Customer Reviews

Jackie Chan's Project A

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

In my opinion the original Chinese language version of Project A is one of Jackie Chan's best films. A film full of great stunts and some of the best fight scenes of any Jackie Chan movie. This version however is extremely poor. I was very excited when I saw this release in the video store on DVD. I have a subtilted video tape and I have been waiting for it's release on DVD. However I became leary when I recalled the recent release of Jet Li's Fist of Legend and other recent English dubbed Hong Kong action movies like Iron Monkey, Police Story 1 and 2 and Black Mask. It seems to me that the people involved in these re-releases have no respect for these great movies. It many cases, especially Jackie Chan's movies, scenes are edited out, the original score is replaced by inferior music, profanity is added and the English duubed voices are just horrible and at times downright goofy. The English language versions are so inferior to ther originals that it is not even funny. Often times these films come off as comedies because of the horrible dubbing. Project A is no exception. What was once a serious action movie, with some comedic touches, is now a goofy, wateredowned movie. The voices can not be taken seriuosly. The new score is just ok, the original was so much better. The new score actually slows down the action sequences and eliminates most of the tension that was in the original. I was extremely disappointed with this DVD. I might recommend it to anyone who has not seen the original version and is curious about early Jackie Chan. However I will stick with my subtitled video tape.

First of all, I love the original Project A, which I have seen in full on our local Multinational TV Channel (with great subtitling I might add - SBS do a great job). The two stars are for the DVD. If you want the real Project A, then don't get this DVD. I thought Jackie dubbed it, the main reason I bought it - but after seeing Legend of Drunken Master (which he did dub) I have my doubts. The voice sounds very fake. All the rest of the actors are obvious dubs. Some scenes have been cut - especially the scene in the Mah Jhong parlour introducing Sammo Hung. They cut the shower scene and other bits when the marine police are in training, as well as other bits and pieces. Picture quality is superb - the only bonus. The music is awful, doesn't keep pace with the action at all and is totally different to the original. All in all, a disappointment, especially when I have to order from overseas, which costs a fair bit. This DVD is in my JC collection, but I much prefer my video version.

First off this movie is great, it is truly one of Jackie Chan's classics. The stunts and action scenes are fantastic, and the plot moves along nicely. The DVD is good for the most part, the picture and sound are both good.

But one negative side is the lack of subtitle and language options. With a movie like this it would be nice to be able to turn off the english dubbing and instead have the original chinese soundtrack with english subtitles. But this option is not presented, which really annoys me when you consider the fact that it could have been easily put on the DVD. The english dubbing isn't bad (Jackie Chan does his own voice, and i believe Samo Hung does too). But sometimes the orginal chinese soundtrack can make the movie seem more legitimate and less cheesy, and i like to have the option.

But all in all this really is own of Jackie's finest movies. Samo Hung is very good as well. I took off one star just for the lack of subtitle options, but that isn't the end of the world. I still enjoy this DVD greatly.

... to the outtakes when they roll the credits? This DVD is crap!! I got this for $5 at Target and, man, what a mistake... The English dub is stupid, too. Don't buy this... Get the HK versions like the other guys said...

This is a review of the New Media/Cinevu release, not the dubbed Dimension one.

Do not buy this movie - this product should be pulled immediately as it seems to be an incomplete bootleg not even containing the whole movie. That should be sufficient warning there, but if you must know why, read on.

I was hesitant at first to buy this DVD, as all other reviews - both good and bad - seem to be of the Deimnsion version. I'm not sure why these two seperate products are linked to the same page for comments, but they are.

In short, this DVD is horrible. The only good thing is that it is in the original language - unfortunately, the subtitles - both Chinese and English - are hard coded into the screen, so you have to deal with both subtitles being up there. Secondly, the transfer is atrocious - so bad, in fact, that the hardcoded subtitles are so blurred its virtually impossible to read them (that's not even including the very small font used). The bad transfer also applies to the picture in general, giving it a low quality that makes the worst of TV show DVDs look like painted masterpieces.

There are no bonuses, sound options, or in fact any menus. The set up is bare minimum and the presentation so horrid that I feel as if I paid 15$ for a bootleg from Amazon, and I would not be surprised if in fact this IS a bootleg, as I can find no information on this New Media company or even this release of the DVD outside of Amazon.

But somehow, for some reason, I bore through this to continue on with the movie. Taking great effort I could make out the subtitles and grimey picture enough just to realize that the movie ends at 47 minutes - in an hour and a half movie. So not only is the transfer horrible, but it is incomplete, literally cutting off in the middle of the movie. This isn't a criticism about the editing, mind you, but the DVD actually just suddenly ends as if they didn't bother to burn the entire movie onto the DVD.

I will be emailing Amazon about this shortly, but I must urge all people to avoid this DVD, the reasons being clear - you aren't even getting the movie you paid for, its literally not all the way on the disc.

INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT A:

Jackie Chan is an underestimated genious outside his own reputation, the historical importance of his legacy trascends his best known image as a comedian and daredevil acrobat: There's a talented Director and visionary, a man who changed the Action film industry in Honk Kong forever with his personal touch and style in the early 80's, by creating the perfect fusion of goofy physical comedy and incredible restless action with some of the most impressive and dangerous stunts ever displayed on film. This 1982 period film about sailors, police and pirates, was the consolidation of Chan as a star in Asia after his major breakthrought with Yuen Woo Ping's kung fu classic "Drunken Master", and a movie that started an influence to follow from there on in the industry.

This is a true milestone, considered by critics not only as the first important Honk Kong action comedy , but one of the best productions of the genre next to Chan's second best directed film, the timeless classic "Police Story". Besides being one of his most entertaining and funny movies, the film contains some of Jackie's best stunts ever. We've all seen the reckless and almost imprudent asian stuntmen falling on their heads and backs from the roof to the solid floor in many occasions in 80's HK action movies, but no one can get used to watch Jackie climbing handcuffed to a flag pole, jumping to the top of a clock tower, and then falling to the ground with no protection but a couple of cloth roof tops. And he did it at least three times, two of them registered in this film. Even the MTV idiots getting their private parts bitten by baby alligators, thinks that its totally insane. Outstanding comedy and action, great period scenarios, enjoyable classic soundtrack: This movie defines an era.

So Jackie became a hughe international star and the world embraced this delightful character and action hero that he is, and then came the re-releases of his early and most important work to satisfy the needs of us fans. Among those DVD releases, unfortunately we can find editions like this one. Check this out:

THE PROBLEMS:

- Incomplete, cutted version with english dubbing, and the worst of all, the original amusing and perfectly synchronized music score was replaced by a new, awful synthesized random score, killing the comedy and sucking the joy out of the movie by trying to turn it into the current action flick. I mean, the "updated" new cover of the DVD speaks for itself.

- The Classic Golden Harvest presentation and original opening sequence with credits, was replaced by a computer generated pirate flag : Jackie Chan's Project A, the new title, makes clear that this release is a mere vehicle to show Jackie to new audiences, with no respect for anything else.

- The bar fight sequence is incomplete: The whole "spaghetti" incident was excluded, along with precious seconds of the brawl. Nice.

- The scene in the gambling house in wich the Sammo Hung's character is introduced to the movie, was completely excluded. Now, he just happens to know everyone. Awesome.

- From the Police training sequence, the "shower" scene is missing.

- The intro of Sammo, Jackie and Yuen Biao in the arrest sequence at the club house is missing. The fight sequences are chopped off too.

- The intro of the rifle robbery on a boat at night perpetrated by Sammo and Jackie, conceived as a Pekin Opera satire, is chopped off and ruined by the lack of score, waysting the rhymes and the joke intended.

- The pirate assault to the english ship sequence, chopped off.

- From then, everything is in place, till the new ending credits. By this time, only sadness for the lost original music score and impotence for the waysted money remains.

Honestly, the picture and sound are decent. But that's it. The intention of this DVD edition is to introduce new audiences to Jackie's glorious past, and in that part only, it delivers. But this is not the final choice for any collector or faithful fan, not for a moment.

THE SOLUTION:

A couple years ago, FORTUNE STAR released a flawless remastered ALL-REGION DVD Edition, including the complete version in Cantonese DTS, 5.1, and original 2.0 mono soundtrack (Hurra!) with original character voices and music score, all the deleted scenes and outtakes, original HK trailer, and photo galleries. More than any fan could ask for, i tell you.

Dear Customer: Look for this edition in Asian DVD stores online, and forget about this Edition. Don't be afraid, they're just as safe and efficient as here, i guarantee.

This is the "American" version of this movie. For hard-core Jackie fans you know what I mean. For those of you just starting,that means scene have been cut(the shower being one). The dubbing is not what is being said and the unkindest cut of all and on which there is no excuse is the cut of the outtakes. What were the editors thinking? If you want to see this movie in all it's DVD glory check out the Asian cinema sites. There DVD work in American machines. I gave the rating for the movie I saw not the American version.

I had the opportunity to check out this DVD by renting it. I also have the original chinese language version on DVD, and I must say that these Disney reissues are total garbage. The movie itself is great, although I found the print on the Disney DVD to 'flicker' a bit - alternating lighter then normal brightness. The Deltamac version I have has a cleaner looking picture with consistent brightness.

The terrible things about this DVD include the dubbing (Jackie Chan didn't participate, although it sounds like him; and some of the Disney voice-over actors sound constipated); the 'hatchet' editing (isn't there any respect for artistic integrity with chinese movies distributed in North America?); and the music - incongruant and ruins the feel of the scenes. If this English dub were taken from the 80's English version, I wouldn't mind because the music would have been intact. An example of the new music dubbing ruining a scene is the one on a boat where Jackie and Sammo are dressed in chinese opera costumes. In the original, you hear the crashing cymbals as they speak, just like in Chinese opera. In the Disney version, the cymbals are absent which totally ruins the joke. It's the sum of these alterations to the movie that have made me take away 4 stars from an otherwise 5 star movie.

Send a message to Disney by staying away from their hatchet job reissues. Show them how disgusted you are at these terrible alterations of classic HK films.

Lately, after viewing all of Jackie's movies made over the past 10 or so years (the high budget movies like Police Story and Who Am I?), I have started to look at his earlier, less budgeted and clearly less known movies.

However, my search lead me to a couple of decent movies, and then Rumble In Hong Kong (IMO, the only truly bad Jackie Chan movie). After seeing that disaster, I was skeptical as to see this one, but I rented it anyhow and found loads of charm and excitement. As I watched, I recognized a lot of actors used in some other movies like Police Story (Mars, Ti Pai), and a lot of faces that, although I never saw them before, I loved seeing them too. Additionally, I find that martial arts movies differ than Anime in terms of dubbing. I find that in martial arts movies, reading the subtitles and watching the action a bit tiring, and unlike Anime, the original voices aren't exactly better to listen to. So, while many have problems with dubbing, trust me, the dubbing is not a problem.

Every character has a large amount of likability, including Lord Sam Pao, the main villain. Almost never do you see a movie that so successfully coasts on the charisma of the characters. Yuen is a tough, but helpful and agreeable man, while Sammo Hung just can't help but be really cool, as well as funny. Both support Chan, a rebellious yet charming character with a great sense of loyalty and justice.

It's not just the characterizations of these characters that works, but remember that these three men are action stars, and while Chan hogs the spotlight, Sammo and Biao deliver some great moves and moments in action. Going along with the awesome martial art sequences comes the infamous clock falling stunt, a stunt that Jackie broke his skull pulling off. Another really awesome scene is when Jackie rides through the streets on a bike, and I had to watch Biao Yuen talk his way out of telling the pirate guard the password several times, for he pulled it off insanely well. This movie never stops with its coolness; it's either adrenaline pumping, funny, or just plain likable.

That all covers the movie itself, and know this here and now: the DVD version is better than the VHS version, mainly due to the superior look of widescreen mode, and superior sound quality from the DVD hardware. This movie is nothing short of a work of art, one of Chan's best of all time, and all the DVD does is enhance it. Well worth the price!

The only thing in Project A that doesn't measure up to the rest of the Dimension releases of the Chan catalogue is cinematography. Like so many other Hong Kong movies of its time, the camera work and the aesthetics simply don't measure up and have dated badly.

But that should be no reason for you to miss a rousing good time filled with martial-arts action, endearingly corny dialogue, and the priceless interplay of the Chan triumvirate: Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao. The slapstick in Project A is some of the best in the Chan oeuvre: The exciting bike ride through the slums of old Hong Kong, where bamboo sticks, buckets and even doors become weapons; Hung and Chan's fight with the bad guys in a restaurant; the midnight mutual stalking in the fields on the island; the hand-grenade gag. And the martial-arts action utilizes the best of all three actors, with Chan's athleticism, Hung's unusual (stocky) style and Yuen's dogfighting combining for an action-film treat. The final battle is also thrilling, with all three squaring off a graceful, musclebound pirate king.

Chan's direction is good; even if this movie has the same zoom-lens addiction as so many films of its time, the pacing is tight, the rich old-Hong Kong setting unusual and fascinating, and the characters (well, except the squealing girlfriend) lovable. Essential viewing for Chan fans.