Search - Heart of Dragon on DVD

Fox Presents Fortune Star, Uncut

D. Hogan | NH, United States | 02/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is in response to the Feb. 5th review titled "ORIGINAL IS BETTER~!"



While I agree with the message, it was put the wrong place. While in most cases the R1 releases of Hong Kong films are heavily cut and dubbed, these releases by Fox, are actually done by the fantastic HK company Fortune Star, and only released under Fox. They contain the UNCUT film in the original Cantonese language (DTS too!), as well as the English dub. As usual the picture quality is more than fantastic. The only downpoints are the usual Fortune Star downpoints: Hardly-to-no extras, and slightly edited sound fx,(but in this case no original mono sound). Also the subtitles are actually dubtitles, but are not terrible. In all, this is still one of the better versions of this film on DVD, especially for under $10.



PS. As for the argument that "no other countries have their own cuts, like France," maybe you should look into Luc Besson's distribution of Asian (especially Thai) films."

Another side of two Hong Kong legends

Simon Booth | UK | 01/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung completely re-invented the Hong Kong action movie in the 1970's and 1980's, and Jackie especially was the undisputed king of the HK box office. Heart Of The Dragon was a brave step for them, a movie that largely eschews action and focuses on drama. I guess they wanted to prove that there was more to them than best-in-the-world action direction, and here they prove it beyond doubt. The dramatic performances of both are excellent, and Sammo's direction is wonderful. It's a really moving story, very well told.Obviously they knew that the fans out there expected action though, so the movie has a few small fights and then a largely unnecessary but brilliantly filmed action finale that lasts a good 20 minutes. The movie would probably have been just as good without it, but one cannot complain about a 20 minute action scene when such masters of the art were behind it. Even if the action is all you care about, the quality of the finale here is so good you will not want to miss this movie."

Drama-onscreen and off

Jonathan Jones | Baltimore, Md | 02/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While this has action-and whenever Sammo directs, expect Jackie to be a juggernaut, the real story is the bond between them. Through the story(and the real life events behind this movie) Jackie and Sammo show themselves as inseperable. Jackie walks hand in hand with Sammo at a time when critics were circling around Sammo like vultures on roadkill. While the story will lead you to be upset with yourself for laughing at a person with disabilities(which you will) you will find redemption in seeing them staying in a relationship no matter what. Jail, jewel thieves and the merchant marines cannot split this duo. Their bond comes through, even if you see the film in Japanese with English subtitles, which was my first experience with it."

Hong Kong Rain Man

Turnaround365 | CA United States | 11/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, this is not your typical Jackie Chan movie. Although the action's there, it's sandwiched between the real focus of this movie--a touching tale of a man torn between responsibility towards his handicapped brother (portrayed memorably by Samo Hung), and the chance to realize his dream of becoming a sailor. If you're looking for action, you may want to look elsewhere . . . if you want to be suprised by Jackie's acting range, or if you're a completist, don't miss this one. It's certainly a quality film. And if you're into sappy foriegn films, you may be suprised just how good this one is. Samo and Jackie are brilliant together."