Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Once Upon a Time in China V 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.

Just in case anyone was still harboring illusions that the Once Upon a Time in China series is providing an accurate account of history, even with an opening vignette in Once Upon a Time in China V which introduces a band of nefarious pirates who like to collect human fingers, kind of hilariously the opening credits for this film offer this proviso:

Although some of the characters in this film did really exist, the events portrayed are not historically accurate.

While this is in some ways one of the more fanciful entries in the Once Upon a Time in China series (which in and of itself is saying something), with some kind of silly shtick laden comedy and Tsui Hark's typical emphasis on skewed framings and cartwheeling camera moves, Once Upon a Time in China V is probably at least a marginal step up in quality from its immediate predecessor. Vincent Zhao seems a bit more at ease in the role of Wong Fei-hung, having perhaps had a bit more time to matriculate into the part and escape from the looming shadow of Jet Li.

The story picks up more or less from the end of Once Upon a Time in China IV, with the Qing Dynasty close to collapsing, and the Eight Nation Alliance doing its best to take its place, but with the threat from those finger collecting pirates keeping the local populace in a state of panic. In what is almost a presaging of Once Upon a Time in China and America, there's almost a "wild west" feeling to some of the narrative, including some actual shootouts. The film tries to develop a romantic triangle of sorts between Wong Fei-hung and 13th Aunt (Rosalind Kwan) and 14th Aunt (Jean Wang), but the film's kind of clunky supposedly comedic aspects may prevent any real combustible sparks from happening.

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

Once Upon a Time in China V 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). Again somewhat ironically as was pointed out in our Once Upon a Time in China IV Blu-ray review , 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). As with Once Upon a Time in China IV, the IMDb is showing a 2021 2K remaster for this film, but without any supporting documentation from Criterion, I can't opine authoritatively as to whether this was based on that. That said, this transfer shows arguably more consistent detail levels than Once Upon a Time in China IV, though there are still some admittedly minor signs of age related wear and tear that have survived whatever restoration guantlet the element was put through. The palette is nicely robust, and some of the moody lighting and/or grading choices are especially evocative looking, with some cobalt blues particularly vivid in appearance. There are some pretty marked variances in clarity in a few passing shots where for no real reason I could discern (i.e., no opticals or any similar situations), grain can spike and detail levels momentarily diminish. Those passing moments aside, grain resolves naturally throughout.

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

Once Upon a Time in China V features an LPCM Mono track in the original Cantonese. There's not a huge amount of dynamic range in this presentation, but overall this mono track sounds considerably more vibrant than the mono tracks on the first three films. This film's score doesn't have quite the "ethnic" feel of some of the earlier films, but the music is rendered without any issues. Effects can sound a bit hollow at times, but dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

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

• Daring Difference (HD; 10:06) is a 2021 interview with producer Nansun Shi, discussing Film Workshop, a production company founded in collaboration with Tsui Hark. In English.


• Trailer (HD; 2:00)

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

Once Upon a Time in China V is probably a bit too silly for its own good, but Tsui Hark invests the enterprise with such manic energy that any deficits are arguably easier to ignore than they might be otherwise. This film struck me as being too heavily weighted on the ostensibly comic side of things at times, but some of the action set pieces are enjoyable. Technical merits are generally solid for those who may be considering making a purchase.