Customer Reviews

Accidental Spy [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I'm sure most of us who have ever come across, and perhaps even have grown to like, some classic Hong Kong movie (such as Police Story, Drunken Master II), would have heard the not-so-secret about how Miramax/Dimension films bought most of the Hong Kong movies distribution right. It seems like they bought more than just the right the distribute, they have bought the films and, despite the Directors/Filmmakers original intention, they cut it as they see fit.

The problem is, they don't see very well. Without a good understanding of other's cultural background, they simply categorize what they do not understand as redundant. The result are some horrific, hollow effort that will lead the American viewers believe that Hong Kong or other countries are unable to produce quality motion pictures. While Miramax/Dimension are considered to be "Independant Studios" who respect the artisic view of the filmmakers, they are nothing more than bunch of short-sighted, self-righteous hypocrites.

Though they do make an effort to digitally restore/remaster the original film to provide a sharper, clearer image, they more than often largely mutilate the film: creating new, trailor-like (useless and sometime even become spoiler) credit sequence, replacing original music score with cheesy/ridiculous techno, awful dubbing and worst of all, cutting out numerous sequences of the movie. Slap on a laughable cover and it is ready to be re-sold as a Miramax/Dimension production.

To make this long aggravation short, The Miramax/Dimension version of "Accidental Spy" is a perfect example. The cover of the DVD has got nothing whatsoever to do with the film except it features Jackie Chan (Who the hell are the two women holding pistols?). Secondly, 20+ minutes of the film was trimmed (That is the equal length of an episode of "Friends"!), thirdly, a cool(?) titile sequence is inserted basically give away all the stunt and action scenes at the beginning of the film, and finally, though most of the dialogue in this movie are originally English, for the part when the characters are speaking Mandarin/Cantonese, they somehow got Jackie himself to do his own English dubbing, only they are bad, and does not provide the story as it should be (Note: Jackie's Character "Bei" actually has a certain "psychic" power). I mean, they even dubbed the "outtake" sequence, wouldn't you think it's absurd?

I eventually obtained an original version, and enjoyed it much more as I have a better understanding of the characters, or you could say I was into the story more simply because I was not distracted by the dubbing.

The original version even include some "making-of" documentary, cast & crew bio, trailors, and oh! DTS soundtrack (though somehow the DTS track on this disc proved to be a disappointment).

If you somehow got the Miramax/Dimension version, I am sorry but you are not watching this movie as it really should be. I give 2 stars for this version. For the original version, I believe it actually deserve a 4 star rating.

Finally! Now a truely international action hero of our era, Jackie Chan came back to Hong Kong movie. This is what he wants to do, and avid fans should not miss it!

Of course, the plot is only an excuse for involving him into a series of actions. But it is his action scenes that count. And "Accidental Spy" gives them to you.

This time we have two standout scenes, both of which take place in Turkey: one of them shows how Jackie escapes from thugs in spice market, stark naked (Yes, naked!!!), using various props you can think of in a lightening speed. Silly? Sure, but absolutely funny and hilarious, and I even respect him for doing that in a hot country, his body all over spices (think about how he felt)! The other comes at the end, in a "Speed"-like way, with a tank truck set on fire running on a bridge, and fans, you know what he is going to do? Of course, he jumps from there!

As in Jackie's movies made in Hong Kong, the script is weak and sometimes you have to sit through occasional slack. To be fair, the script of Ivy Ho, who is responsible for that of much inferior "Gorgeous," is better than you might expect, and I have no complaint about it. And true Jackie Chan fans should know that death-defying action is not a thing you can do every day. Naturally you want more, and more, and more (yeah, I understand), but think about it; 5 minutes of HIS action is always worth your money.

And lastly, as one of many Jackie fans in Japan, I believe this is his movie should be. I am ready to go to see another "Rush Hour" but it is a Hollywood-made, not-exactly-his-style work. Remember, "Accidental Spy" is clearly made with mainly Asian audience in mind (cast of Vivian Hsu, popular in Japan and Taiwan, and Min-jeong Kim, who comes from Korea, testifies to that) but this fact should not discourage any movie fans from seeing it. Just sit back, relax; get laughs, get thrills, and enjoy it. Just like we do.

The Accidental Spy is one of Jackies better recent movies. There's no disguising the fact he's getting older, and can't quite manage the jaw-dropping feats of his youth, but in this movie he still shows that he has more understanding of action scenes than almost anybody else on the planet. The Accidental Spy also has a reasonably good script.

However, what you will see with this DVD is not really the movie The Accidental Spy at all. The distributing company have, for reasons best known to themselves, decided to cut about half an hour out of the movie for it's US release. They have also decided for us that we should watch the movie in English, despite it having been recorded in Jackie's native Cantonese. Dubbing ruins movies, pure and simple.

Hence, whilst I believe that people should see The Accidental Spy if they are a fan of Jackie Chan or action cinema in general, I cannot recommend that anybody purchase this DVD version.

Track down the Hong Kong DVD instead, which might not have Miramax level mastering, but at least presents the movie as it was meant to be seen. The butchery Miramax have applied to the movie is an offence to the movie makers and the US audiences in equal measures. Don't support releases like this, and maybe one day the US studios will learn to treat their audience with respect.

I have seen the original cut of this film and it's pretty good, however the Miramax version has eliminated alot. They cut the story down and redubbed it, changing the dynamics of the film. Instead of looking for a new strain of Anthrax, they're looking for Opium. So the urgency of the plot is gone. The new english is track horrible. This film is not the typical buffonery of Jackie's previous efforts, it's a little darker but the english makes an attempt at lightening the mood. They even cut a whole seen at the end! So it goes from a solid 108 minutes to a mere 86 minutes. See the original, it's much better.

When a borrowed this off a mate, i was wondering why it had never been released in the cineama's in the UK. I wondered if the film was weak but when i watched it i was proved wrong.

Jackie gives a strong performance in this Hong Kong spy thriller. He is a gym equipment saleman when a dectective tells him he is the son of a Korean spy.His father is on his deathbed when Jackie sees him but it turns out his father was a double agent and some turkish drug lords are after him. The plot is silly but it gives jackie a chance to do some spectacular stunts.

Right from the beginning when he crashes through a building wall on a crane to the end when he is on a burning lorry, the pace of the movie never slows. You would never guess that jackie is almost 50 with the stunts that he performs in here.My favourite scene was when Jackie was fighting the Turks in the market (semi naked) used every item possible to defend himself. It is classic Jakie Chan action from the word go.

It is a succesful return to Hong Kong theature for Jackie after some Hollywood films (Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon) but he once again proves he has got what it takes.It may lack a good plot and some of the intense fighting of Chan's older Hong Kong flicks but The Accidental Spy is defeniatly one to see.

I am a huge Jackie Chan fan and have been for several years now. When I first heard about this movie I was a little leary about it due to some of the reviews I had read and the fact that it didn't earn a theatrical release here in the states. But I must say that I was very pleasently surprised when I popped into my dvd player yesterday afternoon.

With this film, Jackie proves once again, that he is the man of action films. No one does it better. Period. The stunts in this film are amazing as usual and Jackie still looks in top form even though he's pushing 50. The fight scenes are creative and use Jackie's usual style of incorporating many different objects and people into the scenes. The best scene in the movie is a 10 minute fight fest that lands Jackie naked on the streets of Turkey. Very creative!

The plot of the movie is pretty decent for a JC film. Basically, Jackie gets mixed up in a drug war between the Koreans and the Turkish. I watched the english dubbed version so I'm sure the plot lost a little bit in the translation. But the plot is not the main reason we watch these type of films right? The action is great and definately worth the price of the dvd alone.

The dvd is ok. The picture and audio are acceptable but the extras and menus are not.

You can't go wrong with Jackie. This is definitely one of my favorite Jackie Chan movies! The plot's twists and turns will keep you guessing 'till the very end. Jackie does some of his best fighting, stunts, and choreography in this film. Entertaining from start to finish! A must have for any Jackie Chan fan, action movie lover, or just someone who enjoys spending 2 hours with an awesome movie. Worth every penny!

The film is about Jackie Chan's character who is trying to find his father. He is told that his father is a man from Korea who is dying and appears to be a bad guy. Typical of Jackie Chan movies is the beautiful cop and an adventure that takes you from Hong Kong to Korea to Turkey. Also, you get an introduction to one of the most popular Asian actresses in the East, Vivian Tsu (Taiwan and Japanese pop singer/actress).

This movie is way better than "Who Am I?" and the acting is much better as well.

As for the movie, the audio is fantastic via DTS and the video is beautiful as well but unfortunately not anamorphic. As for special features, there is a pretty cool making of featurette but unfortunately it is not subtitled in English.

Otherwise a solid movie for Jackie Chan and much better than "Rumble in the Bronx", "Who Am I?" and other movies of his that may be distributed internationally.

While Accidental Spy did a decent job of keeping me engaged, I think it was mostly the fact that the movie is slightly under an hour and half. The plot was not too bad, but what lacked throughout the movie was a really good stunt or two by Chan, and no good fight scenes that match up to his quality in other films. Don't get me wrong, there are some beautiful scenes and it will entertain, but I expected even more. This is one of Chan's later movies, and his age might be catching up, but all in all I hoped for bigger and better.

Like I said, the movie was engaging for the most part, and overall everything is decent, but thats all it is - no high excitement from maybe but a very few scenes. The best was in the middle of the movie, a good foot chase scene, where Chan is being chased by a gang of men through public streets, and Chan manages to loose his bathtowel, thus fighting off goons while finding random objects to keep himself "covered up". Its good, funny action. The finale of the movie is really nothing more than Chan saving a couple from their gas tanker that is on fire, nothing to do with the bad guys, they are done for before this scene. Its pretty cool scene but limits Chan's stunts and action abilites, except for his jump from the tanker in the end which is pretty cool.

The dubbing, fortunately, isn't too bad and Jackie Chan dubs his own voice which I think works so much better. Most of the charcaters in the film are pretty bland, no one is memorable. Most of the film takes place in Istanbul, so if you have seen very little of Turkey you get to see quite a bit of its capital in the film.

Accidental Spy is an ok movie, something to have only to complete your Chan collection and if you desire something you haven't seen before. I would find this difficult to want to watch over and over unlike other films such as Legend of Drunken Master or Who Am I.

I am sad. I have seen TAS (the Hong Kong version) and it fully deserves the four stars. Great plot, very tense, exciting with some great drama as well. Wonderful unusual but exciting music, very Turkish in tone, with the closing song by HK singer Jacky Cheung. I highly recommend the HK version. But this one ... I think the US have done it again. It is 86 minutes, the HK version is about 108, so they have chopped it! The music? I don't dare imagine! Why is opium involved? The whole object of the story is the struggle by Jackie to get the "Anthrax II" away from the baddies and rescue the girl! Why do they keep chopping and changing Jackie's movies? It's a shame as a four star movie will probably be reduced to a 2 star.