then don`t do it at all. The reason for this rant will once again become clear in a moment.

Right then, on with this DVD. It`s supposed to be a documentary featuring scenes of hand-to-hand and combat with weapons.

Video

A rather average full frame transfer. Not much information lying around about this documentary, so I`m guessing it was made (probably for TV) like this, but I wouldn`t put it past this bunch to have cropped an original print (they do have previous experience of this).

It`s a bit of a mess, and not very nice to watch, which is a shame as there is at least some interesting scenery. For the most part, the martial arts action is a bit blurred and not so easy to watch and enjoy. And there are some scenes of a very young Jet Li showing off some amazing skills for one so young.

Audio

Two pairs of rather bad soundtracks. You can choose from DD2.0 Mandarin, DD5.1 Mandarin, DD2.0 Cantonese and DD5.1 Cantonese. And they are all pretty bad, with the DD5.1 soundtracks actually sounding worse, with distortion and some very forced sounds. So this is one where the stereo tracks are better.

And I`ll also make a bold statement. This is the time for a good English narrator to explain what`s going on. I`m usually against "dubs" but in this case, English narration would have vastly improved the viewing experience.

As it is, you have to make do with the ludicrous subtitles. It`s obvious that no-one has read these, because for much of the time they don`t make any sense whatsoever.

Features

There are trailers for other DVDs as well as the main feature itself.

Conclusion

Another DVD that turns out to be a total waste of time. Because of the awful subtitles, you just can`t watch this. There could be some interesting information and background to be gleaned here, but you`ll never know.

If this had been cleaned up, given a nice soundtrack and accurate subtitles, or nice English narration, then it would be worthwhile. Sometimes you can get away with doing none of this, as the film gets even funnier with these problems. But with what is essentially a documentary, it needs to be handled with respect to make it worth watching.

If you want to see some great martial arts (with nice picture, sound, subtitles and more) then try Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Legend of a Fighter, Magnificent Butcher, Drunken Master, Snake in the Eagle`s Shadow, Once Upon a Time in China or Fist of Legend.

If you want a difficult to watch DVD, this is your thing. Avoid, and watch all the other films I listed instead.