Search - Once Upon a Time in China on DVD

Content Advisory: Violence, Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1991 DVD Release: 11/17/1998 Format: DVD - Letterbox for TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: Cantonese, Mandarin Subtitles: English, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 8 mins Studio: Image Entertainment Members Wishing: 5 Genres: Action, Adventure, Martial Arts, Period Film See Also: Once Upon a Time in China, Once Upon a Time in China [Blu-ray]

Though generally unknown to Western audiences, Tsui Hark is considered a giant among Asian filmmakers and this exceptional epic, combining hard-hitting martial-arts action with romance, comedy, history, genuine poignance, and sharp insight into the effects of the century-long encroachment of Western civilization in Asia more than amply demonstrates why. The story centers on the exploits of Master Wong Fei-hung (a familiar figure in Hong Kong cinema) a 19th-century doctor, Confucian, and exceptional martial artist. As the film begins, he has just opened a new clinic in Canton Province. To help him with patients, he hires a few apprentices including Porky Lang (the comic relief) and Buck Teeth Sol, who was raised outside China and barely can speak the language. Wong is platonically involved with the lovely, worldly Aunt Yee, who has been abroad most of her life. Wong soon gets in trouble when he begins using his skills to protect and assist the poor and helpless in his community. As a result, someone torches his clinic, forcing Wong and his compadres to set off and get spectacularly staged revenge. They also try vainly to stop Western culture from changing traditional Chinese ways, but they soon find that they may as well be shoveling sand against a rising tide. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Jet Li - Wong Fei-hung
Yuen Biao - Leung Foon
Jacky Cheung - Buck Teeth Sol
Rosamund Kwan - Aunt Yee
Kent Cheng - Porky Lang

Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. English, Mandarin, and Cantonese soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English, Spanish, and French subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include an informative commentary track by Ric Meyers, an expert on Hong Kong cinema. Bonus trailers and talent files round out this impressive package that will please genre enthusiasts and may intrigue those looking to learn more about the highly influential style of Hong Kong action films. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide