Gorgeous (1999) - Jackie Chan, Shu Qi, Tony Leung

[newgen2005]

Are the fights speeded up? The punches seem super fast!

What is the best DVD to buy? I have the HK VCD and Region 1 DVD!

[Son Of A Gun]

Surely you don't need to ask that question. They're sped up to f*ck. Looks ridiculous.

[Asmo]

The old HK DVD is uncut, but the quality won't stand up to the R1 release I guess.

I think there's a Japanese bluray, but not sure if it's uncut. Probably won't have subs either.

[David Rees]

The uncut version is hard to find now...see here for the different versions available..

http://jackiechandvds.co.uk/jackie-chan-movie-collection/gorgeous/

[Killer Meteor]

I thought the US edit was long enough. Not one of my faves.

[Takuma]

I thought the US edit was long enough. Not one of my faves.

For me this is the best of Jackie's post Drunken Master II films. I find most of the films he made in that era so bad, that the US edits actually sometimes improve them (First Strike being a good example). But Gorgeous is the opposite: the US edit removes all my favorite scenes.

The removed content includes

- A lot of Shu Qi's scenes. She's absolutely adorable in the movie, but her best scenes were all removed because they were too cute.

- A lot of Tony Leung's scenes. He's another highlight of the movie, with hilarious gay performance that was too much for the US distributor.

- Chow Yun Fat joke, Stephen Chow cameo, and other content that "foreigners wouldn't understand"

- more: http://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=1748

Of course, if you're just looking for action then the US edit is better. But then again, the never was a very good action film, but a great romantic comedy with some action thrown in.

[newgen2005]

Thanks for info guys!

The Japanese Blu-ray looks cool but far too expensive for my liking!!

It was mentioned above about the fights being speeded up, any scenes in particular?

[David Rees]

Sped up?...yes, but no more than in his other films, did not spoil it for me.

[Keung]

I can confirm the Japanese Blu-ray is uncut, but has no English subtitles as per usual.

[BlurayStation3]

I have the Japanese dvd, which is also uncut and anamorphic.

[One Armed Boxer]

This got a Hong Kong Blu-ray release yesterday....run time states 120 mins, I assume this is the uncut version? - 

http://www.yesasia.com/global/gorgeous-1999-blu-ray-remastered-hong-kong-version/1062515069-0-0-0-en/info.html

[saltysam]

I got this a while back and can confirm it's the uncut version. Excellent quality too,well worth picking up. I really like this movie, very underrated and a nice change of pace for Jackie.

[JohnnieFreeze]

Was this ever released on blu ray with an english dub?

[Drunken Monk]

An absolute fuckin’ delight. Is the 22 year age gap between Jackie and Shu Qi weird? A little, yeah. But everything else works. It’s cutesy, funny and features one of Jackie’s best fights (in my opinion). Tony Leung steals every scene he’s in as Shu Qi’s gay friend and Brad Allan looks quicker and stronger than Jackie, which is pretty insane.

A lot of people won’t like this one because it’s a straight up romcom but I honestly think it’s one of Jackie’s most flat-out enjoyable films. Not one of his best, per se. Just most enjoyable.

And Shu Qi is cute as a button. Does anyone want to send me a copy of Sex & Zen 2? You know, for research purposes.

[One Armed Boxer]

On 3/20/2020 at 9:37 AM, JohnnieFreeze said:

Was this ever released on blu ray with an english dub?

As of last month, yes.

1 hour ago, Drunken Monk said:

Tony Leung steals every scene he’s in as Shu Qi’s gay friend and Brad Allan looks quicker and stronger than Jackie, which is pretty insane.

I'm a fan of this one as well, and I always found it ironic that almost all of the best scenes were removed for the US version. Tony Leung is practically removed all together (apparently a comedic gay character in the early 00's was a big no in the States), Stephen Chow's scene (which I found to be the biggest laugh out loud moment in the entire movie!) is gone in its entirety, and most of Shu Qi's standalone scenes were removed. Thank goodness for 88 Films.

1 hour ago, Drunken Monk said:

Does anyone want to send me a copy of Sex & Zen 2?

Would you settle for a copy of 'The Transporter'? 

[Drunken Monk]

57 minutes ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Would you settle for a copy of 'The Transporter'? 

Sadly, I rewatched this one recently and it just didn’t hold up for me.

[DrNgor]

2 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

And Shu Qi is cute as a button. Does anyone want to send me a copy of Sex & Zen 2? You know, for research purposes.

It used to be available uncut on Youtube, but they've cracked down on Cat III films. I watched a few scenes...for research purposes.

Here's part of it...I think.

 

[One Armed Boxer]

55 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

it just didn’t hold up for me.

In the context of the conversation, should we read this as a metaphor?

[Drunken Monk]

On 4/24/2023 at 1:21 PM, One Armed Boxer said:

In the context of the conversation, should we read this as a metaphor?

Haha! It wasn't a metaphor but it certainly can be.

On 4/24/2023 at 12:42 PM, DrNgor said:

It used to be available uncut on Youtube, but they've cracked down on Cat III films. I watched a few scenes...for research purposes.

Here's part of it...I think.

 

Excellent! I will be begin my thorough research.

[DrNgor]

On 4/23/2023 at 8:53 PM, Drunken Monk said:

And Shu Qi is cute as a button. Does anyone want to send me a copy of Sex & Zen 2? You know, for research purposes.

Oh, I discovered that Brazil released this on DVD under the title Sexy, Zen. I can get it for about 4.60 USD. Sadly, it only has Portuguese subs. How is your grasp of Latin-based languages?

[Drunken Monk]

7 minutes ago, DrNgor said:

Oh, I discovered that Brazil released this on DVD under the title Sexy, Zen. I can get it for about 4.60 USD. Sadly, it only has Portuguese subs. How is your grasp of Latin-based languages?

Alas, my Latin-based language skills are as bad as they come. Such a shame because that price is a steal! I'm hoping Umbrella (the Australian label) release the second one as they put out the first.

[starschwar]

When I first saw the edited dub about 20 years ago, I wasn't too impressed beyond the fights.  I hadn't really thought much about the film since then.  I figured, I disliked a romantic comedy for being a romantic comedy.  Revisiting the Hong Kong cut on 88's Blu Ray after all these years a more mature film viewer (and arguably as a person, too)...

 

The story still sucks.  Shu Qi's character comes across as incredibly childish, petty, hypocritical, and possibly having some mental instability.  Jackie come across as a huge jerk, whose ultimate good intentions are belied by an unreasonably long period of unnecessary secrecy.  And for a character that is allegedly big into environmentalism, there's some serious littering going on in the resolution of the story.  Speaking of resolutions, the notion that Shu Qi's character is a lookalike for a Triad boss's girlfriend doesn't pay off at all.  No rival gang members chasing her down, no police questioning her - it has nothing to do with anything at all, and that's just baffling.

The fights are much better than I remembered.  The late Brad Allan (RIP) serves as one of Jackie's best on screen opponents.  Indeed, the final battle is easily top ten for Jackie, maybe even higher on the list than that.  It's like an amazing amalgamation of Wheels on Meals, Fearless Hyena, and Drunken Master II in the best way.  Shame that the characters have so little motivation to fight, but it's so well down it really doesn't matter that much.

I wouldn't recommend it over the bulk of Jackie's output from 1998 and earlier, but the fights - especially the finale make it worth a watch for those who already have gone through most of that backlog.
 

 

So... whoever translated this one for 88.   I noticed three, maybe four instances of Michael Jackson song titles cropping up in subtitles, and I can't imagine that was coincidental.  Not sure what the reason was, though.