Customer Reviews

Drunken Tai Chi / Dynamo (Double Feature)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

DYNAMO-this movie has one of the funniest plots ever. Unfortunately though, the movie doesn't really try to be really. So after Bruce Lee dies people are wondering who is going to be the next big action star. This of course was a huge question for many years after Bruce died and 'Dynamo' looks to exploit that. It is sad that they couldn't put together a better story. Story is about Bruce Li fighting people, that is about it. I give the movie a 2.5 but would give it a 3 if I had to make a choice. I love movies with good endings and that is just way too rare in a kung fu movie.

DRUNKEN TAI-CHI-Now the start of this movie will let you know right away what you are getting in to. Donnie Yen is showing off to a young man that his bike is a lot better than his. This leads to a short bike fight. Now the young man Donnie embarrasses decides to actually try to kill Donnie and his brother(Yuen Chat-Yor). He could have gotten a gun but luckily we have Woo Ping directing this. He decides to shoot him with fireworks. Get ready for one of the craziest action sequences ever and of course one of a kind. So this doesn't work and the boy's dad(Don Wong Tao) hires a killer(Yuen Shun-Yi) to take care of Donnie Yen's family. Donnie is busy showing off his muscles while Shun-Yi comes to do his job. After his brother and dad are killed Donnie gets mixed up with a tai-chi master and his enormous wife who is of course a tai-chi master also. Woo-Ping and his brothers I have always thought were the best at showing tai-chi on screen and this movie shows some of that early brilliance he later perfected. So Donnie learns the soft style to counteract Shun Yi's extremely powerful style and they have their showdown in the good final fight.

Overall I have to say this was a different Woo-Ping movie in a couple ways. The kung fu was great though not his best. It had a few odd scenes like the fireworks fight and the Chinese Opera break dancer. But what sets this movie apart is how touching the story with the killer Shun-Yi is. Since Woo was never a great director we only have touching moments that donn't amount to much later in the movie but it is still nice to have emotional moments in your standard "you kill my father and now I kill you" movie.

There are many versions of 'Drunken Tai-Chi' and none are perfect. This one by Groundzero is VERY good quality though scratched up a bit. It is also letterboxed so you don't miss a single part of the action and is English dubbed. I wish I could say the same for 'Dynamo' as this is taken from a VHS source and is sadly full screened. This disc also contains trailers for a ton of movies which rate from average to good. All bad looking film print though.

The box is billed as Black Belt Theatre, and Drunken Tai Chi seems like the marquis film of the two, the other being Dynamo, by Bruce Li. From the Yuen Family collection, Drunken Tai Chi is much better than Dynamo. The presentation seems somewhat cleaner, as though from a master print; But the dirt specks are all there in the first part, and highlights can be washed out. Dynamo just seems so dated and the source print the producers used was many generations away from the original film, I think.

Most companies I've seen have been taking 2 films and compressing them beyond belief onto one single- layer DVD. This DVD is on a dual layer disc, which allows for a good sized image that doesn't look digitized. The DVD has 7.46GB of content to it, so the producers used the right-sized disc. The title screen has some cool music that I can just chill to, and it's a very crisp presentation; jammin' music track, easy to navigate, Chinese characters that are flaming, and an effect like sparkling fireworks. The movie, my version at least, isn't widescreen enhanced. So the film, originally shot in true letterbox format (aka about 2.35:1), looked more like strrrretched letterbox on my widescreen porty player. Is there a Cantonese version? Mine is english dubbed, no alternate languages, and no subtitles. I'm an old school "Gung Fu" lover who enjoys the original Brit-accented English- dubbed actor (like this one *seems* to have been filmed and preserved as). What many companies are doing now is a sad American- sounding redub as a way to make the sound better.... which horribly fails when compared to the original dubbed audio!

DTC is a truly funny movie, and the use of some rather strange- looking characters can either enhance your viewing pleasure or bother you. The one guy who looks like a Monty Python- based bug-eyed Asian simply was kinda ... just a tad too weird... for me, because his face freaks me out (I fear having nightmares of that guy following me some night). The martial arts producers can really find 'em sometimes. Watch for the rather cool cutaways, scenes (like the one where the crowd slowly fades away around Killer Bird, played by Donnie) and angles that brings this film a cut above, and the types of comedy that unfolds as well. Dynamo did entertain, but not nearly as completely as DTC. The favorite DTC scenes for me are the first 10 minutes and the bridge scene, plus the hilarious sound effects!

Dynamo follows I guess a somewhat true story-line about the death of Bruce Lee and movie executives trying to sell Bruce Li as the heir apparent to the martial arts legend. I'm glad it wasn't a film of someone trying to actually pass off as Lee, but someone shown to have to fill such impossible shoes. Dynamo was filmed in some version of widescreen, yet the print used was standard NTSC format. So the cropping of images is quite evident as pan/scan artificially moves the scenes sometimes.

For this being a double feature complete with previews from a bunch of other HK martial arts films, the video quality was better that I would expect. If someone would have used a cleaner print of Dynamo, this would get 4 stars. I deduct one already for it not being a widescreen- enhanced DVD, and another point off for the comparably lousy print they used for Dynamo. But, if it were just DTC and were cleaned up a bit better, it would be a 4-star film and close to perfect if it were widescreen enhanced. The box and disc design were done quite well, much better than other DVDs that are slapped together with only the purpose to make money and no emphasis on putting out a quality product. Considering what many other companies have been doing, which is simply grabbing a VHS tape and transfer the horrible tape to DVD, this disc IS quality. Worth the purchase price.

I would be truly unfair giving the DVD as a whole 2 stars because I'd buy it again. The price is right. For 2 films being placed on a dual-layer DVD, this is one that a lover of old school kung fu would watch over and over.

Donnie is young in this one. Some of the scenes look like they had poor editing (i.e. a flick in the film here and there), but it's light-hearted martial arts fun. It's the classic revenge story with a twist. Donnie's father and brother are murdered and his home is burned down. As it turns out the assassin couldn't find Donnie to finish him off per the contract. He's taken in by a mutt-and-Jeff couple and learns Tai Chi, ultimately meeting up with the assassin and taking revenge for his family's death. Unlike the title says, this film isn't about a drunken form of Tai Chi, it's just Tai Chi. I enjoyed this film a lot but I'm docking it 1 star for using modern-looking bicycles in an older Chinese setting.

This is the cream-of-the crop of being the worst kung-fu film in history. Since the Drunken Tai Chi master is the film that features Donnie Yen's first performance which is absolute garbage; there's nothing buy comedy throughout this abomination and the fight scenes look like they came out of a circus act. On the next DVD, you have a wannabe Bruce Lee which on the cover it says, "Bruce Lee's aire" and the actor is Bruce Li <(notice the last name spelling). So I'm warning all kung-fu fans: DO NOT BUY THIS!!!

I love this movie, I probably watched it more than 40 times, and it still entertains me. It is a very old kung fu movie with all the basics, no flying and no special effects, just good ole punching and kicking.

Donnie Yen stars in this movie, you might know him from "Hero" and "Blade II". He is a extrodinary actor and an even better martial artist, he is unbelievable in this movie. His movements are fluid like, smooth and fast.

Overall great kung fu movie, good story of revenge, honor, love of family, and discipline. I recommend this movie to everyone who enjoys old school kung fu.

(This movie is also known as "Tai Chi Master")

DRUNKEN TAI CHI stars Donnie Yen and was directed by Yuen Woo Ping.
DYNAMO stars Bruce Li andwas produced by the Eternal film company.
RECOMMENDED!

What can be said about a great deal except to buy it?! Drunken Tai Chi stars the incredible Donnie Yen,and was directed by Yuen Woo Ping.The second feature,Dynamo,stars Bruce Li and was directed by the Yuen Family.A really good film,with a great story and great action.It's a really good double bill.And the price is another reason to buy this set!Do it now!You will not be sorry!

Donnie kick a$$ in this movie, he was very young and just starting out. Woo Ping choreographs this movie so you know what to expect, like badass fight scenes. This movie deserves a remasterd print! The DVD includes Dynamo witch is not all that good and not presented in widescreen. I hope Drunken Tai Chi is remasterd soon, because this company made no effort at all to give us a good clean presentation. It looks like they put an old bootleg VHS copy of the movie on the DVD. If this is the case, just get the VHS print of DRUNKEN TAI CHI. Oops! Did I forget about Dynamo? Well if you like Bruce Lee impersonators. The movie does have allot of fighting, but that's all its got going for it on this DVD.