5.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks.
Starring: Wenzhuo Zhao, Siu Chung Mok, Jean Wang, Xin Xin Xiong, Kar Lok ChinForeign | 100% |
Action | 22% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
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 IV is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. 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). Somewhat ironically, at least for those who scrutinize data points like aspect ratios, while this particular film was not included in the Eureka! set I've cited in some of the reviews of this film's predecessors, this transfer is just a sliver wider than the film's reported original aspect ratio of 2.39:1, while some of the Criterion transfers of the films previously released on Blu-ray by Eureka! have been just a sliver narrower (i.e., 2.38:1 vs. 2.39:1, or 2.34:1 vs. 2.35:1). Kind of surprisingly, given the relatively more recent vintage of this film and its immediate successor, there's more age related wear and tear on display here (and in Once Upon a Time in China V) than in some of the previous films, including mild annoyance like nicks, but nothing that I'd term overly distracting. The palette's emphasis on yellows and oranges is rendered well, and while close-ups in particular can still offer commendable levels of fine detail, on the whole this is a somewhat less precise looking transfer. The IMDb is showing a 2K 2021 remaster, though without any of Criterion's supporting documentation, I can't state authoritatively whether or not this was based off of that. My score is 3.75.
While Once Upon a Time in China IV doesn't offer a stereo track, this disc's LPCM Mono track (in Cantonese) is at least somewhat more robust sounding than some of the mono tracks on the other discs in this set. Dynamic range has a bit more fluidity, and while some may be wishing for a bit more "oomph" in some of the action scenes with regard to sound effects, overall things are rendered cleanly and clearly, and there are no problems with regard to damage. Dialogue, while seemingly post looped a lot of the time, is always easy to hear. Optional English subtitles are available. As with the video side of things, my score is 3.75.
I mentioned in our Once Upon a Time in China III Blu-ray review how that film didn't quite provide the same entertainment value as the first two films in the series, but if taken on its own less ambitious merits, it was a diverting enough enterprise. That sentiment may come in handy once again with regard to Once Upon a Time in China IV, though this film just doesn't work up much sustained interest, despite an emphasis on action. While displaying a bit more damage and not quite the same levels of clarity as some of the earlier films in this set, video is generally solid, and the mono audio suffices reasonably well, for those who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
黃飛鴻之五龍城殲霸 / Wong Fei Hung chi neung: Lung shing chim pa
1994
黃飛鴻之三獅王爭霸 / Wong fei hung III: Si wong jaang ba
1993
黃飛鴻之西域雄獅 / Wong fei hung VI: Sai wik hung see
1997
黃飛鴻 / Wong fei hung
1991
黃飛鴻之二男兒當自強 / Wong fei hung II: Nam yee tung chi keung
1992
死亡塔 / Si wang ta / Tower of Death
1981
The Executioners of Death / Hong Xi Guan
1977
1978
龍騰虎躍 / Lóng téng hǔ yuè
1983
Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms
1978
Five Fingers of Death / Tian xia di yi quan
1972
Goliathon / Xing xing wang
1977
Nan bei Shao Lin / 南北少林
1986
賞金首 一瞬八人斬り / Shōkin kubi: Isshun hachi-nin giri
1972
五人の賞金稼ぎ / Gonin no shōkin kasegi
1969
Lang mien jeu keun sau / Leng mian ju ji shou / 冷面狙擊手
1991
少林木人巷 / Shao Lin mu ren xiang
1976
Ore ni sawaru to abunaize
1966
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979
一招半式闖江湖 / Dian zhi gong fu gan chian chan
1978