Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan attends a news conference for the upcoming charity event “Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders” in Hong Kong March 24, 2011. The Hong Kong entertainment industry will organize the charity event to pay respects to the deceased, send condolences and love to those who have lost their loved ones and encourage the survivors of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The Karate Kid (2010) (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Fantastic!  I was skeptical towards this film and part of me wanted to dislike this film because I enjoyed the original so much.  But the truth is, I really enjoyed this film and felt this remake was faithful to the original but also, production-wise, much bigger than the original.  Both Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan are fantastic and if anything, this is an awesome, inspirational, heartfelt and entertaining film.  Highly recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2010 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Karate Kid

FILM RELEASE: 2010

DURATION: 140 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English, French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English-Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French

COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RATED: PG (for bullying, martial arts, action violence and some mild language)

Release Date: October 5, 2010

Directed by Harald Zwart

Screenplay by Christopher Murphey

Story by Robert Mark Kamen

Executive Producer: Susan Ekins, Sanping Han, Dany Wolf

Produced by James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Ken Stovitz, Jerry Weintraub

Co-Producer: Solon So

Line Producer: Chiu Wah Lee, Er-Dong Liu

Music by James Horner

Cinematography by Roger Pratt

Edited by Joel Negron

Casting by PoPing AuYeung, Zoe Thompson

Production Design by Francois Seguin

Art Direction by Second Chan

Costume Design by Han Feng

Starring:

Jaden Smith as Dre Parker

Jackie Chan as Mr. Han

Taraji P. Henson as Sherry Parker

Wenwen Han as Meiying

Rongguang Yu as Master Li

Zhensu Wu as Meiying’s Dad

Zhiheng Wang as Meiying’s Mom

Zhenwei Wang as Cheng

Jared Minns as Dre’s Detroit Friend

Shijia Lu as Liang

Yi Zhao as Zhuang

Bo Zhang as Song

Luke Carberry as Harry

Cameron Hillman as Mark

Ghye Samuel Brown as Oz

Rocky Shi as Ur Dang

Ji Wang as Mrs. Po

Harry Van Gorkum as Music Instructor

12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) could’ve been the most popular kid in Detroit, but his mother’s (Taraji P. Henson) latest career move has landed him in China. Dre immediately falls for his classmate Mei Ying – and the feeling is mutual – but cultural differences make such a friendship impossible. Even worse, Dre’s feelings make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng. In the land of kung fu, Dre knows only a little karate, and Cheng puts “the karate kid” on the floor with ease. With no friends in a strange land, Dre has nowhere to turn but maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), who is secretly a master of kung fu. As Han teaches Dre that kung fu is not about punches and parries, but maturity and calm, Dre realizes that facing down the bullies will be the fight of his life.’

Hot Water is Not Working

Training Montage Great Wall

Your Focus Needs More Focus

Trailer

When word came out that “The Karate Kid” would receive a remake, I have to admit that I was quite skeptical.  With the announcement of martial arts superstar Jackie Chan as the first star named, although I love Jackie Chan, I was even more skeptical because of the location of where the film would take place (China) and that karate is not a Chinese martial art.  Also, that director Harold Zwart  (“Agent Cody Banks”, “Pink Panther 2″) would be the direct.  And to even further my skepticism, the announcement of actor Will Smith’s young son Jaden Smith (“The Pursuit of Happyness”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”) as the main character did calm my nerves one bit.

That is until I watched the film.

And what an enjoyable film “The Karate Kid” remake  came to be and many people agreed as the film which was budgeted around $40 million had made $334 million worldwide and the majority of the reviews were positive.  And as for the name “The Karate Kid”, despite the film not having anything to do with karate, because the film is a remake, for the American release, the film will be known as “The Karate Kid” but in Asia, the film would go by the name “The Kung Fu Kid”.

“The Karate Kid” (2010) revolves around Dre Parker (played by Jaden Smith), a 12-year-old boy who lives with his mother Sherry (played by Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Boston Legal”) and are leaving Detroit to go to Beijing where her mother will be working.

Dre’s first day in Beijing seemed to look as if everything was going well.  Dre finds himself falling for young violinist named Mei Ying (played by Wen Wen Han) and as the two seem to be having fun, Dre is beaten by a bunch of bullies led by Cheng (played by Zhenwei Wang).

To make things worse for Dre, he finds out that the bullies attend the same school as him and they continue to give him a hard time.    So, Dre tries to learn karate by video and even thinks about joining the local kung fu school but only to learn that the bully Cheng and his friends are students at the Kung-Fu school.  Knowing that he is over matched and no way he can defend himself against them, Dre wants to leave China badly but his mother tells him that China is their new home.

Now always in fear of the bullies, Dre tries to avoid them the best he can. But one day, when Dre finds an opportunity to get back at them, he ends up getting beaten so bad until the maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) steps in to save his life and beats the bullies up himself.

Mr. Han tries to help Dre and prevent the bullying by talking to the Kung-Fu instructor Master Li (played by Yu Rongguang) but learns that Master Li teaches Kung Fu without mercy and that he will not stop the kids from bullying Dre unless he fights them at the local Kung Fu tournament.  Mr. Han finds Master Li’s way of Kung Fu as disgusting and bad, but he and Master Li make a deal that Chen and his friends can not touch Dre and if Dre wins, they will not touch him anymore.

Mr. Han tells Dre that he will have to fight at the tournament but he will train him in the right way of learning Kung Fu, but as a student, Dre must do everything he tells him to.

Will Dre be prepared to take on any opponent at the Kung Fu tournament, let alone Cheng and the other bullies?

VIDEO:

“The Karate Kid” (2010) is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1).    If there is one thing that this remake does have an edge over the original is that this film was shot in China and the film looks absolutely beautiful in HD.  There is so much detail in this film, may it be the paint peeling off  from the walls or wood, the detail on the wood bars when Dre visits a Kung-Fu training area.  The film looks absolutely magnificent on Blu-ray!

The film is absolutely breathtaking as we see how wonderful the cinematography is (courtesy of Roger Pratt, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”, “Iris”, “Chocolat”) when we see the various mountainous regions of China, the Great Wall of China and surprisingly how much access the filmmaker was given to shoot this film.  But also it helps to have the co-production with a major Chinese film company who also wanted to make the film look authentic and real.

Colors are absolute vibrant, flesh tones look fantastic, backs are nice and deep and once again, the detail of this film and the colors are just wonderful.  Everything about the picture quality of this film is pristine and there is a fine layer of grain on the film.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Karate Kid” (201o) not only looks spectacular, the lossless audio is also fantastic.  The film is presented in English and French 5.1 DTS-HD MA and also presented in English – Audio Description 5.1 Dolby Digital.  The dialogue is crisp and clear.  The music of James Horner (“Avatar”, “Troy”, “Enemy at the Gates”, “Titanic”) is as always fantastic and you also get a good dose of popular music with Lady Gaga and Flo Rida.  But as the dialogue and music comes perfectly from the center and front channels but also, there is great use of the surround channels.

Earlier on, you can hear the punching and the kicks coming from the surround channels but you can also hear the ambiance of crowds (especially during the tournament), the rain, Mr. Han working on his car (or demolishing his car), “Karate Kid” is such a film that takes advantage of the soundscape. Overall, the audio quality for “The Karate Kid” is fantastic!

Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH and French.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“The Karate Kid” comes with the following special features presented in HD, English Stereo and English subtitles:

• ON LOCATION: The Karate Kid Interactive Map of China – Director Harald Zwart talks about capturing China’s culture in the film and also the challenges at shooting in the various locations in China such as the Wudang Mountains (4:24); The Great Wall which includes filming at the China Film Group Film Base at Huairou (4:45) and shooting a the Great Wall (1:36); Beijing:  Beiying Film Studios (2:36), Beijing Shaolin Wushu School (1:34), Feng Tai Sports Arena (2:05), the Forbidden City (1:05), Olympic Park (:59) .
• Alternate Ending – (3:32) An ending that makes the film become more like what we would see from a  Jackie Chan martial arts film but it does take away the primary focus of  the story which is about Dre.  Cool action sequence but I’m glad this ending was not used.
• Play All Hosted by Jackie Chan – (29:44) Featuring the production diaries as one full documentary hosted by Jackie Chan.
• Production Diaries Hosted by Jackie Chan – A total of nine production diaries which include: Training Jaden (3:12), Jaden Smith, A Day in the Life (3:50), The Forbidden City (3:59), From Jackie with Love (3:56), The Great Wall (3:10), Olympic Village (3:06), Director Profile (2:19), Taraji P. Henson Goes to China (2:40) and Wudang Mountains (3:19).
• Chinese Lessons – Learn Chinese! – An interactive feature that teaches viewers basic Chinese words and phrases.  Lessons include: Basic Greetings, Numbers, No Hot Water, I Want to Go Home, Training and General Vocabulary.
• Music Video: Justin Bieber Featuring Jaden Smith “Never Say Never” – (3:49) It’s known that both Bieber and Smith are good friends and this is probably the first time I’ve seen Jaden Smith taking part music but definitely following in his father’s hip hop footsteps.
• Just for Kicks: The Making of The Karate Kid – (20:09) The making of “The Karate Kid” remake and the challenge that the filmmakers had of remaking the original, martial arts training for Jaden Smith,  what kind of presence Jackie Chan had on the set.  Filming in various locations of China, the music of “The Karate Kid” and more.
• movieIQ+sync(TM)
• PS3 Wallpaper Theme

“The Karate Kid” (2010) was much more than I expected and I admit, I was a big skeptic when it came to the announcements and then watching the trailer.  I watched the original film several dozen times and as mentioned in my review for the original film, it’s a film that I just never get tired of.  It’s hard not to dislike a film about an underdog but with “Karate Kid” (2002), there are many things that impressed me.

First, the acting performance by both Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan.  Jaden Smith really went through a lot in the training of this film and with the original film,  Ralph Macchio was pretty much a man playing a teenage role, while Jaden Smith, he is a young kid and what the director (especially his producer parents) brought out of him was pretty well-done.  He has the bravado and slight cockiness like the original film’s Daniel Larusso but it is quite evident, Smith went through major training much more than Ralph Macchio probably had to go through.

In fact, Jaden Smith studied martial arts for more than half a year, three months learning Wushu and weapons training from a stunt coordinator that has worked with Jackie Chan.  So, to make this film look convincing, Jaden Smith really dedicated himself into practicing as well as enduring pain for this fim.

If there is one thing where the film was make it or break it, it was the chemistry between Smith and Chan.  Jackie Chan was absolutely marvelous in this film.  We have heard Jackie talk about wanting to play serious roles and we have seen that with his 2009 film “Shinjuku Incident” but not only does the filmmakers give him action scenes, they gave Chan the opportunity to show that he can do emotional crying scenes and there is no doubt that Chan’s performance will have people tearing in one of the more emotional scenes of the film.

What also works is how beautiful this film looks and how well the pacing was for the overall film.   Harald Zwart did an incredible job in the overall execution.  From wanting to get the right shots, getting the right look and feel for the film and even being under the gun of shooting in locations that were difficult to shoot at or they only had less than a half hour window to shoot at.

For example, filming at the Forbidden City (which was the first time since “The Last Emperor”) is constantly visited by visitors throughout the day and so they only had 20 minutes to shoot during the early morning before the visitors arrived.  Zwart managed the time and schedule very well.

So,  Zwart was able to accomplish a lot during the filming of “The Karate Kid” and it helps that he was paired with a wonderful cinematographer, Roger Pratt and musician/composer James Horner.  Zwart’s cinematography is fantastic and if anything, what he was able to capture on film looks absolutely gorgeous in HD and the same goes with James Horner who knows how to create movie soundtracks.  Horner has done a tremendous job for films like “Titanic” and “Avatar” and he did a great job for “The Karate Kid” and it helps that the film does have music that will appeal to younger fans who love Lady GaGa, Justin Bieber and Flo Rida.

And also deserving recognition is screenwriter Christopher Murphy and writer Robert Mark Kamen (“Taken”, “The Fifth Element” and “Transporter” films) in making sure the story for this remake was good and doing a lot of the research needed to make this film seem authentic.

As for the Blu-ray, you really can’t go wrong as not only do you get a film that looks absolutely fantastic and sounds wonderful on Blu-ray, you also get a good number of special features included in this release that makes “The Karate Kid” worth owning.

Overall, I know there are quite a number of my friends who refuse to watch this film because of its title (since the martial art focused in the film is Kung Fu) and those who still appreciate and love the original film that they can’t support a remake.   Some have issues with filmmaker Harald Zwart and even Jaden Smith playing the lead role.  But I don’t blame them because I know how that feels because I felt the same way.

I was very skeptical towards this film and the truth is, there are many remakes that are terrible but this is not one of them.  The film is not only faithful to the original film but it gives us even more than the original to love and enjoy, and as I will always love the original film, I have to say that I really enjoyed this remake of “The Karate Kid” as well and  I really enjoyed this Blu-ray release!  It’s an awesome release!

If you loved the film  or looking for an action-based, underdog against his rivals type of martial arts film that is inspirational, heartfelt and entertaining,  “The Karate Kid” (2010) is highly recommended.

New “Karate Kid” film earns $56 million in the box office

The “Karate Kid” is the box office winner for the weekend, earning $56 million in the box office and thwarting “The A-Team” which earned $26 million. “Karate Kid” earned 11% more than last year’s box office at this time.

There is no doubt that with the success of this film, there will more than likely be a sequel.

HARRY CONNICK, JR., JOAN RIVERS, JACKIE CHAN & JADEN SMITH (“THE KARATE KID”) AND BETHENNY FRANKEL ON “THE VIEW,” JUNE 7-11

Music from Train, Usher and Jason Derulo

E.D. Hill Co-Hosts, Live, June 7 and Danielle Fishel (Style Network’s “The Dish”) Co-Hosts, Live, June 9
Harry Connick, Jr., Joan Rivers, Jackie Chan & Jaden Smith (“The Karate Kid”), Bethenny Frankel (“Bethenny Getting Married”) and musical guests Usher, Train and Jason Derulo are all scheduled to appear JUNE 7-11 on ABC’s “The View” (11:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, ET). American news anchor E.D. Hill returns to co-host, live, MONDAY, JUNE 7, followed by Danielle Fishel, host of Style Network’s “The Dish,” WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9.

Scheduled guests for the week of June 7-11 are as follows (subject to change):

MONDAY, JUNE 7 – Guest co-host E.D. Hill; musical guest Train; behind the scenes of co-host Sherri Shepherd’s Broadway show, “Love, Loss & What I Wore.”

TUESDAY, JUNE 8 – Joan Rivers (“Piece of Work”); co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s QVC spring fashion line, “Dialogue by Elisabeth Hasselbeck.”

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9 – Guest co-host Danielle Fishel (host, Style Network’s “The Dish”); Harry Connick, Jr.; musical guest Jason Derulo.

THURSDAY, JUNE 10 – Musical guest Usher; Bethenny Frankel (“Bethenny Getting Married”); TJ Maxx fashion show.

FRIDAY, JUNE 11 – Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan (“The Karate Kid”).

Shinjuku Incident (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

An engaging film showing us that Jackie Chan can take on a serious non-action role.  Prepare to be surprised! “Shinjuku Incident” showcases  Jackie Chan like no other film in his extensive career.   Definitely a must-see for Jackie Chan fans!

Images courtesy of © 2009 Emperor Dragon Movies Limited. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Shinjuku Incident

DURATION: 120 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, English and Chinese Dolby Digital 5.1, Widescreen (2:35:1) Anamorphic Widescreen, Subtitles: English SDH, French

COMPANY:  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RATED: R (For Graphic Violence, Brief Sexuality and Drug Use)

RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2010

Written and Directed by Tung-Shing Yee (Derek Yee)

Writer: Tin Nam Chun

Story by Barbara Johns

Executive Producer: Jackie Chan, Albert Yeung

Producer: Willie Chan, Solon So

Associate Producer: Henry Fong, Norihisa Harada, Shirley Kao

Line Producer: Jamie Lunk

Supervising Producer (English Version): Bud Robertson

Music by Peter Kam

Cinematography: Nobuyasu Kita

Edited by Ka-Fai Cheung, Chi-Leung Kwong, Man To Tang

Production Design and Art Direction by Oliver Wong

Costume Design: Satoe Araki, Castillo Angelo Bernardo

Starring:

Jackie Chan as Steelhead

Naoto Takenaka as Inspector Kitano

Daniel Wu as Jie

Jinglei Xu as Xiu Xiu/Yuko Eguchi

Masaya Kato as Toshinari Eguchi

Toru Minegishi as Koichi Muranishi

Jack Kao as Gao Jie

Kenya Sawada as Nakajima

Hiroyuki Nagato as Hara Ooda

Yasuaki Kurata as Taro Watagawa

Bingbing Fan as Lily

Paul Chun as Uncle De

Suet Lam as Old Ghost

Kar Lok Chin as Hogkie

Ken Lo as Little Tai

Teddy Lin as Tai Bao

Action superstar Jackie Chan leads this tour-de-force as Steelhead, a Chinese laborer who comes to Japan hoping for a better life. Unable to find honest work and bullied into the shadows with his fellow Chinese illegal immigrants, he soon finds himself ascending as the boss of a black market mob. After providing a deadly service to a powerful Yakuza crime boss, Steelhead’s rise to mafia power spirals rapidly out of control as he’s given reign over the dangerous and lucrative Shinjuku district. Get set to root for the underdog as Jackie Chan battles Asia’s most ruthless underworld gangs in this action-packed crime drama.

Trailer

Nik’s Escape

Disapproving Father

Possibly for more than a decade,  Jackie Chan has said that he would not do martial arts films and that he had wanted to focus on serious roles.  At 57-years-old, known for one of the most versatile martial arts actors on the planet with a long resume of action films, it’s hard for many people to think of Jackie Chan taking on a serious role.  It’s one thing to have non-fighting cameos (which the actor has done many of) but it’s that one role in which he can show his versatility as an actor and for the most part, that age should not limit him to such a role.

If Harrison Ford can still do action/drama films at 69-years-old, there’s no doubt that Jackie Chan can do it as well, that is if there was a film that one would give him that opportunity.  And this is where actor/producer and director Derek Yee (“One Night in Mongkok”, “Lost in Time”, “Full Throttle”, “Viva Erotica”) can possibly put together.  Known for taking on gangster films, Jackie Chan would take on a role which would usually see talent such as Andy Lau or Leslie Cheung take on.

And in 2007, “San suk si gin” (Shinjuku Incident) began filming and in 2009, the film was released to favorable reviews (despite not being released in mainland China due to its violence) but the film was nominated for “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Cinematography” and “Best Action Choreography” for the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards.

The film takes place in the early 1990′s as Nik (played by Jackie Chan) and his fiance Xiu Xiu (played by Xu Jinglei) and his brother Joe (played by Daniel Wu) have left China by boat and with many Chinese, have entered Japan illegally.

Due to an arrival of a Japanese police officer, the Chinese all start running to different areas with many being caught except Nik who manages to find Joe (but loses Xiu Xiu)  and begin living with many other Chinese who are living in Japan illegally.  We see how they take on many small jobs such as a dishwasher to selling pre-paid phone cards in order to make a living and then some having to resort to theft.  But for Nik, his goal is to find his fiance Xiu Xiu and have a new life in Japan.

While in Japan, Nik meets Lily (played by Fan Bingbing), a hostess bar owner who wants to help Nik and his friends learn the proper way to live in Japan.  If there is one thing they are learning quickly, Japan has its share of prejudice towards Chinese and many of the Chinese are just trying to survive.  Meanwhile, as Nik, Joe and their newfriends have taken odd jobs including resorting to stealing and even hacking a pachinko machine to earn products that can be sold in the black market.   Meanwhile, Inspector Kitano (played by Naoto Takenaka) and the police force have been trying to find illegal Chinese and deport them.  One day, when Kitano finds Nik, Joe and others, during a pursuit, Nik manages to rescue Kitano who was about to drown in the water in an underground tunnel and Kitano feels indebted to Nik for saving his life.

Meanwhile, we learn that the yakuza families have been trying to gain control of certain parts of Japan and one day at work, Nik sees Xiu Xiu who was with one of the yakuza crime bosses named Eguichi (played by Masaya Kato).  Nik who was happy to see Xiu Xiu is a bit shocked that she is with another man.

But tragedy hits Nik and his fellow Chinese when Joe is tortured, maimed and loses a body part by a yakuza boss.  When Nik tries to exact revenge at the boss in his own bar, while hiding, he learns that the crime boss are planning to kill Eguchi, who he finds out is the husband of Xiu Xiu.  So, as Eguchi tries to work out a deal with the yakuza crime boss, they try to kill him but Nik manages to save Eguchi’s life.

Because of the complications and politics within the yakuza organization, because Nik has saved the life of Eguchi, Eguchi makes him one of his men after Nik follows Eguchi’s plan to eliminate various yakuza crime bosses.  Eguchi even gives him control of various areas previously owned by the Taiwanese gang to Nik.

In Nik’s mind, he is giving the Chinese in his area a chance to make legal income and to not worry about the yakuza and to get their legal papers to live in Japan.  But Nik learns the hard way that by giving his own friends so much power, he is in effect creating his own triad whether he likes it or not.

VIDEO:

“Shinjuku Incident” is presented in 2:35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen.  I have to admit that I was a bit surprised that this film was not being released on Blu-ray.  It has been released in other countries in HD, and with this being a newer film, I was expecting an HD treatment for “Shinjuku Incident”.  But PQ-wise, the film looks very good on DVD.  I didn’t see any massive artifacting or blurring.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Shinjuku Incident” is presented in English and Chinese 5.1 Dolby Digital.  There is an English track with actual dubbing by Jackie Chan but the English dub is good but my preference was to watch the film in its original Chinese language.  The film is dialogue driven through the front and center channels and good surround usage for crowd and action-driven scenes.

Subtitles are in English, French and English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Shinjuku Incident” comes with the following special features:

• Selected Scenes Commentary with Jackie Chan – (8:56) Jackie Chan gives commentary for a few scenes such as the Opening Sequence, Bath House, Garbage Dump, The Tunnel and Ending Sequence.  Interesting to learn that Director Derek Yee had to go to Shinjuku and ask permission from the yakuza to film there.
  
• Say Hello to the Bad Guy: Up Close with Jackie Chan – (10:34)  Jackie Chan talks about wanting to do a film without action and wants to be like Clint Eastwood and Robert DeNiro and take on a serious role.  Jackie also wanted to use the film as a message for those who try to escape to another country illegally and the risks involved and to not listen to those who tell them that they can easily escape by boat.
  

Jackie Chan shows us his versatility as an actor in “Shinjuku Incident”.  Although known for martial arts and action films, this is a film that will showcase Jackie Chan in a way that people have never had seen of the actor.  From emotional scenes, a sex scene, a nude scene and even watching Jackie taking on a role in which he’s not this one-man powerhouse but is vulnerable.  In fact, it’s definitely a surreal film to see Jackie in a gangster film as one of the gangsters and even murdering people.

“Shinjuku Incident” is an exciting thriller that shows us a side of Chinese living in Japan (I have had the opportunity to visit China areas in different parts of Japan and like the film, these areas although in Japan, seem cut off from Japan and are packed with people.  And there is prejudice towards Chinese (as well as other foreigners) for certain establishments in the country as well.  The film was quite interesting in the yakuza culture and how a group of people resort to crime for survival but when given the power, how things can quickly become corrupted.  It was a storyline that Jackie Chan learned about and wanted people to know the truth that not every foreigner who leaves their country will find a good job in another country like Japan.

Jackie Chan did a wonderful job in playing the character Nik.  Chan is perfect for the role and having seen his popularity in Japan (especially a music career singing “enka”), the film manages to become a unique vehicle for him and to allow him to show his versatility as a man who is put into various emotional positions that you just don’t see in his other films.  Daniel Wu was wonderful in Yee’s “One Night in Mongkok” and shows that he has grown as an actor in “Shinjuku Incident” and plays the part of Joe very well.  As well as Naoto Takenaka was well-cast and especially since he is one of the more well-known talents in Japanese films and dramas, it was great to see him play opposite of Jackie Chan.

The film does has its share of pacing issues and for the most part, there are times that I thought it was modern-day film and then finding out the film was supposed to take place in the early ’90s.  There are times in which I question the direction of costume design (ie. Joe and friends in punk rock and colorful outfits), especially Joe’s transformation which seemed to way out there.  There are parts of the film that I wish were explained and how much time has elapsed.  For example, when Nik becomes to the crime boss of his area and then flash forwarding when things have changed in that area.  How much time has passed?  A year, two years?  And I will say that certain parts of the ending may make people look for answers online (ie. what happens to Yuko?).

But despite the pacing issues, “Shinjuku Incident” is an enjoyable film.  But it all comes down to if you can accept Jackie Chan as a serious actor.  There have been many people who have compared to what Jackie Chan is doing in “Shinjuku Incident” with what Jean-Claude Van Damme did on “JCVD”, in that you have two action stars wanting to show that they can do serious roles.  Granted, we are used to seeing Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood and Robert DeNiro playing a variety of roles but with Jackie Chan, his long, extensive resume is primarily him as an action star.  So, I can see some people who may have a hard time with this.  This is not your usual Jackie Chan film and if you have seen a good number of Hong Kong or Japanese gangster films, you know that not all protagonists get a happy ending.  The same can be said of this film.

I have to say that I was shocked to see Jackie in Chan in such a role but at the same time, as a fan of his work for over three decades now, I can’t help but have a grin in my face and seeing that his dream of doing something different, in playing a non-action role has come true.

Overall, “Shinjuku Incident” does have some shortcomings in terms of plot but this is one film that Jackie Chan fans or Asian film fans can easily gravitate to.  It’s very engaging and you can’t help but see how far Derek Yee and Jackie Chan would go in this film.  And if this means more serious roles for Jackie Chan (hopefully all well-written), I’m all for it!

Shinjuku Incident Arrives on DVD June 8, 2010

Culver City, CA (3/29/10) – Prepare for the ultimate in hard-hitting action and excitement as SHINJUKU INCIDENT explodes onto DVD this June 8th from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Action legend and global box office mega-star Jackie Chan (upcoming The Karate Kid, Rush Hour 1-3) teams up with acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Yee (Protégé, One Night in Mongkok) for this edge-of-your-seat tale of one man’s revenge against Tokyo’s criminal underworld. Now, Jackie Chan fans everywhere can experience this riveting, acclaimed action film on DVD, packed with bonus features they won’t want to miss!

Get up close and personal with action legend Jackie Chan like never before with the behind-the-scenes featurette “Say Hello to the Bad Guy: Up Close with Jackie Chan,” in which the star discusses his most challenging role to date. Additional bonus features on the DVD include “Select Scene Commentary with Jackie Chan,” in which star and executive producer Chan reveals what it took to make this exciting new action film. SHINJUKU INCIDENT arrives on DVD June 8, 2010 for $24.94 SRP.

Synopsis
Action superstar Jackie Chan leads this tour-de-force as Steelhead, a Chinese laborer who comes to Japan hoping for a better life. Unable to find honest work and bullied into the shadows with his fellow Chinese illegal immigrants, he soon finds himself ascending as the boss of a black market mob. After providing a deadly service to a powerful Yakuza crime boss, Steelhead’s rise to mafia power spirals rapidly out of control as he’s given reign over the dangerous and lucrative Shinjuku district. Get set to root for the underdog as Jackie Chan battles Asia’s most ruthless underworld gangs in this action-packed crime drama.

SHINJUKU INCIDENT features action choreography by Hong Kong’s top stuntman and martial arts choreographer Chin Ka-lok (Full Throttle, All’s Well Ends Well ’97). It was written by Chun Tin-nam (Warlords, Crime Story) and Kevin Yee (Protégé, One Night in Mongkok). It was produced by Willie Chan (The Medallion, Shanghai Knights) and Solon So (The Spy Next Door, The Forbidden Kingdom) and executive produced by Jackie Chan (The Medallion, Shanghai Knights) and Albert Yeung (The Myth, The Medallion). The film’s co-stars include Naoto Takenaka (Shall We Dance?, Tokyo) and Xu Jinglei (Warlords, Brothers). It received theatrical distribution in the U.S. by Barking Cow Distribution and Columbia Pictures. It has a run time of approximately 120 minutes and has been rated R for graphic violence, brief sexuality and drug use.

DVD Bonus Material [tbd]
Select Scenes Commentary with Jackie Chan
Say Hello to the Bad Guy: Up Close with Jackie Chan

DVD Catalog #: 34728
UPC Code: 0-43396-34728-1
SLP: $ 24.94
Order Date: 5/6/10

Trey Smith, actor Jackie Chan, actor Will Smith, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, actor Jaden Smith and Willow Smith arrive at Nickelodeon’s 23rd Annual Kid’s Choice Awards

Trey Smith, actor Jackie Chan, actor Will Smith, actress Jada Pinkett Smith, actor Jaden Smith and Willow Smith arrive at Nickelodeon’s 23rd Annual Kid’s Choice Awards held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion on March 27, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

The Legend of Drunken Master (A J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“For those who enjoyed the original Dimension DVD release of ‘The Legend of Drunken Master’ will enjoy the better picture and audio quality on Blu-ray.  And for them, this is the definitive US-release version to own.  Unfortunately, the release still includes the edited version (new sound effects and a major final scene right at the end cut out) from the 2000 DVD release and still no Cantonese or Mandarin audio track for those who prefer to watch the movie without the English voice dub.”

Images courtesy of © WDSHE. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Legend of Drunken Master (aka Drunken Master II or Jui Kuen II)

DURATION: 102 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHz/24-bit), French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish

COMPANY:  Dimension Home Video/Golden Harvest/Buena Vista Home Entertainment

RATED: R (For Violent Content)

Release Date: September 15, 2009

Directed by Chia-Liang Liu

Written by Edward Tang, Man-Ming Tong, Gai Chi Yuen

Executive Producer: Leonard Ho

Producer: Edward Tang, Eric Tsang

Associate Producer: Barbie Tung

Music by Michael Wandmacher (2000) and Wai Lap Wu

Cinematography by Tony Cheung, Yiu-Tsou Cheung, Jingle Ma, Man-wan Wong

Edited by Peter Cheung

Production Design by Chong-Sing Ho and Eddie Ma

Starring:

Jackie Chan as Wong Fei-hung

Lunt Ti – Wong Kei-ying (Wong’s Father)

Anita Mui – Mrs. Wong (Wong’s Step-Mother)

Felix Wong as Tsang

Chia-Liang Liu as General Fu Wen-Chi

Ken Lo as John

Kar Lok Chin as Fo Sang

Ho-Sung Pak as Henry

Chi-Kwong Cheung as Tso

Yee San Hon as Hing

Andy Lau as the Counter Intelligence Officer

Wing-Fong Ho as fun

Chia Yung Liu as Marlon

Siu-Ming Lau as Chiu

The Legend of Drunken Master is a thrilling action adventure about a man who uses a uniquely outlandish style of martial arts – Drunken Boxing – to retrieve stolen Chinese artifacts from the British government. It was directed by Chia-Liang Liu, who won the Hong Kong film award for Best Action Choreography for his work on the film, and costars Hong Kong cinema greats Ti Lung (A Better Tomorrow) as Jackie’s father and Anita Mui (Rumble in the Bronx) as his fun-loving mother. Critics and fans agree, The Legend of Drunken Master is one of martial arts legend Jackie Chan’s greatest films – now even greater on Blu-ray!

In 1978, Jackie Chan’s “Drunken Master” (or Jui Kuen) was an exciting film that is considered a classic and help popularize the drunken boxing style of martial arts which has been copied on various video games and other films.    Over 16 years later, Chan returned for “Drunken Master II” (Jui Kuen II) which was not a direct sequel but followed the character with the same name, Wong Fei Hung.

For those not familiar with the name Wong Fei-hung (or Hong), the real man lived from 1847 through 1924 and was a master of the no-shadow kick, drunken boxing, the lion dance and Hung fist.   The character has been explored in a number of films which include the Jet Li “Once Upon a Time in China” films and for Jackie Chan in the “Drunken Master” films

The film revolves around a man named Wong Fei Hung who travels with his father (a doctor) and a student named Tsao via train after obtaining more medicine to bring back home.  But because they must pay duty fees for the items they bring with them, Wong would rather not pay for them (despite his father telling him to) and hides his items through one of the non-Chinese travelers luggage, hoping to retrieve it later on the train (the non-Chinese and the rich Chinese are separated in a luxury style train cabin away from the Chinese travelers who happen to be packed in like sardines.

But as Wong Fei Hung goes to retrieve the item, he discovers another man trying to take the item out of the luggage.  We then see that the item the man takes, looks exactly like the item that Wong had.  A fight ensues and the older man who is a Chinese loyalist named General Fu (Liu Chia-liang) manages to easily dodge and defend all of Wong’s attacks and even calls Wong a traitor (which he has no idea why he is being called that).

Eventually, after the chaos ensues, Wong is able to retrieve the item but it appears that the old man accidentally took Wong’s item (a ginseng root) and Wong took the item that the old man was trying to get, which appears to be an old Chinese ancient artifact and now the foreign traveler who own the luggage along with Chinese military are searching the whole train for it.  Fortunately, a Counter Intelligence Officer (played by Andy Lau) manages to save Wong from being caught.

We learn that the artifact is part of Chinese traditional artifacts being taken by the British Consul and Chinese gangsters out of the country and now they are after Wong and want the artifact back.

Meanwhile, back at home, we get to see how Wong’s stepmother (played by Anita Mui) tends to bail her stepsons from trouble but when those looking for the artifact steal from his mother’s friend and even hit his mother in the face, Wong must used the forbidden fight of Drunken Boxing and also drinking alcohol which helps boost his attacks.  But when he break his promise to his father, he learns a lesson by being beaten by his father and thrown out to the street when intoxicated, the Chinese gangsters beat him up to send a message that the want the artifact.

Will Wong be able to protect his family, his friends and even his land from the enemies without breaking his father’s ultimatum of never to fight or get drunk again?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“The Legend of the Drunken Master” is one of those releases that one will either love or really hate.  First, let’s discuss the picture quality.  Picture quality is probably the best that this film has ever been seen.  The High Definition 1080p (2:35:1) definitely brings out the film with much clarity but by no means is it perfect.  You will see occasional dirt and scratches and there are some scenes where either there was change in camera lens but sometimes the film is not consistent at times.  With that being said, fans of the film will definitely enjoy learning of how good the picture quality is and because the first version of this film  that I owned was a VHS and then an uncut HK VCD, it’s great to see the film with so much detail. But for those expecting the best from Blu-ray, you may not exactly be pleased but it is an upgrade from the original DVD release.

As for the audio quality, this is where things begin to look murky and it all depends on the viewer.  Audio is provided in English 5.1 DTS-HD (48kHZ/24-bit) and French 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital.  For the most part, lossless audio definitely shows major improvement during the action sequences and utilizes the surround channels.  Meanwhile, the English voice dubbing can be understood but Jackie Chan’s English voice over is sometimes hard to understand.  But the biggest surprise is that there is no Cantonese/Mandarin audio track.  So, for those who prefer to watch Asian films in their natural language will be upset to know that it was not included.

Second, it’s important to let people know that this is the edited version of the film done back in 2000.  The music was changed, the special effects were changed and the original ending had a significant scene cut out.

With that being said, for those who don’t mind the English dub, were familiar with the 2000 DVD release and don’t mind that the film was edited for the US, will definitely find the picture and audio quality to be much, much better than the original DVD release.  The picture quality is shows quite a bit of detail and despite the film being made in 1994, there is no sign of excessive DNR (digital noise reduction), the film looks way better than it ever has.  The audio is also much better than the previous DVD and there is a good use of the surround channels.  But if you want the original Chinese audio, unfortunately, you will not find it on this release.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Legend of Drunken Master” comes with the following special feature:

• Behind the Master: An Interview with Jackie Chan – (6:35) Jackie Chan talks about how he always wanted the film to come out in the US and talks about the stunt choreography of the film.

“The Legend of Drunken Master” is absolutely vintage Jackie Chan at his very best. Jackie Chan is literally amazing to watch as the Smooth, fluid choreography is just outstanding and absolutely wonderful to watch in High Definition.   But those battle sequences are just amazing to watch and the fight scenes, especially earlier in the film with Chinese loyalist General Fu (Liu Chia-liang) was just incredible.

Also, impressive was to see the latest Anita Mui (who was the equivalent to music artist Madonna in Hong Kong) and both she and Jackie Chan had awesome chemistry onscreen, even in this film despite Chan being much older than Anita, but everything seems to work quite well.  As for Andy Lau’s appearance, it was quite a short role.  And for Shaw Brothers fans, you can catch the veteran Ti Lung playing Wong Kei-ying.

Again, I want to make it clear that this film has its best looking transfer to date on Blu-ray.   Picture quality is very good but not great. But what it all comes down to is the viewer and what they want are expecting from this film.

For those wanting the 2000 English dubbed dialogue, you’re going to get an awesome lossless track on Blu-ray as the film’s lossless audio is utilizing the front, center and surround channels quite well during the action scenes.

But for those who have been waiting for the uncut release, let alone a release that would include the Cantonese or Mandarin audio, you’re not going to get it on this Blu-ray release.  And this is a major blow for those who have been hoping that with a Blu-ray release, they would be getting the version they have waited so long for.  Even watching the final scene, a viewer is left wondering why it ends quite suddenly with no appearance from Jackie Chan but the truth is that Dimension cut that scene out (the original ending with Jackie Chan is a bit shocking but I’m not going to spoil it for you) because it was deemed in appropriate.

So, needless to say…it’s going to be a love or hate release among fans.  As a fan of the film, one can either wait and hope that an import uncut release of the film makes it to Blu-ray.  Or perhaps maybe purchasing this latest release with the better picture quality, better lossless audio but for the most part only in English, French and Spanish (no Chinese audio dialogue) along with the revisions made back in 2000.

Personally, I want an uncut version with its original Chinese language (ala lossless audio) included and unfortunately, I didn’t get it with this release.  Otherwise, for those who don’t mind the revisions or the English dub, this Blu-ray release of “The Legend of the Drunken Master” is the definitive version to own for now.

RUSH HOUR 3 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“’RUSH HOUR 3′ may simply be the weakest of the trilogy thus far but the Blu-ray release is absolutely wonderful.  Awesome picture and audio quality plus two discs of special features.  Fans of the film will definitely enjoy this High Definition transfer!”

Images courtesy of © 2007 New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: RUSH HOUR 3

DURATION: 86 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, 2:35:1 Widescreen, English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

COMPANY:  New Line Home Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (For Sequences of Action Violence, Sexual Content, Nudity and Language)

Release Date:  December 23, 2007

Directed by Brett Ratner

Characters by Ross LaManna

Written by Jeff Nathanson

Executive Producers:  Toby Emmerich

Produced by Roger Birnbaum, Andrew Z. Davis, Jonathan Glickman, Arthur M. Sarkissian, Jay Stern

Co-Producer: Leon Dudevoir, James M. Freitag

Associated Producer: David Gorder, Darryl Jones

Music by Lalo Schifrin

Director of Photography: J. Michael Muro

Edited by Mark Helfrich, Dean Zimmerman, Don Zimmerman

Casting by David Kang, Ronna Kress

Production Design by Ed Verreaux

Art Direction: Chad S. Frey, Grag Papalia

Set Decoration by Kate J. Sullivan

Costume Design by Betsy Heimann

Starring:

Christ Tucker as Carter

Jackie Chan as Lee

Max von Sydow as Reynard

Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji

Yvan Attal as George

Youki Kudoh as Dragon Lady

Noemie Lenoir as Genevieve

Jingchu Zhang as Soo Yung

Tzi Ma as Ambassador Han

Dana Ivey as Sister Agnes

Henry O as Master Yu

Mingming Sun as Kung Fu Giant

Roman Polansi as the French Police Official

When a Chinese criminal mastermind flees to Paris, there’s only one culture-clashed, crime-fighting duo for the job.  Ready to raise hell in the city of lights, Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) and Detective Carter (Tucker) instead get caught in an explosive battle between the French police, the Triad gang and two gorgeous female fatales!  With everybody kung fu fighting to the top of the Eiffel Tower, this one-two punch of hilarious action doesn’t let up until the final heart-stopping au revoir!

For those who have been fans of the previous two “Rush Hour” films, it had been six years since the second film and many people highly anticipating the reunion of Director Brett Ratner (“X-Men: The Last Stand”, “Red Dragon” and “Money Talks”) and talents Jackie Chan (“Supercop”, “Shanghai Noon” and “The Forbidden Kingdom”) and Chris Tucker (“Jackie Brown”, “Money Talks” and “The Fifth Element”).

Joining Brett is fellow “Rush Hour 2″ screenwriter Jeff Nathanson (“The Terminal”, “Catch Me If You Can” and “Speed 2: Cruise Control”), composer Lalo Schifrin (“Mission: Impossible” films, “Money Talks” and “The Sting II”) and cinematographer J. Michael Muro (“Southland”, “Traitor” and “Crash”).

Because six years have passed, the film came out in the Summer of 2007 and with the excitement and comedy of the first two films, many fans were awaiting what would be in store for the third film.

The film was not exactly well-received by critics but “RUSH HOUR 3″ is a film that manages to bring people to theaters who want a comedy/action flick to enjoy for the Summer.  The film which cost $140 million to make, grossed over $255 million worldwide and thus, paving way for a new “RUSH HOUR 4″ film scheduled anywhere between 2010-2012.

The film revolves around Lee (Jackie Chan) providing the security for Ambassador Han (Tzi Ma) who is addressing the World Criminal Court in regards to the fight against the Triads, he makes the startling announcement that he knows the whereabouts of Shy Shen.

Immediately, a bullet is shot and pierces the windows and hits Han.  Lee sees the assassin climbing down from a building and immediately pursues.  This catches the attention of Lee’s former LAPD partner Carter  (Chris Tucker) who goes out to lend his help to Lee.

When Lee catches up to the assassin, he finds out it is a person he knows from his past, a man named Kenji (Hiroyuki Sanada).  Kenji taunts Lee, knowing that he won’t shoot (because they grew up from the same orphanage and have treated each other as brothers).  When Carter arrives, Kenji escapes and Lee is surprised about his confrontation with Kenji.

When Lee and Carter arrive to the hospital to check on Ambassador Han, his daughter Soo-Yung (Zhang Jingchu, and a character who was seen from the first film) is now grown up and has both Lee and Carter promise to her that they will do what they can to stop the assassin and both make their promise.

Immediately, assassins come to kill Ambassador Han in the hospital but are stopped by Carter and Lee.  Soo-Yung tells them that her father gave her an envelope with important information in regards to the Triad and they must retrieve the letter at the martial arts school that she works at.

After another brush with assassins, the group learn they must go to France to look for whatever Shy Shen may be.  After a failed bombing incident, Soo-Yung is left to the care of the French Ambassador, Reynard (Max bon Sydow), who is the chairman of the World Criminal Court.

While in France, immediately both Lee and Carter are treated badly by the French police commissioner (Roman Polanski) who has them beaten by telephone books and does a cavity search.  Their taxi driver George (Yvan Attal) complains about “Americans always are the most violent on Earth” and gets on their case.

But although their first day in France may not be the best experience, Carter meets the beautiful Genevieve (Noemie Lenoir) and Lee meets a woman (played by Youki Kudoh) who says she can provide him answers to the person he is looking for.

But both men learn that the women they meet are not exactly nice women and Lee will need to confront Kenji once again.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

When “RUSH  HOUR 3″ was released on Blu-ray back in December 2007, the Blu-ray release received the highest marks for its picture and audio quality.  With the Blu-ray release now over a year old, I am revisiting the film and seeing how it compares to the current releases of today.

The film sports a 1080p High Definition (2:35:1) transfer.  The film is definitely vibrant with many outdoor shots during the sunny day and detail featured during the Los Angeles and French scenes in the film.  The picture quality is not soft, lighting is definitely featured prominently in this film as its one thing to get vibrant colors during the outdoor scenes but in one nightclub scene, the colors that come through during the choreography screen shows how low-light combined with the various blue and purple lighting are equally vibrant and blacks are a nice and deep.

Even today, “RUSH HOUR 3″ is still a vibrant looking film that retains its grain and overall, a great looking film on Blu-ray.

As for audio, I really enjoy these 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio lossless soundtracks and one thing you will notice from “RUSH HOUR 3″ is that the soundtrack sounds absolutely nice.  Maybe not as much punch as a “Quantum of Solace” or “Transformers: The Movie” but the film manages to utilize all channels on my 7.2 system setup.  Rear surrounds are used primarily to enhance the music and certain sound effects which were nice.  Surrounds definitely made certain scenes feel immersive but for the most part, dialogue is clear (although some scenes by both Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan may be a bit difficult to understand at times and you may need to rewind the scene to better understand what is going on). Overall, a solid lossless audio soundtrack.

As for subtitles, subtitles are presented in English SDH and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“RUSH HOUR 3″ is definitely a Blu-ray release that deserves attention for picture and audio quality but the film also manages to include hours of special features which were quite enjoyable and all are featured in 1080p HD.

DISC 1:

• Audio commentary by Director Brett Rather and Jeff Nathanson – People can listen to the commentary throughout the film or by enabling the Enhanced Visual Commentary which features both men in a picture-in-picture screen.  The Enhanced Visual Commentary didn’t need any changing of Blu-ray audio setup like some Blu-rays will need for P-I-P display.  But as far as the commentary is concerned, both men go into the making of the film, working with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker again and the other talents used in the film and much more.  A very entertaining commentary by both men.
• Trailer – The original theatrical trailer for the film.

DISC 2:

• Outtakes - (2:33) The outtakes from the film.
• Deleted/Alternate Scenes – (7:12) People can watch seven deleted and alternate scenes including an alternate ending with optional commentary by Director Brett Ratner and Screenwriter Jeff Nathanson.  Here is what is included:  Extended Airplane, Extended Taxi, Extended Elevator, Hotel Hallway, Spotlight Guy: Follies, Extended Eiffel Tower, and Alternate Ending.  For the most part, both are rather humorous when discussing these scenes, scenes they wish they didn’t cut out but most interesting is Ratner and Nathanson’s discussion about the alternative ending and not sure why they created that.
• Making of “RUSH HOUR 3″ – (1:28:10) Literally, the making of “RUSH HOUR 3″ from the script to the cast and the music.  Interviews with crew and talent and more.  Very in-depth featurette of what Nathanson wanted to accomplish with the script and what Ratner wanted to accomplish with the casting a worldwide talent of characters and more.  Here is what is included in this segment (can be watched ala “View All” or separately):

- The Story, The Script

- Casting the Rush

- Teaming Up

- Creating the Rush: Scene by Scene

- Cuts, Sound & Music

• Visual Effects Reel – (2:03) An interesting look at various scenes and using digital characters instead of real life characters and going through scenes that looked real but were in CG.
• Le Rush Hour Trois Production Diary -(1:05:05) A very candid look at Bret Ratner making “Rush Hour 3″ and the challenge the crew faced with the making of this film.  Including behind-the-scenes footage of certain scenes, what happened off camera and more.  Very fun to watch and informative.

EASTER EGGS:

There are two Easter Eggs.  The first is on Disc 2 and pressing up on “Visual Effects Reel” in the main menu.  You will see a logo show up and when you click on it, you will get a short video with Jackie Chan and Hiroyuki Sanada’s characters fighting with light sabers.  The other is on subtitles and selecting the New Line Cinema logo to access credits for the film.

I really enjoyed “RUSH HOUR” and “RUSH HOUR 2″.  Both films manage to showcase a good amount of humor and action and this odd couple manage to successfully bring in people to the theaters because you know that it’s a fun film to watch.  Both Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are so unlike and they are the ultimate odd couple on screen but they manage to make it work.

But “RUSH HOUR” films are not films to expect a deep storyline.  If anything, there are many racial jokes on both sides of the film and as evident from the special features, there are lines that Jackie Chan has no idea what he’s saying, nor does he know what they mean.

“RUSH HOUR 3″ is simply a film that you just don’t want to expect anything more from.  The laughs, the actions, the camaraderie are enough.

But with the Ratner and crew trying to come up with a new story six years later, I felt the movie felt as if it was rushed.  I felt that the duo dynamic was subdued. Similar to the “Odd Couple”, these two are quite the opposites and both Lee and Carter who have now become good friends, like brothers was fine but it’s been far too long since these Ratner, Chan and Tucker have worked with each other.

Chris Tucker did a fine role as Carter but for some reason, as much as I know Jackie Chan is a popular singer in Asia, I suppose that I wanted to see more action-based scenes with him rather than many singing scenes. It just seemed out of place. But knowing that Chan who was 53-years-old at the time, is not going to be doing a lot of action scenes as he did back in 1998 when the first film was released in theaters.  And if the fourth film is released in 2012, I’m not sure how much we can expect from, especially now as he wants to focus on serious films in Asia.

Also, I felt the character of George (The taxi driver) was a bit overused.  Fine for the first time but seeing him evolve as a character, again, with the film focused on Lee and Carter, seeing the character George being so prominent seemed a bit off.

Max von Sydow has always managed to have this mysterious allure to him.  From the 1975 film “Three Days of the Condor” to “RUSH HOUR 3″, the roles that he tends to play makes those familiar with his work automatically know where his character as Reynard is going to go.   But I felt there could have been much more potential with his character.

I really enjoyed Hiroyuki Sanada as Kenji.  His role as an action star in Japan was definitely showcased in “RUSH HOUR 3″.   It was also great to see Ratner utilizing other worldwide talents such as Jingchu Zhang, Youki Kudoh and Noemie Lenoir.

But in the end, I was entertained by “RUSH HOUR 3″.  There are some major laughs and action sequences in the film that manage to capture the soul of the “RUSH HOUR” films and on Blu-ray, you get a wonderful transfer with outstanding picture and audio quality and hours of special features which were enjoyable to watch.

For fans of the film or the trilogy, “RUSH HOUR 3″ is a wonderful Blu-ray release.  Unfortunately, the film’s storyline doesn’t quite match the awesomeness of the Blu-ray release but nevertheless, it’s a very entertaining, solid Blu-ray!  Definitely worth checking out!

Who am I? (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

BUY THIS DVD

MOVIE COMPANY: Golden Harvest
CAST: Starring Jackie Chan, Michelle Ferre, Mirai Yamamoto and more.
DIRECTED BY: Directed by Jackie Chan and Benny Chan
PRODUCED BY: Leonard Ho and Barbie Tung
RATING: Rated PG-13
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0127357
TYPE OF MOVIE: Action, Comedy
DURATION: 108 minutes

Left for dead after a brutal CIA double-cross, a lone commando (Chan) must struggle to regain his memory and expose an international espionage ring before they can unleash a powerful and lethal new energy source.  With the aid of two beautiful sidekicks, Jackie fights his way across continents and faces armed assassins and sinister plots at every turn.  For blistering action and adrenaline-pumping excitement nobody does it better than Jackie.

DVD EXTRAS:

• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, AC-3
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats

KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I could find.

DVD REVIEW:

When I bought this movie, I was expecting to see a really cool Jackie Chan flick and you get that and more with this movie.  There is a lot of action and certain fight scenes that makes you think…WOW!  How did he do that?  So, in the fight scene category, Jackie Chan delivers!  But in the acting department… this is one of the worse acted English-speaking Jackie Chan movie I have ever scene and no, I’m not talking about Jackie Chan…I’m talking about the other actors.

The moment when you start seeing the military characters act, I was wondering if it was dubbed over or what because the acting is so bad.  Also, this is one of the worst I have seen from the female characters, especially when you get to scenes of the women trying to jog Jackie’s memory.

The actual storyline is pretty cool and the many different areas that this movie is shot is pretty cool.   But unfortunately …(sigh)…the US release has been cut. So, we are not seeing the true version and unfortunately that just plainly sucks.

As for the DVD, the video quality is very good.  No major artifacts and the movie is colorful.  In the audio category, I’m glad that the movie was in Digital 5.1.  As for special features, again I don’t count trailers, menus, scene selections or foreign languages/subtitles, special features.  They should be there on the DVD.  So, leaving it at that…you don’t get squat in the special features department but the trailer and the added French track.  So, this is disappointing.

So, all in all this movie gets high marks for the action.  The movie is interesting but poorly acted in many categories.  Columbia did a great job with the GEN-X Cops DVD and I was hoping they would do the same with WHO AM I? but unfortunately, the lack of any special feature brings the rating down a bit for this movie.

THE MOVIE:  B-
THE DVD EXTRAS:  D-
THE DVD OVERALL:  C-

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