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E D I T O R I A L
Selling to America — Or Selling Out?
Wednesday, July 4 — A good friend rented Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on the first day it was legally available on video in the United States, so she and her husband could finally see this movie they had heard so much about. Given a choice at the video store, she rented the dubbed English-language version instead of the original-language Mandarin version.The packaging for the DVD release of CTHD features a bright red sticker, prominently displayed, that emphasizes "English-language subtitles available."
The director of CTHD indicates on the audio commentary that the film needed a lot of talking before the first fight scene for the benefit of Western audiences.
High Risk, starring Jet Li, was recently released on DVD in Region 1. The packaging removed Jackie Cheung from the cover and depicted Li's face on top of an incredibly well-muscled body. The slogan emphasizes "revenge." Oh, and the original-language track was left off, a new musical score was added, and the title changed to Meltdown. One American DVD reviewer writes: "The main problem with dubbing is that the dialogue tries [to] match the characters' speaking patterns, which adds strange, nonsensical pauses (not mentioning the bad acting of said vocal 'talent'). Somehow though - through years of conditioning - American audiences have come to expect and love this incongruity from kung fu films. And if you like bad kung fu dubbing . . . "
A late-night American talk show host implies that Li must get tired of eating in China "since all they serve is Chinese food."
Time and Tide was scheduled to play at a three-screen art house cinema in Dallas, Texas (about 45 minutes from where I live) beginning on June 22. Then it was pushed back to June 29. Then it was removed from the schedule. When asked, the theater's manager stated: "It isn't doing the business that they expected so it has been pushed back indefinitely to make room for 'larger' films." He signed his e-mail with his name and the appellation "Market Leader."
John Charles (Hong Kong Digital) writes: "With the possible exception of GEN-Y COPS, no HK movie in recent memory has made more of an effort to court favor with Western distributors than Stanley Tong Kwai-lai's CHINA STRIKE FORCE. Yet, as of this writing, every American company that has viewed the film passed on it."
The cinema release of Gen-Y Cops has been delayed. It has been edited (40 minutes removed, 10 minutes of action footage added) because "we're finding in general that Asian audiences are getting pretty bored with the nonstop action genre, but American audiences love it," Colichman (a representative of the releasing company) said. Also, the film's score will be replaced, which Colichman said will cost $750,000. "At the moment, the music is lighter and less substantive, but it's more subtle than American audiences (are used to)," he said. Instead, it will be a "driving rock n' roll" score.
Ringo Lam's latest, Replicant, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, was released in nine HK cinemas on June 15. For the week, it grossed $19,822, according to Box Office Mojo. (Playing on 50 screens, The Mummy Returns grossed $2,482,626; its per-theater average was 24 times higher.) Replicant will be released direct to video in the United States on September 18, according to UpcomingMovies.com.
Jackie Chan's next co-star may be Jennifer Love Hewitt.
So it goes in America, land of the free, as people celebrate Independence Day by blowing up Chinese fireworks.
During the last couple of days, I saw:
Burning Paradise (AKA Rape of the Red Temple) (1994)
Rent. Seen on videocassette. Perhaps not what was expected from director Ringo Lam Ling-Tung after the hardcore nihilism of Full Contact. Fong Sai Yuk (Willie Chi Tin Sang) battles evil in the form of the Red Lotus Temple with prostitute Tou Tou (the fetching Carman Lee Yeuk-Tung in her third film role) at his side. The film was a box office disappointment (grossing just HK $1.8 million dollars during its one week run in early April 1994 - it had the misfortune to open against Hail the Judge, a HK $30 million dollar hit). Director Lam displays a disconcerting unevenness of tone, bouncing from nasty fighting to light comedy to a touch of romance. The action scenes (choreographed by Chris Lee Kin Sang, among his last work) are brutal and dazzling as Fong leads fellow Shaolin Temple prisoners as they try to escape and survive the mind-bending multitude of deadly traps within the Red Lotus Temple. The violence is near-constant and often quite explicit - the first five minutes, in which one man is split in two and a horse is decapitated - should give you a good idea of what you're in for.Gohatto (1999) - Japan -
Rent. Seen on television. Long-time filmmaker Nagisa Oshima scripted and directed an examination of lives that become entangled by the love of men for other men in the Kyoto militia, circa 1865. Very low-key, with fine acting (highlighted by the performance of Takeshi Kitano as a one-man Greek chorus), beautiful sets, stylized cinematography, and a lilting, haunting musical score by Ryuichi Sakamoto. A bit stiff, and evidently a disappointment for many who expected something more startling from the director.
Upcoming reviews/Site news: Still working on the new site design adjustment, logo, and artwork. The new domain (abtdvd.com) is now available and may be bookmarked. Tomorrow I hope to post reviews of Ringo Lam's The Adventurers and the Region 1 release of Meltdown.
As always, please feel free to e-mail me your comments, whether positive or negative.
peter
Editor / Reviewer / Webmaster
Current Editorial | Current Index
Jet Li's 30 Babies (6/27/01)
Alive and Kicking (6/21/01)
Remakes and Rip-Offs (6/6/01)
Real Life Vs. Cinemas (5/30/01)
Dreaming in Cantonese (5/16/01)
The Echo of Small Children (5/3/01)
Hong Kong Film Awards: Who Won? (4/26/01)
A Tale of Three Directors (4/19/01)
Supermodels of the HK Film World (4/12/01)
What are you prepared to do? (4/6/01)
Academy Awards Special (3/26/01)
The Price of Success (3/19/01)
Is Jackie Chan Still the Man? part 1 (3/12/01)
Great Expectations (3/7/01)
In the Mood for Change (2/26/01)
Bronchitis on the Brain (2/12/01)
Hong Kong Sequel Blues (2/5/01)
Better or Best? (1/29/01)
To Dub or Not to Dub (1/22/01)
Scenes From a Fractured Skull (1/15/01)
Year-End Round-Up (1/7/01)
Briefly noted (12/31/00)
Wuxia Fantasies and the Black-and-White Western (12/24/00)
Raiders of the lost heart (12/17/00)
The movie week in review (12/10/00)
Redesigning A Better Tomorrow (12/3/00)
The fantasy begins again (11/26/00)
A return and a shortened work week, hurrah! (11/20/00)
That blasted job! (11/12/00)
Hollywood, Jet, Jackie, Fred, and Gene (11/6/00)
Did you want blood with that? (10/30/00)
Do you like cold pizza? (10/24/00)
Preparing for the Legend (10/16/00)
The pauper must pay (10/10/00)
A visit to Five Star Laser (10/05/00)
A brief vacation (9/25/00)
The editor's plea (8/20/00)
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