Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997)

[Guest jfinesse2000]

I have the HK DVD, that starts out 2.35:1 then crops some after the credits. I also have a tape of the HK laserdisc, which was fully letterboxed but dubbed in Cantonese.

Is there a DVD release which is 16:9 formatted, letterboxed at 2.35:1 or so, with the original sync sound recording?

[Guest tigerstyles]

i beleive the french dvd is fully wide 2:35 and anamorphic ..

synch sound too..

[Guest jfinesse2000]

Does it have subs for the non-english parts? Can you give me a link to it?

Thanks.

[Guest gfanikf]

The UK disc is also fully wide but not anamorphic

[Guest The Running Man]

Is there a DVD release which is 16:9 formatted, letterboxed at 2.35:1 or so, with the original sync sound recording?

No. No such release exists with those specs.

The french release is anamorphic in 2:35 but only has the Cantonese track and does not have English subtitles at all.

[Guest tigerstyles]

the version i have has english and cantonese audio together,,16:9 enhanced beautiful quality and has english subs Only when the chinese dialogue is spoken! its the perffect version.

[Guest David G Rees]

Wasnt it filmed synch sound mandarin?

[Guest jfinesse2000]

Yeas, sync-sound Mandarin and English. The Cantonese version contains the sync English, but all the Chinese is dubbed into Canto.

I remember when this film was produced, there were all kinds of rumors about it. Like Quentin Tarantino playing Billy. It's a shame this movie doesn't have a decent domestic release.

[Guest tigerstyles]

mandarin or cantonese i'll check later but if anyone wants a preview of this PM me..

[Guest The Running Man]

Wasnt it filmed synch sound mandarin?

Mostly. The original synch sound is Mandarin (about 70%), English (about 25%), and Cantonese (about 5%).

No such release exists with all of the above on one track.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I revisited this in the new Dragon Dynasty 5 pack.  I don't like it all that much but Jet Li and Hung Yan Yan give top performances, so it's worth recommending just for that.  Nice that they included the original English dub. It was funny to hear Jet Li dubbed by the guy who dubbed Jack Long in Ninja Hunter.  It's not a very good dub, but that's to be expected from a 1997 movie.  

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I will expand this to a full length review (even longer than below, but since I write too slowly this will do for now) when I rewatch the Dragon Dynasty release.

Once Upon A Time In China And America (1997: Sammo Hung) **/****

How is it that Sammo who directed such classics as Warriors Two and Prodigal Son could helm this? While I have not seen most of his 1990s output this film persuades me to agree with the consensus that his earliest films are best. Filmed near Del Rio, Texas, and takes place at Fort Stockton (probably California, but there is a Fort Stockton in Texas as well).

This is the six and last Wong Fei-hung in this particular serious though the first one with Jet Li since the third film. The movie was a hit in Hong Kong. Wong has traveled to the States with sidekick Seven (Xiong Xin-xin: Shaolin(2011)) and Aunt 13 his fiancé (Rosamund Kwan: Project AII) to visit the anniversary of the Po Chi Lam clinic, picks up a lone blonde gunman named Billy who was about to commit suicide because he was drying up in the dessert. By happenstance during an Indian attack Wong gets amnesia after hitting his head on a rock in a river, but luckily gets adopted by a tribe when he is found. Meanwhile when the others make it back, they find the suffocating nature of the racism against the Chinese in the local town stifling and ultimately several of there lives are in danger when they are framed for a local robbery.

The making of this film caused a rift between Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. The amnesia angle was later used in Jackie’s Who Am I? and some of the western plot was used later in Shanghai Noon. This has lead some to suspect that Jackie took the ideas from Sammo; however, Jackie had been discussing doing an eastern western for a few years before this movie and has publicly stated that he talked much of this over with Sammo during the filming of Mr. Nice Guy and accused him of stealing these ideas. I am apt to believe Jackie at this point because of the string of unsuccessful films Sammo had done before this film and this movie feels like it was quickly made.

Movie tid-bit I found fascinating -> I love finding connections in film. Here we have Jeff Wolfe who plays Billy, one of the few decent Caucasian actors in this movie, is the recipient of the infamous head stomp in Drive (2011).

This film really makes you appreciate Shanghai Noon. The acting from the Texas cast is quite bad. The action cinematography is not good either. I think the main problem with this lies with the overused combination of non-stuntman getting beat up by professional athletes. There are two good non-Chinese athletes in the cast with Jeff Wolfe and main bad guy Joseph Sayah. But Wolfe is underused and it is an understatement to say Sayah cannot act. There are several decent action scenes like Sayah versus Jet Li at the end, though Sayah’s facial features and dialog help spoil it. Honestly Xiong Xin-xin looks the best at fighting in this film though one wonders why he has his head cocked most of the time. There is also several nice comedic scenes like when Wong completely harangues his compatriots into sleep, but the comedy is overused and actors like Richard Ng feel completely underused.

The disc I have is the China Star R0/NTSC release with removable English subtitles. I have read that this is non-anamorphic and I believe that since it is a late 1990s DVD release. However, the subtitles, while decent in the translation, are off-time especially later in the film so you are getting a two-to-four second delay. This is annoying. This is very annoying. There is a Making Of extra that is not subtitled, but has several minutes of interviews in English.  I will do another longer review of this when I rewatch the Dragon Dynasty release of this.

Links/Notes:
The plot synopsis on IMDB is completely wrong.
This will not be in my top 100 HK film list.
If I do a proper review of this I will have to find out whether this movie takes place in CA or Texas (filmed in Texas though). I will also concentrate on noting the issues I have with the cinematography as well and will have to expand the plot.
On Filming Location
Jackie Chan stating Sammo took two of his ideas.

[DrNgor]

I always like this one, although it probably should've been called Last Hero in China and America, if you get my drift.

 

Joe Sayah was probably hired on the basis of his fighting skills alone. A friend of mine who studied Wing Chun in Stockton, CA said that Sayah once paid his school a visit and did some wing chun sparring with his sifu. He said that Sayah was unbelievably fast and beat his master several times. 

 

The bit about Xiong Xin Xin walking around with his head cocked had been a gag in the series since OUATIC 4. Jet Li looks great, even when assisted by wires, but yeah, Xiong probably steals the show. 

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I always like this one, although it probably should've been called Last Hero in China and America, if you get my drift.

Joe Sayah was probably hired on the basis of his fighting skills alone. A friend of mine who studied Wing Chun in Stockton, CA said that Sayah once paid his school a visit and did some wing chun sparring with his sifu. He said that Sayah was unbelievably fast and beat his master several times. 

The bit about Xiong Xin Xin walking around with his head cocked had been a gag in the series since OUATIC 4. Jet Li looks great, even when assisted by wires, but yeah, Xiong probably steals the show. 

[on head-cocked] OK, would not have known that since I have seen OUATIC 1-3 (a few times) and this one.

I'm suspecting that event happened at Charley's Wing Chun Shaolin.  Correct?  Nowadays I think 209 (Stockton and Modesto area code) is mostly known for the Diaz brothers. As you know Stockton CA has been a focal point for many westerns (not as much as Sacramento or the Railroad that goes through Tuolumne -- you would not believe how many films that train is in), so I do wonder if this film is supposed to take place in CA or Texas.  I will especially check out the subtitles on the new release (which I expect would be better; too bad there are not extras on the DD release.)

[DrNgor]

Yeah, it was Charley's Wing Chung alright. It was probably about 7-10 minutes from my house. Before I started Goju-Ryu at Tibon's, I called all the schools in Stockton. I only got an answering machine when I called Charley's.

[contraspirit]

What is this Dragon Dynasty 5 pack you're talking about?

BTW, i love the movie, great cinematography, great action, solid humor, lousy but funny western "actors". Better than parts 3 to 5 of the series.

[AlbertV]

What is this Dragon Dynasty 5 pack you're talking about?

BTW, i love the movie, great cinematography, great action, solid humor, lousy but funny western "actors". Better than parts 3 to 5 of the series.

 

 

 

 

 

[Keung]

Do you know if they are all uncut and subtitled?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

Do you know if they are all uncut and subtitled?

They are all subtitled, they are not all uncut (cuts for The Defender and Fong Sai Yuk II, I believe cuts for Born to Defense but I have not checked that out yet.)  I believe the other two are uncut (from what I have read, I will rewatch them soon on the DD release.)

[masterofoneinchpunch]

They are all subtitled, they are not all uncut (cuts for The Defender and Fong Sai Yuk II, I believe cuts for Born to Defense but I have not checked that out yet.)  I believe the other two are uncut (from what I have read, I will rewatch them soon on the DD release.)

Quick note which I will most likely repeat: Fong Sai Yuk II gets rid of a zoomed scene in the earlier US DVD release.  The zoom scene in question is Corey Yuen's buttocks which was zoomed out in the earlier release, but not in this one (the full cut of the film has an additional nude scene with Corey Yuen not in this release.)

[Jay Stone]

The version on this Dragon Dynasty set is not full 2.35:1 ratio, right?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

The version on this Dragon Dynasty set is not full 2.35:1 ratio, right?

This version for OUATICAA is 1.78:1 Anamorphic.  I will have to compare it the China Star release I have.

[DragonClaws]

Viewed a lot of movies recently, but just havent been taking any mental/written notes on them. Finally caught the only Jet Li movie in the series, I'd yet to sit through. Mixed bag all round, clearly a big missed opportunity for such a big budget H.K picture. It's not without some merit's though, producer Tsui Hark really injects his style into the series. Part 5 with Chiu Man-Chuk would go back to popular style of the early Jet Li installments. Had one single director handled the movie, I'm sure it woud have turned out much better. It often feels ike two different movies pieced together. Having five script writers on board, must have only added to this issue?.

Great to see Mars and Richard Ng, Lau Kar-Wing cameos, Rosamund Kwan is completely wasted and her character treated poorly through-out the runtime. With Wong Fei-Hung appears to be more like a friend to her, than a lover. While the rest of the male casts hormones go loopy everytime she's on-screen. Can this be called one of the last real Hong Kong movies in terms of its visual style?. Released the same year as Hong Kong was given back to China, makes it a watershed moment in the genre?. There's some fantastic bootwork among the OTT wire heavy physical enhancements. Wing Chun practitioner Joseph Sayah amkes for an odd ecentric looking villian. Only the Martial Artist has so little character developement. You care little for his epic super human showdown with Jet Li's hero. Sayah would go on to be cast in the Sammo hung directed Mr Guy. Before disapearing from the flm business.

 

 

[Graeme Of Death]

Another I hadn't seen since its release. Watched the Eureka blu ray and it looks superb. Enjoyable enough film, nice sets, cinematography etc The action scenes are mainly garbage imo Jet and co can barely get up off a chair without a wire to help them but I suppose that was just the style at the time.

Other observations, the HDness really highlights how crap the wigs and fake facial hair were in this  and Jet Li has really bad or strange skin.

Also, does Jet Li dub his own lines?