Review of Snuff Bottle Connection

Introduction

Before I start, a plea. Apologies if you`ve read this before, but maybe the repetition might make someone listen.

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 become clear in a moment.

Right then, on with this DVD.

An undercover agent sets out to investigate a murder, in the midst of some tension between China and Russia. The snuff bottle of the title holds the key to unravelling the mystery...

Video

A pretty nasty anamorphic 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. It`s a bit of a mess, absolutely reeking of print damage in the form of scratches, dust and dirt. There`s never a clean moment in the entire film, there`s always some scratch or even a big tear in the print. There are massive great lines running through bits of the final fight too.

Better than some of these titles, but still not what we`re used to.

Audio

A pair of rather bad DD2.0 soundtracks, one in the original language, the other a terrible English dub. The technical quality of the dub is better than the original language (Which is full of distortion) soundtrack. As ever there are lots of weedy sound effects added over the top. One of the dubbed voices is a sub-Leslie Phillips type accent and is totally ridiculous. And the subtitles don`t agree with the dub, particularly on people`s ranks!

As a character says "you talk like chewing beans...."

Features

Oooh extras!

A commentary track that sounds like it was recorded on a park bench next to a busy road on someone`s dictaphone. This is one of the first commentaries where you question the technical quality of the actual track. The commentators have plenty to say about the film, but it`s hard to listen to them!

There`s also a 20 minute interview with Roy Horan, some trailers and some stills.

Conclusion

It may be an early Yuen Woo Ping film, but you should really watch almost all of his other films before even contemplating this one. It`s just old and rubbish and hindered by the poor audio and video. If you want to watch the skills of Yuen Woo Ping`s fight choreography 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 of a very average film with tatty old picture and sound, this is your thing.

Avoid, and watch all the other films I listed instead.