R E V I E W :   New Legend of Shaolin 

Reviewed 3/20/00 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

Background 

Tai Seng / 1994 / 94 minutes
Directed by Wong Jing
Written by Wong Jing

The film was released in Hong Kong cinemas in February 1994 and did well at the box office. Subsequently the star, director, and action choreographer collaborated to much greater effect in High Risk the following year.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

Plot: Hung Hei Goon is a wanted man. For his part in rebelling against the Emperor, his wife is killed and he goes on the run with his infant son. Several years pass. He trains his son Man Ting to follow in his warrior footsteps. Meanwhile, the Shaolin Temple and the Heaven and Earth Association have joined together to help bring down the government. The monks at the Shaolin Temple paint portions of a map on the backs of five young boys who are training at the temple. The map provides directions to a secret fortune that will finance the rebellion. The boys are to meet the leader of the Heaven and Earth Association so he can find the fortune. The father of one of the boys gets mixed up with the Notorious Mother and Daughter, a conning and thieving duo. Hijinks and high kicks ensue.

Performances: Jet Li remains dead serious throughout the entire movie, playing Hong Hei Goon as a humorless rebellious hero, in contrast to his more celebrated portrayals of Wong Fei Hung and Fong Sai Yuk. Chingmy Yau and Deannie Yip are bright and sassy as the (mostly unsuccessful) daughter and mother con artists. Tze Mui is very good as Man Ting, but if you've seen this film after the much more successful My Father is a Hero (as I did), in which this young actor also plays the role of Jet Li's son, it invites unfavorable comparisons.

Production: An uneasy mixture of Wong Jing humor (involving bodily functions and similar gags) and already-silly wire-fu may test your patience. Several sequences are well very imagined and executed (I'm thinking of a very clever scene involving Jet Li, Chingmy Yau, and thread). The plot elements hold forth some promise. At the end of the film, however, I was glad it was over. Too much of the plot seems routine and somewhat forced together.

Rating: Category II. Many scenes with explicit violence and resultant bloodshed.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

Look: The first and most glaring problem is that the disk is letterboxed at 1.85 to 1. But the film's true aspect ratio must be closer to 2.35 to 1 - subtitles often run off the sides, and the picture looks like an enlarged, grainy photograph taken on a toy camera. Black levels are way too light, colors are murky, and fleshtones look inhuman. The source print is in terrible shape, with blotches and dirt evident throughout. I'm no expert, and I don't want to assume I know why Tai Seng released this disk in such terrible shape. Put it in your player, press "Play," and you would be forgiven for thinking a videocassette somehow got jammed into your DVD player.

Sound: I listened to the Dolby Digital 2.0 Cantonese audio track. To be charitable, every word and sound can be understood. Beyond audibility, however, don't expect much. The other audio track provided is DD 2.0 Mandarin.

Subtitles: Chinese and English subtitles are burned into the print. As noted above, they constantly run off the side of the visible frame. Other than that, however, they convey the information you need to understand what's going on.

Features: Nine chapters are provided. Trailers are provided for Dragon Inn, Running Out of Time, Dragons of the Orient, Hitman, and The Master. The trailers also play automatically at the end of the movie. No other features are included.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent. Low priority. Be prepared for a disappointment due to the very poor DVD presentation. Several scenes display a wild sense of imagination, but overall this is not one of the better results from the teaming of Jet Li and Corey Yuen Kwai.

 

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