Bruce Lee/Martial Arts Fans REJOICE!!!!

[Woochifer]

Maybe it's my cynical streak in general about the shoddy treatment that Bruce Lee's movies have received stateside, but I paid no attention to the recent release of the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection DVD set. My thinking was "So what! Yet another repackaged double dipped collection of dubbed, edited, and bastardized Bruce Lee pics." When I read up on the DVD set, I realized how wrong I was! And I am so glad about it!

Why is this DVD set such cause for celebration? Because it represents the FIRST TIME EVER that Bruce Lee's movies have been released in the U.S. in their original uncut and undubbed versions! IMO, the dubbed and edited versions of Lee's movies that came out in the U.S. were a disservice to both Lee and U.S. filmgoers, because they were a far cry from capturing the visceral reactions that Bruce Lee's movies stirred up when they were originally released in Asia.

To further illustrate the respectful treatment that this new DVD set has lavished upon the Bruce Lee movies, this set also represents the first time that a U.S. release of Bruce Lee's movies have referred to their proper titles rather than the out-of-sequence U.S. titles. For example, Fist of Fury is the actual name of Bruce Lee's second movie, yet that was the title given to Lee's FIRST movie in the U.S. And Way of the Dragon was retitled Return of the Dragon because it got its U.S. release AFTER Lee's only American production, Enter The Dragon came out.

Bruce Lee made a total of four complete films before he died in 1973, yet this set includes five films and does not include Enter the Dragon, which was already released by Warner as a stellar two-disc special edition a couple of years ago (it includes a 90 minute documentary of Lee's legacy, as well as a new edit of the fight sequences from Game of Death).

The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon are the mainstays of this set, because they are the three movies that were originally released in Hong Kong when Lee was alive. The DVDs in this set have generally done a remarkable job at restoring the video quality, considering how poorly archived Hong Kong films are in general (most video releases, including the DVD releases from Hong Kong, are made from worn out prints). Only with Way of the Dragon are there problems with the video -- the images there look out of focus at times; other reviews I've read indicate that some of this footage might simply be the best available because it got cobbled together from different sources.

All three of them include 5.1 DD and DTS tracks, as well as 2.0 DD Cantonese and Mandarin tracks. In general, the Cantonese tracks are the way to go because they're the only ones that I know for sure originally had Bruce Lee's voice in the soundtrack. (On Way of the Dragon at least, it also sounds like Lee dubbing the Mandarin dialog) For anyone used to watching the dubbed versions of Lee's Hong Kong movies, or his stunted English dialog in Enter the Dragon, it will be quite a revelation to hear the dialog delivered with their intended intensity on the Cantonese track.

Another interesting oddity is that the English, Cantonese, and Mandarin tracks sometimes use completely different music and/or sound effect tracks. The English 5.1 tracks have obviously had the most recent post-production work, and IMO, a lot of it is very distracting and out of place because it's mixing a lot of pristine sounding effects with much lower fidelity vocal and music tracks. Ridiculously mismatched sound effects alongside laughably bad dubbing render the English 5.1 tracks useless in my view. It also messes around with some of the basic plot elements. In Way of the Dragon, Lee's character doesn't know any English, while some of the other characters' dialog is supposed to be in English. The English dubbing doesn't make any sense out of this.

On The Big Boss, the music used was different on the English, Cantonese, AND Mandarin tracks! Sadly, it seems like the Cantonese track used on the DVD was rerecorded later on, with only the Mandarin track using the original theatrical music and effect tracks. I figured this out because the Cantonese track lifted some passages from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, which came out in 1973 whereas the movie came out in 1971. (Lifting music from familiar sources is common practice with HK movies, and in this case, it was very distracting because DSOTM is one of my favorite albums!)

Game of Death and Game of Death II are just a lot of ridiculous filler material that link together the incomplete footage that Lee was in the middle of filming when he died. The reedited fight sequence from Game of Death included as a bonus feature on the Enter The Dragon special edition DVD is a far better representation of Lee's intentions for the movie.

The only drawback of this set is the lack of bonus features and expert commentary tracks. These features and the restored video quality have already been included in the Region 2 Legends series DVD releases of Bruce Lee's movies. Some sort of context would have been nice because American audiences in general have no clue as to the kind of stir that Lee's movies created overseas, and just how legendary a figure he is. But, I'd been holding out and waiting for a DVD release that includes the original language tracks and restore video, and the Bruce Lee Ultimate Collection delivers on those counts.

IMO, this set is a must buy for martial arts junkies and any film buff who wants to explore the genre. With a street price under $40, this is a no-brainer purchase, even if ... check that ... ESPECIALLY IF you already own the previous U.S. DVD releases!

Now, if only Jackie Chan and Jet Li can get the same respectful treatment for their U.S. DVD releases! The morons in charge of Dimension Films should be arrested for their criminally negligent treatment of Chan and Li's U.S. DVD releases, which are edited, dubbed, and basically butchered beyond recognition. Just include the original language track and restore the films to their orignal length, and I will buy them. As it stands, I haven't purchased any of them. Among Jet Li's best Hong Kong films, only the Once Upon A Time In China series has been released in its original form.