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Jet Li - The Legend 2
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // R // February 12, 2002
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Dvdempire]
The Movie:
I find it interesting to watch one of action star Jet Li's American pictures like "The One" and then watch one of his original Hong Kong action films, such as "The Legend 2" or "Twin Warriors". Although I haven't seen all of Li's early pictures, every one of them that I've viewed remains more enjoyable than the effects-driven "One"; there's simply several elements that the American picture lacks - wit,imagination and humor. The choreography in pictures like "Legend 2" or "Legend Of Red Dragon" (all under different titles originally) is often breathtaking and creative; the use of props and locations is usually almost brilliant. A fine example is the river fight in this film, which marvelously blends action and light comedy.
Li returns in this sequel as Fong Sai Yuk, who has now joined the Red Flower society and is sent on a mission to retrieve a secret box. Along the way, Fong Sai Yuk must find a traitor to the society as well as find his way out of a love triangle that involves himself, his wife and another woman. The performances by Li and the supporting cast are terrific, mixing humor and action quite well. While the plot seems secondary to the fantastic action sequences, there are some moving moments and the cinematography (by Mark Lee Ping-Bin, who also worked on Wong Kar-Wai's "In The Mood For Love") is more visually striking than most martial arts films. Overall, this is not the best of Li's earlier martial arts films, but it's certainly a very entertaining and well-acted film that I found highly enjoyable.
The DVD
VIDEO: Dimension presents "Legend 2" in a 1.85:1 non-anamorphic transfer. The picture quality is more consistent than Tristar's new edition of Li's 1994 "Legend of Red Dragon", but still not flawless. Print flaws do appear during the early moments of the film, as scratches and some marks are noticable, as well as some slight grain. The traces of grain do continue throughout much of the movie, but the other print flaws only make rare return appearances. Very minor edge enhancement is also visible during a few scenes as well, but no pixelation or other problems were seen. Sharpness and detail remained particularly good; while there was a few moments of noticable softness, the picture often appeared quite well-defined and even boasted decent depth to the image.
SOUND: "Legend 2" is presented in English Dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1 by Dimension. While not always, at least Tristar has often attempted to include the original language and dubbed versions of films from this genre, while Dimension unfortunately, has not. While the quality of the dubbing on these films varies, the dubbing here seemed particularly terrible - one of those instances where, although I wasn't sure of the original dialogue, I felt that this couldn't be it - or close to it. Apparently, the picture has also been rescored, as well. There were no concerns with audio quality, but those who are fans will likely be displeased with the dubbing. Surrounds were barely used throughout the film.
MENUS: Very basic film-themed images serve as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: There are actually some minor extras - trailers are included for "The Crow: Salvation", "The Legend", "The Legend of Drunken Master", "Jet Li's The Enforcer", "Fist Of Legend", "Twin Warriors" (which is really good, too) and "The Defender".
Final Thoughts: "The Legend 2" is definitely worth renting for those seeking a good action film at the video store. However, fans might want to seek out the original release by Universe, which apparently has the original language soundtrack.
I find it interesting to watch one of action star Jet Li's American pictures like "The One" and then watch one of his original Hong Kong action films, such as "The Legend 2" or "Twin Warriors". Although I haven't seen all of Li's early pictures, every one of them that I've viewed remains more enjoyable than the effects-driven "One"; there's simply several elements that the American picture lacks - wit,imagination and humor. The choreography in pictures like "Legend 2" or "Legend Of Red Dragon" (all under different titles originally) is often breathtaking and creative; the use of props and locations is usually almost brilliant. A fine example is the river fight in this film, which marvelously blends action and light comedy.
Li returns in this sequel as Fong Sai Yuk, who has now joined the Red Flower society and is sent on a mission to retrieve a secret box. Along the way, Fong Sai Yuk must find a traitor to the society as well as find his way out of a love triangle that involves himself, his wife and another woman. The performances by Li and the supporting cast are terrific, mixing humor and action quite well. While the plot seems secondary to the fantastic action sequences, there are some moving moments and the cinematography (by Mark Lee Ping-Bin, who also worked on Wong Kar-Wai's "In The Mood For Love") is more visually striking than most martial arts films. Overall, this is not the best of Li's earlier martial arts films, but it's certainly a very entertaining and well-acted film that I found highly enjoyable.
The DVD
VIDEO: Dimension presents "Legend 2" in a 1.85:1 non-anamorphic transfer. The picture quality is more consistent than Tristar's new edition of Li's 1994 "Legend of Red Dragon", but still not flawless. Print flaws do appear during the early moments of the film, as scratches and some marks are noticable, as well as some slight grain. The traces of grain do continue throughout much of the movie, but the other print flaws only make rare return appearances. Very minor edge enhancement is also visible during a few scenes as well, but no pixelation or other problems were seen. Sharpness and detail remained particularly good; while there was a few moments of noticable softness, the picture often appeared quite well-defined and even boasted decent depth to the image.
SOUND: "Legend 2" is presented in English Dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1 by Dimension. While not always, at least Tristar has often attempted to include the original language and dubbed versions of films from this genre, while Dimension unfortunately, has not. While the quality of the dubbing on these films varies, the dubbing here seemed particularly terrible - one of those instances where, although I wasn't sure of the original dialogue, I felt that this couldn't be it - or close to it. Apparently, the picture has also been rescored, as well. There were no concerns with audio quality, but those who are fans will likely be displeased with the dubbing. Surrounds were barely used throughout the film.
MENUS: Very basic film-themed images serve as backgrounds.
EXTRAS: There are actually some minor extras - trailers are included for "The Crow: Salvation", "The Legend", "The Legend of Drunken Master", "Jet Li's The Enforcer", "Fist Of Legend", "Twin Warriors" (which is really good, too) and "The Defender".
Final Thoughts: "The Legend 2" is definitely worth renting for those seeking a good action film at the video store. However, fans might want to seek out the original release by Universe, which apparently has the original language soundtrack.
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