Customer Reviews

Dragons of the Orient [VHS]

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

 

 

While this seems to be mostly a patched together psuedo Jet Li biography, seemingly made from whatever Jet Li footage wasn't owned by some studio, the video's real worth lies in the large amount of stationary camera footage of style demonstrations. The video is only about 40% Jet Li footage but the other 60% is full of some of the best chinese martial arts routines I have ever seen performed by both men and women. There are at least a dozen mind-blowing demonstrations performed on a mat...like an Olympic exposition sport. If you hate wire work and want the real thing then you need to watch this.

Terrible. Okay, so Jet was in it, so it wasn't a total loss. The dubbing killed the film. It would have been much better if it was in it's original format. The fighting was okay. It was mostly demonstrations. Only about 25% of it was impressive. They showed alot of wushu segments, which is a good thing. The only problem is that it's so old that by today's standards it's pretty lame. It's still alot better than the Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Chuck Norris stuff. But compared to the more recent Hong Kong stars, it pales. It's good for a laugh though. The dubbed "heeeya...ha hhooooyaa" and other such grunts were amusing but it quickly becomes annoying. It would have been 50 times better if they kept the original sound, edited out about 50% of the demonstrations, and added demonstrations from martial artists done sometime in the 90s. All of the footage was from the 80s and 70s it looked like. The actually quality of the video was poor, it was fuzzy. If it weren't for some pretty good fight scenes (from Jet's first movie...Shaolin Temple), the RECENT demonstrations from Terry Fang, that girl in red (she teaches in VA near Silver Spring MD...I know because my good friend's cousin goes there...that lady also competes at the national and international level, too bad it was such a poor demo...no butterfly twists, only one or two hoop kicks...short),and some of the older demos (unfortunately some were sped up, like the chain whip demo) then the movie would have been a total waste of time. If you're used to tame stuff from Van Damme and want to have a little taste (even though it's a pretty bad and poo taste) of real kung fu then check it out. But if you're a veteran Kung fu fan that watches Jet, Donny Yen, Yeoh, then maybe you'll wanna skip out on this one

If you are into Wu-shu or Shoalin Martial arts, this video is a MUST HAVE! Sure the over dubbed english is a bit annoying, but they don't talk while demonstrating forms. I Think what made me give it a 4 out of a Five was the damn sound effects they dubbed in for the weaponz.Other then that, the talent these martial artists have is Truley amazing, and as for Jet Li... Astonishing! so what are you still reading for, go order it damnitt!

If you like breathtaking martial arts and seamingly endless information on the history and different styles of chinese martial arts, you will love this movie. This film has footage of many talented martial artists including Jet Li as a child and adult performing his amazing abilities. I have this movie and it is one of my favorites.

Bought the documentary Saturday. Have watched it at least 10 times, and it's only Monday. Devoured the Jet Li footage. Couldn't get enough of the drunken sword at the end. Very impressed with Terry Fan, too. Would have liked to have seen more of him in the film. The rest of the footage was cheesy propoganda, but the clips of JL made it worthwhile. I loved it.

This is a good movie for seeing real Chinese Martial arts. I did have a few problems with this movie though. My first problem is with the terrible fore story, which is meant to tie each segment together. I would have much rather had a typical documentary narrator than this cheesy story that made me want to fast forward the tape. And speaking of fast forwarding, that brings me to the second problem I have with the movie, they speed up a lot of the demonstrations, making them look unnatural and sometimes silly. I'd much rather see these demonstrations at a normal speed. Okay, now for the positive parts... There is some real talent in this movie, it is amazing. And then of course there's Jet Li. Jet is amazing, and you can see it even in the video of him training as a child. Too bad he isn't in the movie more. All in all it was an okay movie, and may be interesting to those of you interested in Chinese Martial Arts, but could seem a little cheesy and boring to those who aren't into the technical aspect of martial arts (there really aren't fight scenes, just demonstrations).

Once of my favorite films of Jet Li. Martial arts in this is great. Great Wall

First off not nearly enough current Jet Li footage. Sound effects dubbing leaves a lot to be desired. Not much top notch forms displays either

If your gonna buy something with good Kung Fu demonstrations, get this! It may not be a movie, but one amazing documentary! Jet Li is incredible here! Hes the best! You will wanna watch it a second time next day, at least thats how it went with me. Go buy it now!

This dvd's content balances enironmental/cultural/ and martial interests in researching gong fu in China. For someone like myself who is studying Martial arts and who can only dream of visiting the Shaolin temple, a dvd like this allows for more familiarity of the temple. Many of the martial artists performing are obviously of rather high quaility. I enjoyed it, and will re-watch it.