Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Once Upon a Time in China III 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 III 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 III Blu-ray review of that version. That review is also a good resource for screenshot comparisons and stack up how supplements between the two releases differ.

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

Once Upon a Time in China III is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.34:1. 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 and Once Upon a Time in China II, this release's aspect ratio is just a sliver narrower than Eureka's offering, albeit this time with regard to 2.35:1 instead of 2.39:1. Also of perhaps relevant note is the fact that Eureka!'s website mentioned 4K restorations for its release of the first three films. As with the first two films in this set, aside from that minimal difference, even a cursory comparison of screenshots suggests that these are pretty similar if not outright identical looking transfers, though I'd argue that this particular film may reveal just slightly different gradings at times. Though it's probably miniscule, this presentation struck me as just a bit darker and skewed just slightly more toward greens at times. Even with the very minor variation, this is still a wonderfully suffused looking transfer which offers some really robust primaries, with "true" reds being very much in evidence. As with the Eureka! presentation, grain resolves naturally for the most part, but can take on an intermittently mottled look, especially in a few selected darker moments.

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

While the Eureka! version of this film once again offers more in terms of languages and channel options, both of the Cantonese tracks on this disc, LPCM 2.0 and LPCM 1.0, offer good accountings of the film's soundtrack. There are some of the same slight differences in effects levels between these two Cantonese tracks that I mentioned with regard to the differences between the Cantonese mono track and the Mandarin stereo track on the Eureka! release, but the stereo track does at least marginally open things up in terms of both effects (especially in the action scenes) and score. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. As with some of the other films in this set, there's probably noticeably more dynamic range on the stereo track than the mono. Optional English subtitles are available.

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

• Tsui Hark (HD; 22:56) is an archival interview from 1994 with Tsui Hark, where he discusses the Once Upon a Time in China films. In English.


• John Wakefield (HD; 10:54) is an interview with the actor from 2012.


• Deleted Scenes (HD: 20:43)


• Trailer (HD; 3:33)

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

Once Upon a Time in China III just can't quite recapture the magic of the first two films, but if accepted as a lesser entry in the series, it at least offers a relatively brisk pace, even if the film, like some characters in a crowded market, dart off down random alleys now and again. While there are once again some minor variations between this release and the Eureka! version, technical merits are solid and the supplementary package very enjoyable for those considering a purchase.