Dance Of The Drunk Mantis [UK Version]: Technical Notes

Technical Notes Technical Notes:
Dance Of The Drunk Mantis [UK Version]
All Content Used With Permission.

PICTURE:
Beautiful Widescreen picture with very clear and vibrant colors.

SUB/DUB:
Language tracks include: Cantonese 5.1 Surround, English 5.1 Surround, Mandarin Stereo, Cantonese Stereo, and English Stereo. English Subtitles also available.

SOUND:
Audio at a good level, easily understandable dialogue, that is of course you are watching it with the English Language selection on.

EXTRAS:
There are loads of Extras packed on this DVD, the special features consist of, CAST AND CREW which highlight the workings of Corey Yuen Kwai, Hwang Jang Lee, Same The Seed, Yuen Shun Yi, Yuen Woo Ping and Yen Shi Kwan. A RARE FOOTAGE section contains a clip from an early Hwang Jang Lee film, as well as a deleted scene from the movie Drunken Master starring Jackie Chan. Also featured is a English Commentary track featuring Rick Baker and Toby Russell. Two INTERVIEWS are also featured on this DVD, one with Yuen Woo Ping which contains yellow easy to read subtitles. The other with the producer of this film, Ng See Yuen, which is in english, but seems to be out of sync with the video. There is also a RESTORATION demonstration, showing a clip of the movie before and after it was restored. There are also 3 Soulblade TRAILERS for the movies, Green Snake, Secret Rivals, and Dance of the Drunk Mantis.

NOTES:
The back of the DVD cover states that this DVD is Region 2, when in fact it is Region-ALL. So this DVD should be a safe buy even if you currently do not own a Region-Free DVD player.

-Shaolin Chamber (see my profile)
http://www.shaolinchamber.com


I first managed to see this via the Soulblade disc but it is a poor disc (I don't think was checked before release!). It has a number of problems, particulary with anamorphic encoding resulting in distortion vertically and horizontally in every feature except the deleted scene. Subtitles are not bad but they are nearly-based with the English dub. Audio in Ng See Yuen interview is out of sync. Ultamately a defective disc so beware! I recommend you pick up the Mei Ah version instead!

-SN16260 (see my profile)


Rating, Out Of 5 Stars
I have just bought the new DVD "Dance Of The Drunk Mantis: Drunken Master 2" from a new label called Soul Blade...

To be honest here--and let's say brutal--the DVD was below average/fairly poor compared with Hong Kong Legends.

Guys, if you are going to release a debut DVD giving us lost and entertaining kung fu films, make sure you DON'T DON'T do any of the following;

  1. Release interviews that have appeared(in better visual & audio quality) in other DVDs (eg Hong Kong Legends)
  2. Release rare footage from Drunken Master that has appeared in other DVDs (eg Hong Kong Legends)
  3. Ask two 'experts' to record a commentary track that tells us nothing we don't already know and then have the sound quality from one 'expert' to be nearly inaudiable (Get Bey Logan or Rick Meyers to do it instead)
  4. Give us a feature that gives us background to each actor/director that we can't read unless we sit an Inch from the television
  5. Give us a restoration feature that will spoil the whole film without warning us first in LARGE text before the feature

What's left? A couple of trailers, great film, good audio and good subtitles which is to be expected anyway!!

-mike surman


CLOSE THIS WINDOW

This window is a "pop-up" from Dance Of The Drunk Mantis [UK Version] at HKFlix.com.
If you've arrived here from somewhere else,
please CLICK HERE for our home page!