Fist of Legend DVD Uncut? - JET LI (1 Viewer)

[Kenneth Lee]

Hi Folks,

Looking at the current U.S. R1 DVD release of "Fist of Legend" (Jing Wu Ying Hsiong) w/ Jet Li, I realize that it was released bare-bones w/ English Dub-ONLY(!).

Was there ever an Uncut DVD release of "Fist of Legend" w/ Jet Li w/ Original Chinese Dialogue + ENglish Subtitles?


Or does this great movie suffer the same fate as "Drunken Master II" (no REAL version on DVD w/ English Subs) :frowning:.

Help! Thanks.

 

[Alex Prosak]

I've seen the uncut version on eBay before. I suggest checking out their offerings.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yes there was, it's OOP though. But the DVD is not OSL, it's Mandarin dub only

The only in-print way to get it with OSL and (occasionally hilarious) English subs is the Mei Ah VCD

 

[Kenneth Lee]

Hi Jeff,

What does "OSL" mean?

From what I'm gathering, are we all SOL for getting an Uncut, Original Chinese Language w/ English Subtitled version of "Fist of Legend" on DVD? (in any Region?) :frowning:

It's probably a coincidence, but does ANYONE know how 2 of THE greatest Martial Arts Films -

* Drunken Master II (Jackie Chan)
* Fist of Legend (Jet Li)


are NO LONGER AVAILABLE in its original Uncut format? :frowning: I'm honestly baffled. Here we can get a crapload of bad, bad HK cinema from Hong Kong DVDs or even R1 Budget stuff, and yet, no one can put out an original version of these 2 films??

If Lucas has his way with the Original Star Wars Trilogy, I guess that'll be yet another major loss. We're NEVER going to be able to see these films again the way they're supposed to be. Doesn't that bug anyone?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

OSL= Original Spoken Language

It's easy. Disney has realized that Hong Kong film fans want their movies OSL and unbutchered. Therefore they put pressure on the HK rights owners to go along with the program to keep people from importing. Thankfully I have a DVD made from the nice collectors gold LD that is framed correctly to go with the thrakal DM2

 

[Chris Xolotl]

99.999999999999% of the ones on the auction sites are BOOTLEGS. Especially if they go for under $20.

 

[ErikN]

Try to curbe your enthusiasm, please. Do you know how much HK DVDs cost? There are a lot of Bts yes. Not as many as you say, though.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Disney has realized that Hong Kong film fans want their movies OSL and unbutchered. Therefore they put pressure on the HK rights owners to go along with the program to keep people from importing.

Of course, if Disney released them unbutchered and in OSL themselves, it would also stop a lot of the importing. (Of course, I'm sure everyone here already realizes this.)

 

[TheLongshot]

Of course, if Disney released them unbutchered and in OSL themselves, it would also stop a lot of the importing. (Of course, I'm sure everyone here already realizes this.)

Well, Disney (or Miramax, probably more correctly) doesn't seem to think it would sell well that way. So they replace all the music with rap, dub it poorly, and cut out some of that "boring stuff", even if it makes sense, since Harvey Sissorhands seems to know better than the directors themselves.

Jason

 

[Chris Xolotl]

ErikN:

I am referring not to HK DVDs. I am referring to the Original DVD Taiwan Release by Ritek of Fist of Legend in Mandarin (not OSL as Jeff stated).

I am referring that this Taiwan disc is heavily bootlegged and chances of finding a legitimate copy of Ritek's Fist of Legend is very slim.

I posted this message just to let you know as a heads-up. If you don't like this enthusiasm -then ignore all my posts-

 

[Matthew Brown]

If you can speak French, the best version is from HKVIDEO and is available at Amazon. http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASI...258235-3209018
You need an all region player that can convert PAL to NTSC if you want it. There are also forced French subtitles.

Disney is horrible. We will never see FIST OF LEGEND in R1 with the original soundtrack. The dubbing changes the whole tone of the movie by omitting the strong political overtones of the movie. Here's my comparison of both.
http://www.loveandbullets.com/fol.htm

You know what is worse? Even the new imports of DRUNKEN MASTER 2 are cut! The only uncut DVD is from Thakral but it is not in it's original aspect ratio. It 1.85:1 instead of 2.35:1. This is also very hard to find. This is one of the movies where the laser disc is far better than any DVD release.

Mirmax, Dimension, Disney, whatever. They know people are unhappy but they just don't care. How difficult could it have been to add the original soundtrack to the DM II dvd and do some seemless branching for the original ending?

Just wait to see what they do with the Shaw Bros. movies!

Matt

 

[Kenneth Lee]

Thanks, all, for your confirmations and helpful info. SO...

* Does anyone know where to buy the original Uncut Ritek DVD version of "Fist of Legend"? Any stores?

Thanks!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The Ritek disc isn't OSL, and it's OOP thanks to Disney

 

[Richard Michael Clark]

In the end I got so fed up of trying to find a decent dvd that I got a copy of the UK released PAL VHS tape on the "made in hong kong" label.

It is letterboxed with the subtitles underneath the letterbox (not great for a widescreen TV I admit!) BUT it is to my knowledge the only way to get this film uncut, with it's original language & score and with English subtitles!

Amazon.co.uk sell it

 

[Ken Stuart]

I own the aforementioned Mei Ah VCD of Fist of Legend. It's not DVD quality, but it is fine for seeing the film IMHO (unless you have a 50-80 inch TV perhaps!). As mentioned, due to the nationalities of the characters being integral to the plot, it helps to see this version.

But, as far as Drunken Master II goes, while there are very reasonable questions regarding the cuts, there is no "OSL" for this or most other HK films, since they are dubbed later, often by voice actors than the screen actors.

In fact, the only version of Drunken Master II that has the voice of the star actor, Jackie Chan, is the English Dub version.

Life does not always fit into simple principles like "OSL".

 

[Matthew Brown]

Ken -
OSL is how the movie was released originally. The entire soundtrack for DRUNKEN MASTER II was changed by Disney. New music, sound effects, as well as the dialogue. The dub is horrible and hard to watch.

All of Jet Li's movies before HITMAN had somebody else do the voice for his characters. Most if not all of Michelle Yeoh's movies from Hong Kong had a different voice actor.

A movie like The PHANTOM MENACE had actors dubbed by others. It wouldn't be correct to get them back, dub the movie in Spanish, and never let anybody see the English version again.

I always find it funny when people get up in arms if songs in movies like MEATBALLS, FATSTIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH, and 16 CANDLES are different on DVD, TV or video. People also get upset when original sound effects are replaced like on the SUPERMAN DVD. This is horrible, yet most find it perfectly acceptable on a movie like DRUNKEN MASTER II.

Matt