The Legend of Zu (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

A film that had tremendous potential but becomes of a special effects-laden film without any deep overtones.

THE LEGEND OF ZU (2001)
CAST: Ekin Cheng, Louis Koo, Sammo Hung, Zhang Zi Yi, Cecilia Cheung and Wu Jing.
DIRECTED BY: Tsui Hark
PRODUCED BY: Tsui Hark
DURATION: 100 minutes
Note:  Viewed China Star DVD version with removable English subtitles.

Movie Synopsis:

Legend of Zu stars Zhang Ziyi of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fame, as well as martial arts star Sammo Hung. In this latest high-flying and far-leaping adventure from Hong Kong, Zhang plays a young woman who does battle with an evil strongman in the ancient mythological province of Zu. Zhang’s warrior princess is joined by Ekin Cheng, Cecilia Cheung and Wu Jing.

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DVD EXTRAS:

- DTS track, Making of Featurette (with English subtitles), trailer, movie trailers for “Love on a Diet” and more.

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I know of

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DVD REVIEW:

Back in the early 80′s, Tsui Hark directed a movie titled “Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain”. A movie that is highly regarded as the movie that pioneered many fantasy movies that followed like “Bride with White Hair”, “Heroic Trio”, etc. In fact, “Zu Warriors from Magic Mountain” is like what “Star Wars” is to the United States.

In 2001, Tsui Hark is back with “The Legend of Zu” featuring a similar storyline but yet very different. The story features Ekin Cheng as Xuan. A powerful swordsman whose tribe was wiped out by the evil entity known as Insomnia. Together with his friend Red (Koo) which is similar to X-Men’s Archaengel with the protective metallic, blade-like wings try to team up with Omei’s grandmaster (Sammo Hung plays the same character like he did in the original movie) and the Omei clan featuring it’s protectors Enigma (Cecilia Cheung) who is like a reincarnation of Xuan’s love who died 200 years ago and as you can tell it’s getting confusing the more I try to explain it.

I guess you can liken this movie to a videogame RPG like “Final Fantasy” because in fact, this beautiful, abundance of special effects movie is like a live RPG with many characters and plenty of cool fighting moves.

Like the first movie, many people will get confused with the storyline because it goes into some mythological type overtones. Where many people loved, the first movie…I couldn’t get into it. Where many people compared this to the first and didn’t like it, I enjoyed it.

This is a film that I’m sure cost a lot of money. It appears that nearly the whole landscape was computer generated and it looks very Final Fantasy-ish.

As for the DVD, it looks great and it sounds great thanks to the DTS soundtrack. The video quality is great but noticed some artifacting in the dark areas.

If there is one major problem with this DVD is that in some areas there are no subtitles. This was the first time I experienced a DVD which featured subtitles missing in certain dialogue scenes. Although not a long time (maybe less than a minute) but I was surprised to see this problem.

The special features feature a making-of, cast info, trailers, etc.

“The Legend of Zu” is not for everyone. I really think this will appeal to the videogame crowd to the awesome special effects, RPG like overtone and the awesome fight scenes. But for those wanting to see a straightforward movie, this might not be for you.

THE MOVIE: B+
THE DVD EXTRAS: B-
THE DVD OVERALL: B

 

Leave Me Alone (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

Easily one of my favorite HK films of 2004!  Ekin Cheng shows us once again why he’s one of Hong Kong cinema’s top stars!

Leave Me Alone (2004)

CAST: Ekin Cheng, Charlene Choi, Kenny Bee, Lawrence Chou, Jan Lamb, Chi Wah Wong

Directed by Danny Pang

DURATION: 97 minutes

COMPANY:  Tai Seng Entertainment

2004 had several cool movies come out of Hong Kong and among my top 5 movies was “Leave Me Alone”.

The story is about two twin brothers (both played by Ekin Cheng). Yiu Chun-Man is a gay fashion designer who has problems with holding any relationships because of his fast paced work life. He is visited by his twin brother Yiu Chun-Kit, who came from Thailand to visit his brother in Hong Kong.

Both were separated when their parents divorced, so both brothers wanted to catch up on how their lives have been in the last ten years. Yiu Chun-Kit is not aware that his brother is gay but he makes the trip to Hong Kong with more than just a reason just to meet his brother and catch up on old times.

One morning, Yiu Chun-Kit borrows his brotherʼs car and runs into a woman and gets into an accident. Since he doesnʼt have his license, it is assumed that Yiu Chun-Man is the person who got into an accident. As Yiu Chun-Man awaits in the hospital while his brother is in a coma, his brotherʼs phone rings and it appears that Yiu Chun-Kitʼs girlfriend, Jane (played by Charlene Choi) needs her boyfriend back in Thailand to sign papers for a loan. Since his brother is in a coma and due to the accident, it is assumed that Yiu Chun-Man is in a coma, he goes to Thailand in his brotherʼs place. It is there that you learn that the life that Yiu Chun-Kit has lived has been borrowing money from loan sharks who are expecting payment within the next few days and if they donʼt receive the loan money from the bank, Yiu Chun-Kit and Jane will pay with their lives.

They donʼt get the loan and Jane and Yiu Chun-Man (using his twinʼs identity) are on the run, trying to find ways to get money to pay off the debt. Unfortunately, Jane tends to do what she wants and it tends to get her into trouble and leads to both she and Yiu Chun-Man taking on triad bosses. “Leave Me Alone” is actually very entertaining and the camera work is very well done.

Ekin Cheng does a fantastic job playing two different roles. Yiu Chun- Man has frilly hair, gay and is passive and Yiu Chun-Kit is Mr. Cool, he dresses well but very pro-active. Eking Cheng did a great job that you reallyndonʼt question him playing two roles at all.

As for Charlene Choi (member of the music duo, TWINS), I actually found it very entertaining to see her play another different type of role. I also found her much more mature and sexy in this role.  This time around, the chemistry between Ekin and Charlene works a lot better this time around compared to their first pairing in “My Wife is 18” due to their different types of roles played and frankly, their age difference. Charlene Choi is quite sexy in this film but what may be a long stretch for many HK viewers is to see Charlene play an active role as a gun-toting, action heroine and Ekin Cheng standing back in his role as Yiu Chun-Man (Well, Yiu Chun-Man is a fashion designer) and to see these two work with each otherʼs characters, definitely works.

The action scenes are typical HK fun with guns ablazing, unimaginable ammo coming from one clip, car chase segments and much more. The computer generated graphics are good and not as fake looking. Although an action movie, the film offers another story about relationships. Since both brothers have to assume the otherʼs identities, they get to learn more about how each brother has lived, their faults and why they both have problems with their relationships and the people they love. As for the DVD, I found the video quality very good, presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and the audio quality is served in DTS or Digital 5.1 and sounded sweet during the action segments on my home theater system.

The DVD offers several special features such as a making of featurette, teaser, trailer, production notes and other extras or usual offerings on HK DVDʼs. If there was one negative that I found, itʼs not more of a negative but more nitpicking is that if you select the title menu button on your remote, it will take you directly to the movie and not the title screen. Thus you need to select the DTS or Digital 5.1 sound first after the copyright screen to access the title menu and not by remote.

“Leave Me Alone” is a fun film that was among my top 5 for 2004. Ekin Cheng does a wonderful job of playing two different characters, Charlene Choi showing us that she can play something new and to find an actionfilm that a good balance of humor and not so much seriousness was nice to have and I recommend people to check this DVD out.

 

My Sassy Girl: Director’s Cut (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

All in all, this “My Sassy Girl” will make you laugh and will make you cry. It’s that beautiful of a movie!

Images courtesy of © Starmax. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: My Sassy Girl: Director’s Cut

Starring: Jeon Ji-hyun, Chae Tae-Hyun

Directed by Kwak Jae-Yong

DURATION: 137 Minutes

COMPANY: Starmax (Region 3)

The story of a naive young college student and his bizarre girlfriend. A smash hit from the summer of 2001, this film features megastar Jeon Ji-hyun and her wacky, violent, somewhat out-of-control behavior.

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DVD EXTRAS:

• two-disc set) Director’s Cut (14 min. longer than theatrical release) / Trailers / Cast & Crew info / Image Gallery / Music Videos (2) / Interviews / Previews / Bloopers / Deleted Scenes / ‘Making-of’ video essay / Production Notes / audio commentary by director and Cha Tae-hyun (special features are not subtitled)

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S):

From the Korean Film Discussion Board: To get into the secret menu, insert ‘disc 2′ first. Then go to ‘Must See’ and choose ‘first round (chonbanchon)’ from ‘Making Menu’. You will see the first 9 items there. Move your underlined indicator either to 6th or 7th item, click right-arrow button. Then you will see ‘Time Capsule’ icon displayed between Cha and Jeon change to blue color. Clicking will turn ‘Time Capsule’ into the yellow, and you will be entered to the hidden menu at last. And here is one more hidden feature there. Go to ‘CAST & STAFF’, choose ‘Director/Kwan Jaeyong’. The name of his previous movie is typed in red color. Click that, you can see music video of the movie. This is easter egg inside of easter egg. There is also another easter egg under PRODUCTION NOTE… click on the food in the middle of the table, next to the soju bottles… it’s just a short video of them messing around…

For so long, this Korean movie has been receiving rave reviews from nearly everyone who has seen it and commented about it.

After just finishing the movie several minutes ago, I can probably comment that this has to be in my current list of my top 5 Asian romantic comedy movies within the last five years.

The movie is based on the real life Internet postings of Ho-Sik Kim about his relationship with his girlfriend and was later made to a book and shortly to a movie.

The movie focuses on Kyun-Woo. A college student that is looking for the right girl but during a ride in the subway encounters a drunk, rude and outspoken girl who would change his life.

All he really wants is to help her through her problems because he can feel the sorrow in her.

The movie focuses on these two characters surprisingly with no other characters. The comedy is split into three parts. The first half focuses on how the two meet. The second half focuses on the two and their friendship and how they are growing closer within their friendship and the third half, well…that would be revealing too much.

As for the DVD, the Korean Director’s Cut is the way to go! With all the special features and DVD easter eggs, it makes sense to buy the Korean version than anything else. If there is one problem that you may have read in the reviews of this DVD is the use of a script for the subtitles. Thus if a person is angry:

Kyun-Woo: (Angry)

So, there are descriptions for emotions or actions which was later revealed on the Korean Film Message Forum because of Koreans who are studying the English language. Despite the subtitles having these descriptions, this is not a reason to not buy the DVD. If anything, the DVD is worth getting.

As for the Director’s Cut version, there is several minutes tacked on to the “screenplay” segments and for some, the director’s cut maybe too long but again, this doesn’t distract the viewer from the actual enjoyment of this storyline.

The special features are great and there are quite a bit of them and also hidden easter eggs. Unfortunately, they are not subtitled but who knows, maybe there will be a US release like “SHIRI” and those segments maybe subtitled next time.

All in all, this movie will make you laugh and make you cry. It’s that beautiful of a movie. Both characters fit their characters perfectly and this movie easily deserves one of the highest rating on nt2099 Asian DVD reviews.

THE MOVIE: A+
THE DVD EXTRAS: A
THE DVD OVERALL: A

 

My Little Bride (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

A film that could have headed south, “My Little Bride” is an entertaining and uplifting romantic comedy.

Images courtesy of © Edko Films Limited. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: My Little Bride (Eorin Shinbu)

CAST: Kim Rae-won, Moon Geun-Young, Park Jinwoo

DIRECTED by Jim Hojun

DURATION: 116 minutes

DVD: Korea Pictures (2004)

Iʼve been watching more and more gems coming out of Korea and so far, in terms of romantic comedies, there hasnʼt been one that really has disappointed me.

“My Little Bride” is such a film that could have gone wrong but fortunately works itself out to be an enjoyable film.  The storyline for “My Little Bride”focuses on a 16-year old girl named Boeun. Sheʼs a typical teenager that studies hard, has a crush on the high school baseball pitcher and enjoying life as a teen.  For Sangmin, heʼs a university student who makes the travel back home to Korea and is greeted by Boeun, who he has always treated like a little sister.

Upon his return, the two learn than Boeunʼs grandfather promised Sangminʼs grandfather that their kids would marry.  Unfortunately, both children were men, thus the promise was carried on to the fatherʼs children and thus,the parents of Boeun and Sangmin have agreed to have their children marry each other.  As expected, both children does not accept the marriage (especially since Boeun is a young, high school-teenager) but when the grandfather fakes his sickness as near death,the two decide to honor their grandfathers wish and get married.

Thus the story of Sangmin and Boeun and how they live together as husband and wife, how Boeun continues her high school life while trying to get close to her baseball playing friend and maintaining a marriage that she keeps secret.As for Sangmin, he seems to honor the marriage but what can he do?  Since the marriage was forced upon him and his bride, he has his own life as does Boeun, who has an active teen life.

What I enjoyed about “My Little Bride” is how the story progresses and how we see both characters grow and how they look at each other differently.

Without giving too much away,Iʼmquite satisfied how this film was written.  It was written in a way that you donʼt get to disturb about the age difference between the two main characters.  Both Sangmin and Boeun are very likable characters.Itʼs definitely a romantic comedy that I found very entertaining. Youʼre greeted with several characters from parents of Sangmin and Boeun, to also their friends and they each add something special to the storyline.

As for the DVD (note: I am reviewing the Edko HK released version), the video quality was pretty good but I was definitely happy with the audio since DTS ES and Dolby Digital Surround EX was included. Although, not a film known for special effects, itʼs great to find a DVD that includes those choices.

As for special features, the DVD features the theatrical theater, TV spot, music videos, photo gallery and cast filmographies.  There are two music videos which include the music video sung by Moon Geun young who plays Boeun but unfortunately, the quality is not so great.

“My Little Bride” is definitely an entertaining film.While itʼs not so great to other fun romantic comedies such as“Please Teach Me English” to the ultra popular “My Sassy Girl”, “My Little Bride” is definitely a movie that seems to have been created for the teenage to young adult crowd.

And if Koreaʼs teen movies, are like this, then Iʼm definitely going to watch more.  Although you enjoy the characters in the movie, thereʼs only so much you can get on the romantic side of the film due to the age difference of Sangmin and Boeyung. Boeunʼs character is easily believable as a teen who got married. Sangmin is a bit more harder to sympathize with.

As a college student who looks like he can date a lot of women,can he actually fall for a young teen?

To me, itʼs hard to picture and to understand but the truth is that there are men like that.This is where the movie could have been worse but the directory and the storytelling does make you understand these two and perhaps, how age has no boundaries when it comes to love.  So, itʼs easy to say that this is one of those movies that may entertain viewers or put them off.

I enjoyed “My Little Bride”and found the film to be fun and an interesting take on arranged marriages, especially marriage between people of different age groups. Check it out!