HKL Way of the Dragon
05-07-02, 05:33 PM
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HKL Way of the Dragon
well, i got my first HongKong Legends DVDs and to be honest, i'm not totally blown away by it. they certainly are probably the best versions out there, but it is not perfect (or even close as i gathered from some comments here).
in the beginning of the movie, for some reason, the video get blurry for about 5 minutes. what's up w/ that? happens on all my players.
i think when they say totally uncut, they mean totally uncut for england... which i assume means that the english censors had taken out some shots. please correct me if i am wrong about this. i think i will do a comparison w/ my american version.
however, at least it has the cantonese soundtrack! the US boxed set killed me w/ those dubs. bruce sounds different though... as if he was dubbed in cantonese... am i way off on that?
rewatching the movie was certainly a treat for me. despite the age of the film, i'm still amazed at bruce's martial arts abilities - (almost all real unlike the wire-fu stuff which i also enjoy). he has grappling techniques - a true martial arts master knows how to grapple as it is key to fighting (especially against a superior fighter).
in the beginning of the movie, for some reason, the video get blurry for about 5 minutes. what's up w/ that? happens on all my players.
i think when they say totally uncut, they mean totally uncut for england... which i assume means that the english censors had taken out some shots. please correct me if i am wrong about this. i think i will do a comparison w/ my american version.
however, at least it has the cantonese soundtrack! the US boxed set killed me w/ those dubs. bruce sounds different though... as if he was dubbed in cantonese... am i way off on that?
rewatching the movie was certainly a treat for me. despite the age of the film, i'm still amazed at bruce's martial arts abilities - (almost all real unlike the wire-fu stuff which i also enjoy). he has grappling techniques - a true martial arts master knows how to grapple as it is key to fighting (especially against a superior fighter).
05-08-02, 12:22 AM
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those blurry scenes at the beginning were cut in the american version due to the fact that those scenes were filmed (unintentionally) out of focus. I don't believe bruce used his voice in any of his movies except for Enter the Dragon. Bey Logan mentioned Bruce actually dubbing one of the english characters though, in the commentary.
05-08-02, 07:32 PM
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ok, i've compared the US Master's set way of the dragon w/ the HKL counterpart
1. the aspect ratio is a bit wider on the HKL. also, there is more shown on top and bottom than the US version.
2. the PAL speed increase is noticeable. i'd play the same scenes and the PAL version would always end up being faster than the US. (that is, they didn't stay synced for long).
3. the blurry scene i commented on is in the US version too. just that the US version's video is terrible compared to the HKL version so i didn't notice as much.
4. there are scenes in the HKL version that aren't in the US version. makes the movie more fleshed out. some are quite interesting
5. the subtitles are different. not too much but some jokes are there that aren't in the US version. again, it helps flesh out the movie, imho.
so overall, the HKL verion is quite a bit better. and i can barely stand to watch the US version now... you've ruined me!
i guess i shouldn't have compared the video to modern movies b/c the HKL version sucks compared to those.
question: if this is rome, why does everyone speak english?
1. the aspect ratio is a bit wider on the HKL. also, there is more shown on top and bottom than the US version.
2. the PAL speed increase is noticeable. i'd play the same scenes and the PAL version would always end up being faster than the US. (that is, they didn't stay synced for long).
3. the blurry scene i commented on is in the US version too. just that the US version's video is terrible compared to the HKL version so i didn't notice as much.
4. there are scenes in the HKL version that aren't in the US version. makes the movie more fleshed out. some are quite interesting
5. the subtitles are different. not too much but some jokes are there that aren't in the US version. again, it helps flesh out the movie, imho.
so overall, the HKL verion is quite a bit better. and i can barely stand to watch the US version now... you've ruined me!
i guess i shouldn't have compared the video to modern movies b/c the HKL version sucks compared to those.question: if this is rome, why does everyone speak english?
Last edited by young; 05-08-02 at 07:35 PM.
05-08-02, 09:15 PM
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Originally posted by Player1327
those blurry scenes at the beginning were cut in the american version due to the fact that those scenes were filmed (unintentionally) out of focus. I don't believe bruce used his voice in any of his movies except for Enter the Dragon. Bey Logan mentioned Bruce actually dubbing one of the english characters though, in the commentary.
those blurry scenes at the beginning were cut in the american version due to the fact that those scenes were filmed (unintentionally) out of focus. I don't believe bruce used his voice in any of his movies except for Enter the Dragon. Bey Logan mentioned Bruce actually dubbing one of the english characters though, in the commentary.
i haven't heard the commentary yet. but overall, it is much better than my first impression. for £10, you can't beat it!
note that way of the dragon is my favorite bruce lee movie - hairy bad guy and all
