Product Details

• Actors: Jet Li, Ching Wan Lau
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Lions Gate
• DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001B093WY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,634 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Take the art direction and set design from The Crow and Batman. Add a male-bonding element reminiscent of The Killer or Hard-Boiled. Stir in a plot line about some top-secret near-invincible bionic-man superwarriors taking over the drug trade in Hong Kong, with only one man who can stop them. Season with a high body count, lots of explosions and running gun battles, and spectacular hand-to-hand fight sequences. Top off with a soupçon of cheesy comic relief and a generous helping of atrocious dubbing. Bake for too long, then remove from oven and allow to cool until thoroughly stale. The result: Black Mask. Sure, it's a preposterous recipe (bet you didn't know that LED readouts will show up on an X-ray), but it's stylishly prepared and presented, with high-octane editing, wild camera angles, and a neo-Goth feel all around. Of course it's all about the remarkable Jet Li, the fight scenes, and the postindustrial art direction. Those who come expecting a high-concept, intelligent thriller will be left with indigestion, but Hong Kong action fans who live and die for insane stunts and head-spinning martial arts scenes will have their appetites sated by this dish. It's very interesting to see the influence that John Woo's hand continues to have on American and HK action thrillers, years after his seminal films with Chow Yun-fat. It'll be even more interesting to see how films like Black Mask hold up in the future. Just don't take it too seriously and this movie works just fine. Oh, and the title? It comes from when Jet Li switches from his mild-mannered librarian persona to butt-kicking superhero, complete with mask and hat à la The Green Hornet's Cato. --Jerry Renshaw

Product Description

BLACK MASK - Blu-Ray Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Rent it first! - before buying, September 3, 2008

By 

70chevelless - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Mask [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

This is a review for the blu-ray version of this Black Mask movie. I was really looking forward to this movie coming out on blu-ray and was very disappointed in it when I finally got the chance to watch it. I loved this movie when it came out on dvd with its "campy" storyline and martial arts action. This blu-ray version is barely an improvement over the dvd. I watched this on a PS3 system and hdtv with an Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver and a decent set of surround sound speakers so I was able to take advantage of the 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack available on the disc. The video was very "grainy" looking and barely looked "cleaned up" at all. I put in my standard dvd version of this movie and could hardly see any difference at all between the two. The sound wasn't much of an improvement either. The background music sounded pretty flat throughout the movie and the only improvements were in the explosions and some of the higher action sequences. Whoever did the blu-ray transfer of this film really "dropped the ball" on this one. As far as the movie itself, if you have never seen it, you are in for a treat and a fun ride with this one. For those of you who have seen the movie and were looking for a high-quality upgrade, I would recommend renting it first to see how you like it before shelling out the bucks to purchase a copy.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fights!, October 9, 1999

By 

Panio (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Mask [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This movie is incomparable. I saw it three times in theaters and each time converted a new, previously sceptical friend. Jet is as endearing as ever, but more importantly, the fight scenes cannot be matched. They had to write Jet's character's superhuman background into the story simply to justify how fast he moves. You won't be disappointed.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hong Kong Superhero movie done good, March 9, 2006

By 

SRFireside "ZOOM!" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Black Mask (DVD)

I can’t remember ever seeing a superhero Hong Kong action movie. You would think it would be something obvious to do considering the dynamic action styling of Hong Kong action films. Sounds like a good idea? Well The Black Mask delivers on that idea. Combine insane stunt work and martial arts choreography along with a masked crime fighter and you get a superhero movie with action that will put Hollywood to shame.

As with many superhero movies the plot isn’t what you call complex or involved. It is just a simple super-villain-with-a-master-plan kind of affair here. The interesting thing about Black Mask is what they do in between the fight scenes and evil plots. You get a good look at the relationships between our hero and his friends and co-workers. Things like a fledgling romance and conflicts of interest with friends actually work here. After a bit of character development the plot thickens and the bullets start to fly. This isn’t high art on the script side, but then again if you shouldn’t be expecting that in the first place. Hong Kong action films aren’t known for gripping stories, just high-flying action. At least here you get a solid story, solid back story, with all the action goodness.

Okay lets get to the nitty gritty. The Black Mask is a martial arts film at its core, and I gotta tell you the martial arts rock. The choreography done in the fight scenes are not only tight but they are fast and furious. Jet Li definitely shows his stuff on this one along with a few other martial artists. It puts just about every fight scene from Hollywood to shame. This movie obviously pays homage to Bruce Lee’s Kato character from the Green Hornet television shows. The special effects do go crazy at times with all the explosions, blood and body parts flying around. Even crazier are seeing some things like colored smoke for no reason and Silly String (yes… Silly String). The English dubbing isn’t great, but to be honest it’s not any worse than your average foreign film dub.

Basically this movie is for action fans and fans of Hong Kong martial arts movies. It’s an entertaining blend of science fiction, police drama, kung fu and of course superhero genres that make this an enjoyable popcorn movie. Granted it’s not going to look polished for the average viewer, but if you like martial arts and cool superheroes I recommend The Black Mask.