Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 27, 2021

Note: This version of this film is available as part of Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films.

The Once Upon a Time in China franchise is regularly cited as having kickstarted the weirdly dormant martial arts film genre in the Asian market, but it’s also arguable that the series helped to foster another element of “eastern” cinema that is not necessarily relegated only to China (Korean films also come to mind in this regard): a kind of “rah rah” jingoism that seeks to exploit national identity while also perhaps hinting, none too subliminally at times, that the “natives” (Chinese or otherwise) may be just a bit smarter than some of the interlopers. Once Upon a Time in China appeared in 1991, helping to catapult Jet Li to superstar status, and continuing an even by then decades long tradition of crafting entertainments around the adventures (typically “fictionalized” if not outright fiction) of real life Chinese martial arts master and folk medicine healer Wong Fei-hung. Wong lived from around 1847 to 1925, but it didn’t take long for a rather gargantuan mythos to be built up around the character, so much so that by the late forties, Wong was an immensely popular character in Hong Kong films. Kwan Tak-hing made a veritable career out of playing Wong, appearing in some 70 films about the character, and there are several rather well remembered films about Wong that came out as Kwan was winding down from playing Wong (incredibly, the actor continued the role from the 1940s to the 1980s, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in the process). These include the Shaw Brothers’ Challenge of the Masters, Drunken Master with Jackie Chan, and the relatively recent Rise of the Legend. The Once Upon a Time in China films offer some typical martial arts frenzies, but the films are also quite notable for how they portray a nascent nation defending itself from outside influences, and creating its own identity in the process.

Once Upon a Time in China II received a previous release on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment in the UK. For those wanting a plot recap and my thoughts on the film, I refer you to my Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray review of that version. That review is also a good resource for screenshot comparisons and stacking up how supplements between the two releases differ.

Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Once Upon a Time in China II is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. As of the writing of this review, Criterion has sent only check discs and so I'm not privy to any information that may be included in the insert booklet (and unfortunately there's not a ton of information on their website). I'll point out in passing that, exactly as with regard to Once Upon a Time in China, this release's aspect ratio is just a sliver narrower than Eureka's 2.39:1 offering. Also of perhaps relevant note is the fact that Eureka!'s website mentioned 4K restorations for its release of the first three films. Even a cursory comparison of screenshots suggests that these are pretty similar if not outright identical looking transfers. As I mentioned in the review of the Eureka! version, scores can only account for so much, and this second film has some arguable improvements over the first film, but is perhaps slightly deficient in overall saturation when compared to the third. The grading here is once again just slightly skewed toward yellow, and that aspect when combined with some of the film's emphases on misty, hazy environments, can lead to a slightly chunky, pixellated quality to grain in darker moments. That said, this presentation offers secure detail levels throughout and there are really no overt compression issues despite some grittiness in the grain field. As with my "real" score on the Eureka! version, I'm rating this at 4.25.

Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once Upon a Time in China II features LPCM Mono and LPCM 2.0 tracks in the original Cantonese. As with the first film, Eureka!'s versions had more options (and languages). The two Cantonese tracks here feature fine if occasionally slightly boxy fidelity, though the enjoyably evocative score sounds really full bodied and warm. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout on both tracks, but I personally preferred the stereo version, which to my ears sounded more forceful, especially in the midrange. Interestingly, Criterion had designed its audio menu on this release to offer four options, with subtitles either being included or not included for each of the two audio options.

Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Legend of Wong Fei-Hung (HD; 48:03) is a 2004 documentary detailing the real life story and cinematic legacy of Wong Fei- hung. I'm not sure what language is being spoken, but this features optional English subtitles.


• Donnie Yen (HD; 16:29) is featured in this 2012 interview. In English.


• Yuen Wo-ping (HD; 42:11) was filmed during the 2019 New York Asian Film Festival, and features a master class moderated by Samuel Jamier and David Wilentz, with Joanna C. Lee offering translations.


• From Spikes to Spindles (HD; 45:24) is a 1976 documentary by Christine Choy about New York City's Chinatown, but features uncredited work by Tsui Hark. In English.


• Trailer (HD; 3:45)

Once Upon a Time in China II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The political aspect of Once Upon a Time in China II may provide this film with a bit more drama than some of the other films in this franchise, but Tsui Hark obviously knew what audiences were coming to this sequel for, and so this film, unlike its immediate predecessor, pushes action to the forefront a lot of the time. Jet Li is once again a commanding presence, and he's well matched by Yen. This Criterion release again has some slight differences from the Eureka! version, but technical merits are generally solid, and the supplementary package very appealing. Recommended.