Customer Reviews

The New Legend of Shaolin

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This is the second time I am trying to post a review of this film. Maybe they don't want you to know you are getting [a bad deal]?

Okay, so Columbia TriStar has done an excellent job presenting Hong Kong movies such as the Once Upon a Time in China series. They deserve praise for that, unlike the always despicable nimrods at Disney/Miramax/Dimension/Buena Vista.

Unfortunately, this time out Columbia TriStar has stumbled badly and decided to issue a truly sub-standard DVD, both compared to their own usual high standards and compared to what fans and viewers want.

This movie is actually a dubbed, edited, renamed version of the original movie titled "New Legend of Shaolin" which is actually also for sale by Amazon at about half the price of "Legend of the Red Dragon"

The new title is mystifying: there are no dragons in this film, red or otherwise. The original title is much more appropriate: the story is about the semi-historical legend of 5 young monks who survived the destruction of the Shaolin Temple and went on to rebuild it. In this fictionalized account, Jet Li aids the 5 kids, and together they rebuild the legend of Shaolin Temple. Get it? Shaolin. Legend. New. Now is that so hard for American audiences to understand? Apparently, Columbia TriStar thinks so, hence the ridiculously random and generic reference to red
dragons or mauve phoenixes or teal lions or something like that.

And yes, this DVD has dubbed audio tracks only. Despite the ease with which multiple language tracks can be included on the same DVD disc, as Columbia TriStar themselves have done with other films, this time out they've chosen to give us literally less than half the value we expect. Why not include the original Cantonese audio track alongside the English dub? The only explanation I can think of is sheer laziness and disregard for the customer.

Is the dubbing of good quality? Who cares?! For [price] I expect BOTH audio tracks.

What is worse is that this dubbed version of the film is actually edited. That's right, footage has been cut from it. "New Legend of Shaolin" has a running time of 95 minutes. "Myth of the Magenta Tapeworm" is 87 minutes. That's 8 minutes or almost 1/10th of the movie, completely gone. Why? Apparently, because Columbia TriStar doesn't think enough of American audiences to give us the real stuff. Frankly, I am insulted.

Sorry, but for [price] this DVD includes less than half the entertainment value it should. A total [waste].

Do yourself a favor, go up to the area of the "Product Details" area which says "Other Formats" and click on the link that says "DVD". This takes you to the listing for "New Legend of Shaolin" the complete, unedited, original language, subtitled version of this film. And it will cost you almost [price]less.

For that price, the original "New Legend of Shaolin" is a value-packed DVD version of a zany, funny, action-packed, over the top martial arts classic starring the always excellent jet Li.

I really enjoyed this movie! It combines the political intrique of Swordsman II with the comedic elements of Fong Sai Yuk (which also had a political underpinning). This is a fantasy style movie with plenty of wirework and unlikely physics. If you like that style of movie, then you should love this one!

Jet Li (Hung) and his son Man Ting are on the run from government soldiers. Jet Li has plenty of good (and serious!) advice for his son, like "show no mercy" and "don't lose your temper, but if you do, then lose it". In a way, Jet Li and his son are playing the straight men in this movie.

Red Bean and her mother are infamous thieves who trick foolish men out of their fortunes. It turns out that they are kung fu artists of considerable skill too (no match for Jet Li of course, but who is?). They target Mr Ma, who has just hired Jet Li to protect him. These two provide a lot of the comic relief. Mother Red Bean reminds me a lot of Fong Sai Yuk's mother.

The villians are the evil government soldiers (who die by the hundred), an evil eunuch (of course), and someone from Jet Li's past who has turned himself into a Poisonous Man and drives around in what looks like a metal rat-car!

Anyway, the movie was very funny. The fight scenes were well done and impressive, as were the special effects. Definately a high quality movie.

The video quality was pretty good. It is widescreen, but not anamorphic. The movie has either Cantonese or Mandarin soundtracks, with English subtitles. The subtitles are in the movie however (as opposed to a separate subtitle track on the DVD) and are sometimes hard to read.

Take this movie for what it is ENTERAINMENT. Everyone who reveiwed this movie is acting like it was made as a martial arts instructional video. This movie is great lots of action, it was funny, but to top it all off Jet & Tze are so cute together. Please watch this movie without over analyzing it.

Avoid the dvd entitled Legend of the Red Dragon. This is a re-edited version of New Legend of Shaolin, dumbed down and dubbed down for us Americans. Make sure to get NLoS, it's the original classic.

New Legend of Shaolin is a great flick; assuming you don't mind over the top wire-fu and a really over the top bad guy. The humor is certainly an acquired taste, but worth it.

Directed by Hong Kong's certifiably insane Wong Jing, New Legend of Shaolin is one of the most bizarre entries into the action-comedy genre.

Jet Li once again plays one of China's most legendary freedom fighters, Hung Hei-Kwun (he also played Wong Fei-Hung and Fong Sai-Yuk), this time traveling cross country with his young son (Tze Miu); romancing a beautiful con artist (Chingmy Yau); and protecting the Shaolin temple from a guy with poisonous skin who drives around in a miniature silver Batmobile.

New Legend of Shaolin doesn't really know who its target audience is, as its humour ranges from obscene to slapstick and back again. Still, the fights are all inspired and thoroughly exciting. And its hard not to like a movie with a tiny silver Batmobile in it.

Kung-fu artist, Jet Li, is well known for his "Once Upon A Time In China" series, in which he plays legendary character Wong Fei-Hung. Few people know that Wong Fei-Hung used a kung-fu style that derived from another legendary character, Hong Hei-Kwun. Jet Li portrays Hong Hei-Kwun in "New Legend of Shaolin."

World-known Corey Yuen adds to his impressive list by directing (along with Jing Wong) and choreographing for "New Legend of Shaolin"'s kung-fu sequences. Among Corey Yuen/Yuen Kwai's other works are "Fong Sai Yuk 1&2", "Lethal Weapon 4", "Romeo Must Die", "Kiss of the Dragon", "Warriors of the Magic Mountain", as well as "My Father Is A Hero."

Hung Hei-Kwun (Jet Li), and his son, Hung Man-Ting (Miu Tse, who also played Jet's son in "My Father Is A Hero") work together against a corrupt government that has killed their family and Shaolin Temple brothers.

The plot is well-developed in most aspects, for a series of small plots are weaved together beautifully to make a rather successful outcome.

Jet Li and Miu Tse both give some of the best performances in their careers to the screen. To heighten their performances, supporting actors/actresses including Chingmy Yau and Lung Wei Wang bring the film comical effects and seven stunning kung-fu sequences that are packed with wirework, impressive performances by Miu Tse (acting as Jet's son), and some of Jet's most notable moves. With a creative choreographer, Corey Yuen, kung-fu scenes in this kicking film are unpredictably shocking. Jet Li and Miu Tse's collaboration are both touching and electrifying. To heighten kung-fu performances, sound effects, cinematography, choreography, sets, dialogue, and costume designs practically define perfection.

"New Legend of Shaolin" is one of Jet Li's most breathtaking performances when it comes to his kung-fu scenes. This is a must-see.

The customer review currently featured first here urges us to buy the New Legend of Shaolin DVD, but many will actually prefer the Legend of the Red Dragon DVD. (For those not aware, these are different releases of the same movie, and the reviews are mixed together here. The Shaolin release is from Tai Seng, a company with a mixed reputation for importing Hong Kong movies; the Red Dragon release is from Sony/Columbia Tristar. What appears to be essentially the same Tai Seng DVD is also here.)

There are two main differences between the two versions.

1. The Red Dragon version is edited so that it's 12 minutes shorter than the Tai Seng Shaolin version. I don't think that necessarily makes it worse. This isn't Citizen Kane, or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. After the misleadingly grave beginning, this is mainly a low-budget, wacky martial-arts comedy, with over-the-top fights and characters, humorous throughout. Judging from comparisons at Hong Kong movie websites, the cuts don't change anything of great importance.

And the 95-minute Tai Seng Shaolin release isn't really the fullest version anyway. Amazon also lists a 100-minute version. I'd happily watch a longer version, but I didn't feel any great gaps that interfered with anything all that important in Legend of the Red Dragon, or find myself wishing it was longer.

2. The other main difference is that Red Dragon offers the English dub only, while Shaolin offers Chinese with optional English subtitles only, with no option for an English dub.

As it happens, the English dubbing on the Red Dragon version is hilarious; it's hard to imagine that the original Chinese is any funnier, especially to those who don't speak Cantonese, or that the subtitles bring out some subtle humor missed in the dub.

So, if you're taking this movie the way it appears to be intended, that is, not so seriously, and you don't speak Chinese, you might prefer the Red Dragon version with the English dubbing. It's currently very cheap used.

If you're not familiar with Jet Li, he's a great martial artist with a long career in Hong Kong and some American movies, capped by the recent Fearless (which is the kind of film that's better in its longer version). If you like Jackie Chan's cheaper outings, or want to see some impressively choreographed martial arts action in a mainly comedic setting, try out whichever version of this movie and you'll have a good time.

Both versions are in non-anamorphic widescreen. The image quality is good.

("Red Dragon" is a key place name in the move, by the way, so perhaps not entirely gratuitously chosen for the title. Not that it really matters. A final note: don't confuse this with the movie called simply Red Dragon--that's a completely different animal, and not half as much fun, in my view.)

Legend of the Red Dragon

This action film opens with Kwun (Jet Li) finding his village burned and his family burdered by the evil "government". Somehow his infant son survived the slaying, so Kwun makes the toddler choose between a sword and his favorite toy. If the boy Ting (Miu Tse) chooses the toy, Kwun will kill him. If he chooses the sword, the two will run off together, training and seeking vengeance along the way. Luckily, the boy waddles over to the shiny sword.

I have to tell you right now, this film made me giddy. I laughed, I oohed and ahhed over the fight scenes, I laughed some more, I just had a lot of fun watching it. Theres actually an okay storyline- a lot of stuff happens anyway. Granted its your typical plot: uphold honor, protect the weak, save the shaolin monks who are always being hunted by the evil emperor, etc. But when you add a little kid who could kick ANYONE'S ass into the mix with Jet Li and some really funny albeit lame bits, you have a wildly entertaining and highly watchable piece of Hong Kong cinema.

Some martial arts purists have issue with Li's manic wire use, but I think his stave techniques redeem him. Plus the wire stuff can be so cool when done right.

I thought the weakest point of the movie was the arch villain - he drove some kind of shiny "flight of the navigator" clown car, looked like a mutant x-man, and would just randomly appear. And his minions looked like ninja turtles at the end... odd.

It came out in 1994 and you can definitely see some pre-HERO and Crouching Tiger scenes. Red Dragon lacks their beauty and seriousness though. While HERO is epic and gorgeous, DRAGON is hilarious- even when its not trying to be. People who were a fan of Kung Fu Hustle and Hero will probably really enjoy this movie. I did.

Not realizing that the American distributor had decided to edit the film, (which was already edited and complete, so this is extremely rude and arrogant), I rented this one. And was a bit puzzled at some of the dialogue. Then I found out about the real version, NEW LEGEND OF SHAOLIN and had to go elsewhere to buy it. What a difference!! Not only were scenes there that had been cut from this shlocky version, but entire conversations were different!! (I use subtitling only so can't vouch for the dubbed.) It made a HUGE difference to the film, which is just plain fun.

Last night, after kung fu class, I watched Legend of the Red Dragon. Chop socky is just the way to end a night of hard training!

The movie very loosely tells the tale of the Shaolin massacre, when almost all of the monks were murdered in an all-out attack. The survivors consist of a hidden kung fu master and five child monks with map portions tattooed on their backs and the legacy of Shaolin in their minds. Jet Li plays the ubiquitous Hung Hei-Kwun, hero of 90% of all kung fu flicks.

Legend of the Red Dragon is the sort of movie that fuels parodies. It is filled with surreal ridiculous elements which make me pause the movie frequently so I can laugh hysterically. From its piggyback baby battle to its miniature chrome Batmobile, to the revelation that Jet Li is going commando, the film is filled with classic WTF moments. I swear the bad guy in Legend of the Red Dragon is the English Patient. Check him out, and you'll know exactly what I mean.

The movie is filled with sped-up wire fu, but this doesn't detract too much from some truly spectacular fight sequences using darts and collapsible staves. Jet Li kicks some serious butt, and so does Miu Tse in his film debut; he's the little boy with a miniature Mohawk who plays Jet Li's son. I'll be on the lookout for his subsequent movies!