Search - Tai Pan on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children Movie Release: 1986 DVD Release: 06/01/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 7 mins Studio: 20th Century Fox Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Drama, Historical Epic See Also: Tai Pan

Daryl Duke directed this epic adventure, based on James Clavell's best-selling novel, concerning the battle for control of the China trade in early 19th-century Hong Kong. The film takes place in 1842 on the China Coast, where the Chinese object to the British imperialist policy of buying opium from the Chinese and then selling it back to them at a higher price. As a result, British warships arrive to pound the recalcitrant Chinese into submission. The outcome of the assault is a treaty giving England the right to operate Hong Kong as a free-port. The problem is who will become the Tai-Pan, or British merchant ruler of Hong Kong? The battle lines for the position are drawn between two swashbucklers -- Dirk Struan (Bryan Brown), a skipping and jumping buccaneer, and Tyler Brock (John Stanton), a weaselly cheat. Brock makes the first move by forcing Straun into bankruptcy, but, thanks to the help of the local prostitute May-May (Joan Chen), who has a score to settle with Brock, Straun is able to raise the money at the last minute. This enrages Brock, who remains bitter through the years and finally confronts Straun in a climactic sword fight. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Bryan Brown - Dirk Struan/Tai-Pan
Joan Chen - May-May
John Stanton - Tyler Brock
Tim Guinee - Culum Struan
Bill Leadbitter - Gorth Brock

Bryan Brown and Joan Chen star opposite each other in this 1986 romantic drama based on the best-selling book by James Clavell. Brown plays an adventurer in search of riches in the Chinese opium trade. But as the stakes run higher and higher, he finds himself questioning the meaning of true wealth. Tai-Pan comes to DVD in widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Viewers can also opt for an alternate Dolby Digital Stereo track. For the most part a straightforward release, the disc also includes English subtitles. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide