Search - The Joy Luck Club on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Not For Children Movie Release: 1993 DVD Release: 06/04/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 19 mins Studio: Walt Disney Video Members Wishing: 27 Genres: Drama, Family Drama, Ensemble Film

Director Wayne Wang and screenwriter Ronald Bass effectively interweave sixteen mother-daughter tales in their silken film version of Amy Tan's best-selling novel about the clash between generations. The film takes place in present-day San Francisco, concentrating on a group of late-middle-aged Chinese women. Ever since arriving in the United States after World War II, the women have gathered weekly to play mah-jongg and to tell stories, regaling each other with tales of their children and grandchildren, giving each other a sense of hope and renewal in the midst of poverty and hardship. The Joy Luck Club is made up of four women -- Suyuan (Kieu Chinh), Lindo (Tsai Chin), Ying Ying (France Nuyen), and An Mei (Lisa Lu). But when Suyuan dies, the three surviving members invite Suyuan's daughter June (Ming-Na Wen) to take her place. Along with the daughters of the other members -- Waverly (Tamlyn Tomita), Lena (Lauren Tom), and Rose (Rosalind Chao) -- June is a Chinese-American with only a passing interest in her rich cultural heritage. But through vignettes that switch back and forth in time, the daughters begin to appreciate the struggles of their mothers to start their families in the optimistic promise of the United States. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Tsai Chin - Lindo
Kieu Chinh - Suyuan
Lisa Lu - An Mei
France Nuyen - Ying Ying
Rosalind Chao - Rose
Tamlyn Tomita - Waverly

Wayne Wang's adaptation of Amy Tan's -The Joy Luck Club comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1. There are no subtitles, but the soundtrack is closed-captioned. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence. This is a decent release from Disney/Buena Vista. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide