HK DVD Heaven basically ripped Hong Kong Legends a new hole with their review for Drunken Master:

DM Review

Are these DVDs as bad as they make them out to be? As a Chan completist, is it worth the purchase, or do you think something better may come along?

These discs were among HKL's first releases, and because of print damage IIRC, they cropped the films to make the picture look better and obscure the damage. They learned their lesson after getting reamed by various people, and haven't done it again. I don't think they have said they'll do a new version, though.

He complains about having a Mandarin, but no Cantonese track. Is Cantonese the original language? I thought Mandarin was, in fact, the original language for Drunken Master. I could be wrong, I don't pretend to know for sure, but that is what I have been told on a few occassions.

For the record, this is NOT TRUE! I wish people would stop repeating it. They were cropped to appeal to the people who dislike 2.35:1 letterbox. It was a business decision and a BAD one. Thankfully, they realized this rather quickly and all current and future releases are original apect ratio.

I also spoke with with an expert telecine colorist and he said there is no reason to crop ANY 2.35:1 film down to 1.78:1 because of print damage, no matter how severe. They sometimes crop them to 2.30:1 or 2.25:1, but that is it. If a print is so damaged that it must be cropped to 1.78:1, then it could not be used at all.

As to the review, the guy is being a jerk. I am no fan of what HKL did to there first three film releases, but to say that "this is one of the worst DVD's I've seen" is pathetic. I can list a hundred titles that would make the HKL Drunken Master look like a THX certified Robert Harris restoration. Fact is, DM looks fantastic. It IS cropped, but the 1.78:1 image is superb and better than any previous version ever released on any format in any country at any time.

You want to see a bad looking DVD? Check out the U.S. version, which is a laughable port from a laserdisc.

I'd have to agree. Drunken Master HKL looks awesome! HKL does a damn fine job with all of their DVDs and deserves a lot of respect.

I'm happy with my copies. The prints are pretty good for how old they are. I don't think the framing hurts the movie much either. Maybe in a few moments it's a little tight but not enough to ruin any fights or any other parts. If you like the movies pick them up I don't think you will get much better in the near future.

Thanks alot, guys! That's exactly what I wanted to know.

Matt, thanks for the correct info on these. It's the first I've heard any other story.

Malata owners! Remember that you can zoom OUT and eliminate your TV's overscan for some extra picture info on the sides. This does help quite a bit in some scenes with wide framing.

I zoomed out the picture on Fist of Fury and The Goonies after reading about this in another post of yours. Amazing how much more image I got!

Tha latest rumors from
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvds.com/vie...ic=407&forum=1

There is a big chance (95%) that HKL will redo "Drunken Master" and "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" as platinum editions.

Hmmm, now I guess I'll just have to hold off buying these until I hear more information. Thanks for the news.