Bruceploitation DVD

By: BRIAN THOMAS
Date: Tuesday, July 22, 2003

After my review of the TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY EXTREME DVD appeared last month, several fans wrote in to advise me that the Windows 9 version of the film on Disc 2 is the greatest thing since lasagna (which, as it turns out, is over 700 years old). To quote one enthusiast: "One needs a kick-ass home theater PC to play the disc as well as an HDTV, but the results are well worth the effort! We're talking T2 in High Definition (720p) vs. Very Good NTSC (480p) resolution.

The picture is approx. 4 times sharper and (to put it simply) it ROCKS!" While my review thanks Artisan for their forward-thinking efforts in giving us a transfer that is much better than any of us will actually be able to see without a major upgrade, I'm still confused over whether it's "worth the effort" to have a "kick-ass PC home theater" rather than just a regular kick-ass home theater. Of course, this discussion is academic, as many readers are watching DVDs via Playstation on grandpa's black & white TV. To those of you who think that anyone writing an important DVD column like this one should have state o' the art equipment, I'll point out that Cinescape pays me in Taco Bell coupons and Canadian Tire Money.

And here I was feeling all superior. Not long ago a friend was complaining that his DVD player was "on the fritz" (as we used to say during the Great Depression, which wasn't all that great). I helpfully suggested that maybe the needle was worn out, and he spent several days on the phone with the retailer and manufacturer trying to find out the correct size replacement and where he could find the tone arm. Now you know how I treat my friends. The fact that we're surrounded by lasers still sounds like science fiction to most people. My high school bought a simple helium-neon laser for science department physics experiments that weighed about ten pounds and cost thousands of dollars. The most useful thing we did with it was to trick supposedly bright students into thinking the beam could slice through flesh like a spatula through warm lasagna (which was a slightly newer recipe back then).

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Bruce Lee not only revolutionized the action cinema industry, but left a giant hole in it when he died. Having been shown the potential of international box office, producers rushed to fill the gap any way they could with various knock-offs and Bruceploitation was born! A mysterious new DVD label called Video Asia recently appeared bearing old school kung fu features, and this month they bring us a cornucopia of those dubious documentaries and Bruce-alikes that paid tribute to (and robbed the grave of) the King of [IMG3R]Kung Fu.

(O)     BRUCE LEE: A TRUE STORY (Video Asia) 1976 biopic starring Bruce Li.
(O)     DEATH BY MISADVENTURE: Mysterious Life of Bruce Lee (Video Asia) 1993 documentary explores the Dragon's life and untimely death. Includes 2 commentraks, interviews, trailers, galleries and extra footage.
(O)     DRAGON 4-pack (Video Asia) Includes BRUCE LEE'S DEADLY KUNG FU (Bruce Li), BRUCE'S FIST OF VENGEANCE (Bruce Le), BIG BOSS 2 (Dragon Lee), and the indescribable CLONES OF BRUCE LEE (Dragon Lee, Bruce Le, Bruce Lai and Bruce Tai).
(O)     FIST OF THE UNICORN (Video Asia) Unicorn Chan, Yasuaki Kurata, Michael Chan, Betty Ting Pei and Danny Lee star, cashing in on the fame of their pal Bruce Lee in this prime example of Bruceploitation. Jackie Chan has a bit part. Crash Cinema has announced what may be a better version coming soon.
(O)     YOUNG BRUCE LEE (Video Asia) Clipfest shows scenes from Lee's days as a child star. Includes commentrak by Lee's family, interviews, featurettes and gallery.

NEW RELEASES

(O)     ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW Volume 7 & 8 (Koch) More episodes from the outrageous 1950s TV series that inspired SEINFELD.
(O)     ...AND GOD SPOKE (Artisan) Christopher Guest style mockumentary about the making of a low budget Biblical epic, with soft-core regular Monique Parent.
(O)     THE ANDY SIDARIS COLLECTION Volume 1 (Malibu Bay Films) Sidaris carved out his own special niche in exploitation cinema with a combination of guns, explosions, and vehicles, starring lots of gorgeous oft-naked women. Includes SAVAGE BEACH, PICASSO TRIGGER, HARD TICKET TO HAWAII, GUNS, ENEMY GOLD, and MALIBU EXPRESS.
(O)     BRAIN DAMAGE Special Edition (Synapse) The Aylmer is back again in Frank Hennenlotter's cult horror classic about a young man who gets hooked on a killer parasite that talks! This limited edition includes a new 16x9 high definition transfer, a 5.1 Dolby remix, director's commentrak, and other features, and will only be available until the end [IMG4R]of 2003.
(O)     CITY HUNTER (Fox) Fox gets into Hong Kong action this month, and this insane teaming of Jackie Chan with madman director Wong Jing, adapting the hit manga detective series, is a great place to start! Includes music video, outtakes, interviews, and more.
(O)     DEATHSTALKER / DEATHSTALKER 2 (New Concorde) Sword & Sorcery double feature.
(O)     DELTA DELTA DIE (Shadow)  Sorority slasher stuff with Julie Strain, Brinke Stevens and Tiffany Shepis.
(O)     THE DOORWAY / KNOCKING ON DEATH'S DOOR (New Concorde) David Carradine in two horror films about paranormal entries.
(O)     DROP DEAD FRED (Artisan) In this 1991 cult favorite, Phoebe Cates' childhood imaginary friend reappears to torment her.
(O)     EVIL CAT (Tai Seng) Lau Kar-Leung battles a cat demon in this fun 1987 action-horror-comedy.
(O)     FACE THE EVIL (Ardustry Home Ent.) Shannon Tweed does DIE HARD in an art gallery in our Lance Henriksen movie of [IMG5R]the month.
(O)     FAITHFULLY YOURS (Tai Seng) 1989 comedy in which Stephen Chow, Max Mok and Jacky Cheung star as wacky hairdressers.
(O)     FEAR NO EVIL (Anchor Bay) Frank LaLoggia's early horror feature about a teenage Antichrist, includes director's commentrak, screenplay, behind-the-scenes footage, and more.
(O)     FINAL DESTINATION 2 (New Line) That title's a bit of an oxymoron. Surprisingly, this sequel gets New Lines premiere "infinifilm" treatment, with commentrak, featurettes, deleted scenes, DVD-ROM stuff, and lots more, so maybe it's worth a look.
(O)     THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (Criterion) Bone-chilling 1970 horror romance based on the True Crime "Lonely Hearts Killers," includes an interview with director Leonard Kastle (a well known orchestra conductor who only directed one film) and an essay detailing the source case.
(O)     HONG KONG 1941 (Fox) Chow Yun-fat and Alex Man face life during wartime.
(O)     HUNTING HUMANS (Redrum/MTI) Resembles AMERICAN PSYCHO somewhat.
(O)     ICE CRAWLERS (New Concorde) Monsters attack researchers in the Arctic. [IMG6R]Aka DEEP FREEZE.
(O)     IT HAPPENED TOMORROW (Kino) In this 1944 fantasy, reporter Dick Powell scoops the competition when he starts getting tomorrow's paper today.
(O)     KILLERS 2: THE BEAST (MTI) A crazy girl is stalked by maniacs inside an insane asylum.
(O)     MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER (Fox) Sammo Hung stars as Butcher Wing in this terrific martial arts classic from Yuen Woo-ping (THE MATRIX), with Yuen Biao and Kwan Tak-hing as Wong Fei-hung! Includes music video, gallery and trailers.
(O)     MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS (Fox) The magnificent Michelle Yeoh in this Indiana Jones-style action adventure. Includes interview, galleries, etc.
(O)     MUTANT X Season 1 Volume 2 (ADV Films) Episodes 103 and 104 (with commentrak).
(O)     NAKED KILLER (Fox) Chingmy Yau is a super-hot assassin. Simon Yam is a cop that throws up every time he holds a gun. Can these two get together? A Hong Kong action classic.
(O)     NIGHT HUNTER / VAMPIRELLA (New Concorde) Don "The Dragon" Wilson is a vampire hunter / Talisa Soto is a comic-book vampire from outer space.
(O)     PRISON OF THE DEAD (Koch) Zombies in jail.
(O)     RUN AND KILL (Tai Seng) Kent Cheng is the unlikely action hero that gets drawn into ever deepening trouble when he gets drunk and hires a hitman to kill his cheating wife in this intense, way over the top thriller. With Simon Yam and Danny Lee.
(O)     SHANGHAI SURPRISE (Artisan) Madonna and Sean Penn star in a lighthearted adventure. It bombs. Surprise!
(O)     SIN SISTERS (EI Cinema) Misty Mundae and her sister Chelsea star as battling sisters in this horror thriller. Available in unrated and R-rated editions.
(O)     SKYSCRAPER (Madacy) Anna Nicole Smith's acting is the most jaw-dropping effect in this DIE HARD clone in which she plays a helicopter pilot (!) named Carrie Wink (!!) battling terrorists in a tall building. Don't miss it.
(O)     SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE 1 & 2 (New Concorde) Now available as a double feature.
(O)     SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE 1 & 2 [IMG7R](New Concorde) Ditto.
(O)     STACY (Synapse) Totally insane Japanese horror comedy in which an epidemic makes teenage girls die of happiness, only to return as cannibal zombies!
(O)     THE SUSPECT (Tai Seng) Ringo Lam action thriller starring Louis Koo and Simon Yam.
(O)     SWIMSUIT: The Movie (Pathfinder) Allegedly outrageous spoof of the whole swimsuit model pin-up industry.
(O)     THE TARGET (Artisan) Christopher Lambert meets Dennis Hopper.
(O)     A TIME TO DIE (Madacy) Photographer Traci Lords goes ballistic. Plus, Madacy loads 48 minutes of trailers on all their recent discs.
(O)     TRUE COLORS (Tai Seng) 1986 gangster epic, set in the 1950s, starring and directed by Kirk Wong, with Ti Lung and Brigitte Lin.
(O)     THE VICTIM (Tai Seng) Sammo Hung kung fu classic.

ANIME ADDITIONS

And finally, we close off each weekly list with a rundown of the constant stream of anime from around [IMG8R]the world:

(O)     BANDIT KING JING Volume 1 (ADV Films) Also available in collector's box.
(O)     BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (Warner Bros.) Four episodes.
(O)     CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS: United They Stand (Warner Bros.)
(O)     FULL METAL PANIC Volume 2 (ADV Films) Fold out 2-sided poster.
(O)     GUMBY Volume 2 & 3 (Rhino) After releasing a 7-disc box set last year, Rhino is back with more of everybody's favorite clayboy, now available separately.
(O)     JUSTICE LEAGUE: Paradise Lost (Warner Bros.)
(O)     SAIYUKI #3: Confronting Their Demons (ADV Films) Includes fold out poster.
(O)     SUPER DUPER SUMOS #5: Sumo Squeeze (ADV Films) 4 episodes.
(O)     X #6: Six (Pioneer) Superhero action from Clamp.
(O)     YU-GI-GOH #11: Best of Friends, Best of Duellists (Goldhil)

And be sure to check back next weekand every weekfor CINESCAPE's DVD Shopping List!

DVD Shopping List is our weekly DVD column. Brian Thomas is the author of the massive new book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS, available now!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at DVDShoppingList@cinescape.com.